Tag: equity

Single Appraiser vs. Multiple Appraiser Choices

by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, evaluations, Funding your Buy and Sell, Selling Your Business, Uncategorized, Valuation, Working On Your Business

This month I wrote about multiple and single Appraiser choice.  My friend Ed Pratesi was nice enough to give me some of his thoughts, which I definitely respect due to his experience and training.   Ed, thank you for this contribution.

Ed Pratesi wrote:

I read with interest your comments on Single Appraiser vs. Multiple Appraiser choices that owners have for a BSA. I agree in part with your assessment that the single appraiser choice is preferred but I do have a number of caveats and suggest that before the number of appraisers needed is secondary to choices made before this decision. Let me explain my thoughts:

Firstly, the choice of number of appraisers almost always works, whether one, two or the three step approach – except when it doesn’t!

Prior to the determination of the number of appraisers needed is preceded by what I refer to as the education process that a business appraiser must take the owners through in order to develop an agreement and a process that will likely be triggered when an unanticipated or unfortunate event has occurred.

In never ceases to amaze me that owners will spend money on creating a business plan, invest in physical assets and talent and not spend enough time on one of the most important events that will occur in their lives – either their exit or a partners exit. My complaint is not pointed at the owners but at the appraiser called in to initially called in to assist in the valuation.

My point simply is the an appraiser needs to explain the valuation process, the valuation methods used to value a business, the applicability or not of the methods to the company, a discussion of the definition of value – (for example fair market value or fair value, more on this in a later discussion), a complete discussion of adjustments that appraiser consider in the valuation process, and what discounts could apply and the reasons for application of discounts.

This part of the valuation process is more consultative and sets the framework for the conduct of an initial appraisal and of the work product. Finally, once the appraisal is complete a meeting to discuss the results and the process is essential and should be prefeaced with scenario planning should a provision of the BSA be triggered.

The goal is to get buy-in on the process not just the number!

I hope I have addressed part of the discussion of the number of appraisers – more to follow if desired…

Ed Pratesi

Edward E. Pratesi, ASA, CM&AA, ABV, CVA

Managing Director | UHY Advisors N.E., LLC
6 Executive Drive, Farmington, CT  06032
D: 860 519 5648 | C: 860 558 0453 | F: 860 519 1982

epratesi@uhy-us.com |  www.uhyvaluation.com

www.linkedin.com/in/ed-pratesi-140b762

 

The Interplay Between the Funding Mechanism And the Valuation? 

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, Funding your Buy and Sell, Selling Your Business, Uncategorized, Valuation

What happens when life insurance proceeds are part of the funding vehicle of a buy and sell agreement (BSA).    

 Example 

 When a stockholder owner dies and life insurance payments are made, is the valuation of the stock being redeemed as part of the value of the company?   

The way life insurance benefits are treated in the buy and sell agreement (BSA), could lead to different estate treatment and income tax.    In both areas, the results can be dramatic.     

 Does the agreement tell the appraisers how to treat the life insurance benefits in their valuation?  Does the agreement provide for the company to issue a promissory note to a deceased shareholder, and what are the terms? 

 Keep in mind, the agreement is no better than the ability of the parties and/or the company to fund any required purchases at the agreed upon price.    An agreement that is silent on this issue is like not having an agreement.  

 Life insurance  

 Generally, life insurance premiums are not deductible, and the pass through of non-deductibility can create pass-through income for the shareholders of S corporations, and the owners of partnerships and limited liability companies.  Knowing how to treat the life insurance premium for tax purposes would be important information for you.  We suggest you discuss this with your CPA.  

 Although the life insurance premium is not deductible, the death benefits generally are tax- free, notwithstanding the alternate minimum tax treatment for C corps.  

Keep in mind the funding mechanism is not actually necessary to define the engagement for valuation purposes and has nothing to do with appraisal standards or qualifications. It provides the funding for the company to afford the value, and to make sure the selling stockholder receives the value.  In essence, it’s the mechanism to fund the liability of the contract, or at least part of it.   

Wants and Needs of the Buyer and the Seller- The normal push and pull!  

The seller wants the highest price and the buyer wants the lowest price.   Without a doubt the best time to set the price would be prior to a triggering event, when both parties are in parity and neither is the subject of the trigger.  It is the best time when both parties will be the most reasonable in setting the rules of the agreements as they are both fair minded in the negotiations.   

