When the time comes to sell your company, there are a multitude of decisions you will need to make. One of the first and most crucial decisions centers on how you will connect with buyers. Southard Financial makes it easier for you by allowing you to work with us exclusively or less formally, so you enjoy more offers or potentially more cost-saving flexibility.
No matter how successful and profitable, a privately held business with multiple co-owners can be significantly impacted when one of the owners dies, retires, becomes disabled, or leaves the company.
Around the world, companies that provide valuations of private equity and venture capital investments follow the best practices spelled out in the International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation (IPEV) Guidelines. The IPEV Board, an independent body created in 2005, works to maintain, promote, monitor, and update the guidelines as needed; the most recent update was the December 2015 edition.
It’s not something you do every day, so the idea of selling a privately held business or divesting a corporate division or subsidiary might be a bit mind-boggling. How does it work? What is the business worth? How do you know which buyers are legitimate and which offers to consider?
Banks that are looking to acquire an existing bank or branch(es) need to be aware that such transactions must be valued in accordance with the federally mandated Accounting Standards Codification Topic 805, Business Combinations.
While no one can absolutely predict what changes the incoming Trump administration may propose to the federal tax code, Southard Financial wants to make you aware of potential changes that could significantly impact your estate planning.
As we explained in September, the IRS recently proposed sweeping new changes in Section 2704, which covers the treatment of valuation discounts. These discounts are a powerful estate-planning technique that high-net-worth families have traditionally used to protect assets that are transferred as gifts or bequests to heirs. The public comment period, which ended on November 2, was followed by public hearing before a panel of representatives from the Department of the Treasury and the IRS in Washington, D.C. on December 2.
Following are highlights from that hearing, as reported by Peter H. Agrapides, MBA, CVA, on behalf of the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA).
The 17th century Spanish writer Cervantes stated, “To be prepared is half the victory.”
Winston Churchill declared, “He who fails to plan is planning to fail.”
Management expert and author Lester R. Bittel wrote, “Good plans shape good decisions.”
While they might sound simplistic, these famous quotations are crucial reminders that, in business as in life, you must plan well — and well in advance — if you want to reach your goals. This may never be truer than when the future of your company or family business is on the line.
A little over two years ago, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a $5.25 million settlement with GreatBanc Trust Co., resolving allegations that GreatBanc had violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act in its management of the Sierra Aluminum Co. Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
GreatBanc and its insurers agreed to pay almost $500,000 in civil penalties, with the rest of the settlement being paid into the Sierra Aluminum ESOP.
