Transition of a family firm across generations?
July 23, 2021
by a searcher from University of Virginia-Darden - Darden School of Business in Charlottesville, VA, USA
I'm looking at a my family's firm that we need to get ready for a generational transfer. Does anyone have contacts at firms that specialize in these types of transfers specifically the cultural, business processes, legal , etc?
from University of Dallas in Houston, TX, USA
1) Ensure all the financials are in sound order and there are no accounting issues - if you dont already have a CPA hire one to ensure everything ship shape. Make use of a cost effective accounting system (quickbooks / Xero etc) or at least, well maintained spreadsheets. In an ideal world you want to have the financial life of the firm encapsulated in clean cashflow, balance sheet and income statements as a look back tool and as something easy to maintain going forward.
2) Review and ensure the taxes status is current - Are all state and federal taxes paid up? If not - work with your CPA or tax attorney to square up with tax authorities.
3) If its an intergenerational transfer - work with an experienced estate planning attorney to understand what the ideal structures are for the transaction so that you can preserve value. There may be some entity structure changes which are worth while to explore now rather than later.
Happy to hop on a call and discuss in greater depth. Best of luck !
from Lewis and Clark College in Ashland, OR 97520, USA