News Articles

NEW YORK (AP) — Jessica Sayles is thinking about who might take over for her when she retires at age 55 from the accounting firm where she is managing partner — even though that’s still 21 years away. “I feel that a good portion of my job is to find ... read more

By Maurie Cashman The 2016 Business Owner Survey conducted by BEI provides some interesting insights into the mindset of owners toward planning for ownership transition.  Owners between 40 and 69 years old comprised 80% of all survey respondents.  Respondents reported yearly revenues ranging from $500,000 to $500 million. The survey ... read more

By Maurie Cashman To retain employees with a stock bonus, use structured plan to make bonus attractive to employee and protect company.  The stock bonus we will discuss in this article is different from Incentive Plans to Retain Key Employees During a Business Transfer that we discussed in a previous ... read more

What’s an 83(b) election, and when is it a good thing to do? by StevenAyr  Great question, and one every entrepreneur, founder, contractor, or anyone else trading work for equity should know the answer to. In this two-part post, I’ll first explain what the 83(b) election is, then I’ll walk through ... read more

Limiting owner risk in a Stock Bonus Plan can achieve several objectives that move owners closer to a successful ownership transition. In Benefits of a Stock Bonus Plan and Gross-Up Stock Bonus Plans we’ve observed how one owner’s Ownership Transition Planning advisors worked to: Transfer his company to a group ... read more

Limiting owner risk in a Stock Bonus Plan can achieve several objectives that move owners closer to a successful ownership transition. In Benefits of a Stock Bonus Plan and Gross-Up Stock Bonus Plans we’ve observed how one owner’s Ownership Transition Planning advisors worked to: Transfer his company to a group ... read more

By BarbaraWeltman If your business is incorporated and you want to reward employees, consider issuing stock. Using this form of compensation has benefits to employees and to you. Company perspective If you pay a cash bonus or give a fringe benefit, it’s a cash drain to the company. Issuing stock ... read more

Using the gross-up strategy, there is usually little or no net out-of-pocket cost to a company to cover required taxes. In Benefits of a Stock Bonus Plan we met Earl Oriole, the 50-year-old, sole owner of a successful wood grill manufacturing company. He told us that he wanted to: Transfer ... read more

Paula Workman White No matter how you slice it,  One of the first questions a business broker or potential buyer will ask when inquiring about buying your business is “Who are the ‘key’ employees and what is their incentive to stay?”incentive/retention plans are critical to succession planning in your business. ... read more

The benefits of employee incentive plans are to motivate employees to work harder and smarter. In Capturing Synergy in Acquisitions we discussed how companies capture the benefits they anticipate from an acquisition.  A key to any transition of ownership is preserving the most important asset – the key employees.  We often deploy ... read more

Dan and Jerry’s Greenhouse Dan and Jerry’s Greenhouses, a Minnesota-based grower that ranked #45 on Greenhouse Grower’s 2016 Top 100 Growers list, recently acquired DeJong Greenhouses, which is located in Pella, IA. “We had been talking to them for a couple years, and we liked the fact that they are a third-generation ... read more

By Maurie Cashman Capturing synergy is usually a critical factor when acquiring a business.  Last week in Acquiring Value For Your Business we discussed some of the strategic reasons companies have for acquiring other businesses.  I have been involved in many acquisitions, the most recent of which was the acquisition ... read more