Preparing Your Business for Sale:
Many business owners have built amazing businesses through many years of blood, sweat and tears. They have worked around the clock to build up a solid customer base and to continue to meet community needs. Whether you have built up an earthmoving company, a retail store or anything in between, there eventually comes a time when you will start to think about life after business. When should a business owner think about succession planning or potentially selling their business to a third party?
Generally, a business owner should consider these matters at least a few years before they wish to sell/transition. They may even have plans to sell just a small portion of equity in the business to key employees so that a passive stream of income can be retained into retirement. Family Trusts can be a great succession planning tool for family businesses which aims to keep control of the business assets under that same family group.
The tax consequences on any potential sale are a major consideration for the business owner. There are some very generous concessions available for small businesses, but we need to make sure that we cover all bases to ensure that we qualify for these. There are also options to mitigate the tax exposure by contributing money into superannuation – we always recommend seeking advice from your financial planner before making any decision to contribute or withdraw money from super.
The end goal of this is that the business owner can maximise the return for the business which they have worked so hard to build up over time. Often many sacrifices had to be made in order to grow the business to where it is, so it is important to ensure that the right plans are put in place prior to sale to get the best tax outcome. Our team at Byford Accountants have a vast amount of experience in helping businesses navigate through these complexities.
Feel free to give us a call today on (08) 9525 4000 to see how we can assist your business.
