Succession Planning Services

Coordination of the transition of your business to your successors can be an arduous process. However, with our years of experience, we can address the complex issues of business continuation, taking the stress off your shoulders.

Sharp Accounting’s Succession Planning services start with a financial review of your business before fleshing out a plan for your exit. To achieve this, we will consider: 

• The current value of your business, based on the marketing conditions, financial statements, physical assets, and intangible assets. 
• Your Business Valuation Gap – that is, the gap between the current value and the valuation you hope to attain before exiting. 
• Retirement income and planning. 
• The structure of your sale. 
• Tax minimisation strategies available to you. 

It is important that each succession plan that individual and business requirements are discussed and carefully considered. We understand that ‘stepping back’ is an extremely difficult step to take for business owners who have been heavily involved for many years. Our approach is to focus on the future and to help make the transition process as smooth as possible. This helps to ensure your plan allows for the hassle-free continuation of your business – and the steadfast protection of your legacy.

While it’s not always the most pleasant topic to consider, the reality is that one day you will inevitably need to leave your business. Whether it’s to retire, to move onto something else, a partnership dispute, or for health reasons.

A succession (or exit plan), outlines the things you will need to do to sell, close or transfer ownership of your share in a business. By planning for your eventual exit, you: 

• Protect your legacy. 
• Reduce the risk of conflict. 
• Can plan ahead to increase the value of your business. 
• Have time to train your team to manage when you leave. 
• Ensure the transition process will run smoothly.

Succession planning helps business owners maximise the business value for the exit event by giving them the time, space, and clarity required to address issues, generate additional value, and train essential team members. 

When business owners fail to plan for their exit, they essentially only have the very short term to take steps to increase the value of their business. Generally, this means they won’t be able to increase the value by much – if at all. However, when succession planning has been considered long in advance, owners have time to make these critical, value-building changes. 

We recommend business owners start planning at least three years before planning to exit, though starting to plan five or more years in advance of your exit is better.

If you’re planning to retire in the next five years, it’s definitely time to start engaging in succession planning. However, pre-retirement isn’t the only time to plan for your exit.

It can be helpful to consider succession planning at any point that you first write or whenever you update your Will and/or other estate planning documents. However, we would generally suggest managing your business so it can run without you as early as possible. Doing so involves hiring the right people, getting those people into the right roles, and generally engaging in business in a sustainable manner with appropriately managed risks.  Essentially, this makes planning for the future part of your company culture, which comes with so many benefits, like employee engagement, strategic focus, and higher business valuation.

Succession planning is also essential for business owners who plan to transition the business to the next generation of their family. Family business succession planning ensures that there’s continuity in vision for the future of the business. Effective succession planning also promotes knowledge and information sharing, so the next generation of owners know what they need to succeed.