 Funding Methods 

  1. Life Insurance:  In most cases life insurance will be the most inexpensive method for funding the death benefit part of the agreement, when comparing, self funding, and loans (including corporate promissory notes) to fund the liability, notwithstanding the ability to get a funding loan from a loaning institution.    In most of the comparisons I have done over the years, life insurance is the least expensive, most guaranteed, and the easiest method of funding for death benefit purposes. 
  1. Corporate Assets: They would have to be accumulated for this purpose, and would likely be included in the valuation, and also would be subjected to taxes during the accumulation stage.  What if the death of the stockholder occurred early after the agreement?  Would there be funds available to fund the liability of the agreement, as there would be a lack of time to accumulate the necessary net profits for the funding?   
  1. External borrowing: Depending on the company’s financial position, it may be possible to fund the purchase price by borrowing.  However, this should be negotiated in advance and before its needed.  Remember, the time to requests funds from an institution is when you don’t need them.  Also, on the other side of this funding element, is the possibility the loan covenant requesting the outstanding note balanced to be called in when there is a dramatic change in ownership and management.    The lending institution may be questioning the ability of the company’s future financial position and the ability to stay profitable.   
  1. Promissory Notes:  If this is going to be used, the terms of the notes should be in the agreement.  Although cash payments are preferable to the seller.   
  1. Combination of cash and promissory notes: Important to note:  Anytime capital is being used by the corporation, it is important not to unreasonably impair the capital of the business. Many state laws prohibit transactions that could impair capital and raise the question of insolvency.  

Without the mention of what funding mechanism is being used in the agreement to repurchase shares, lessens the value of the agreement.  Also, with stated funding, the economic or present value of the redemption price set by the agreement can significantly be reduced, because of inadequate interest or excessive risk leveled on the selling shareholder.   

  

Weak terms in the agreement of the funding mechanism diminishes the value of the agreement from the sellers prospective. However, terms that are too strong can taint the future transactions. What is clear is that it is essential for the parties to discuss the funding mechanism for the triggers of a BSA, keeping in mind both the sellers value position and the purchaser’s ability to fund the costs. 

Disadvantages Of The Buy And Sell Agreement! [i]

by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Buy and Sell Agreements, Inside Sale, Selling Your Business, Working On Your Business

Certainly, having a Buy and Sell Agreement (BSA) has many advantages, many of which I have discussed in our past posts (May 2019, Advantages of Buy and Sell Agreements).  However, I would like to go over the disadvantages of a BSA.

RESTRICTIONS ON ESTATE PLANNING

BSA can restrict ownership transfers and consequently management duties. These restrictions can be applied to you also. The restrictions could limit your personal planning by limiting your options for the ownership interests during your lifetime or at death. It may prohibit you from making gifts of your ownership interest to your family. Depending on your planning, your BSA could limit your plans to leave ownership interest to your family. The BSA may require your ownership interest to be sold at your death.

RESTRICTIONS ON FINANCIAL PLANNING 

A BSA can restrict the persons to whom you could sell your ownership interest to and restrict when you can sell it.  An example would be in a situation that you need to sell your interest because you’re in a financial bind. The BSA may require you to sell to your entity or your co-owners, who may not want to buy.

Special election to the defer federal state tax of deceased owners

This could limit an estate owner from using Code Section 6166 which is a way of paying your estate tax over a period of time, giving you the option of paying over a 15-year period, five years of deferral and a ten-year payout.  A purchase from your estate could cause the loss of the right to defer the estate taxes.

A sale of Corporate interests may result in a loss of the entities corporate structure

This could limit the entities right to use its own loss carry back and carry forward losses on a significant change in ownership, which is possible without a well throughout BSA.

The cost of putting together a BSA

It takes time and money to put together a solid buy and sell agreement, Of course this is a disadvantage and it can be expensive, however, in order to have an optimal BSA, you will need to invest time and money.  You will also need a competent council to prepare the necessary documents.  This incurs costs.  Being educated in this strategy is to your advantage when designing your BSA.

A poorly drafted buy sell agreement can be costly:  By failing to carefully work out the terms of buy-sell agreement or by having mismatches between triggering events and the identity of the purchaser versus the funding source, a real mess could be created.

[i] Buy -Sell Agreements for Baby Boomer Business Owners Z. Christopher Mercer, ASA, CFA, ABAR

The Final Act! The Day Will Come! Part 2

by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Company Wealth, Income from your business, Key People_Or Group, Selling Your Business, Valuation, Value drivers, Working On Your Business

In part-one of this article, I mentioned how purchasers will prefer to buy a business where everything looks good and there are no apparent problems. Smart and neat operations will attract serious buyers; however, this is only one part that is needed to achieve your selling objectives.

There should be no hidden problems or secrets which can jeopardize the purchase. Any undesirable factor not disclosed to the purchaser can lead to a non-sale, or at the very least, something they can use as a negotiating tool. The fact that a deal has fallen apart, is not only frustrating, but will cost you money, time, and distraction from your business.

An owner who unknowingly discloses secrets or situations in their business can end up becoming a deal breaker. Issues which are known need to be dealt with to have the best chance of a good sale. Since there may be issues which are unknown the best answer to this is to search for the problems in advance and take care of them. Think of this the same way you would treat the sale of your home. You would normally fix up, repaint, and clean up before you put the home on the market. You should do the same thing with your business.

Not only would you want your physical location to be clean and tidy, but this also flows over to the other parts of your business, such as accounting, financing, marketing material, department procedure manuals, and an array of other business items. Prepared written policies and procedures are a great selling point for a prospective buyer. Remember, when someone is interested in your business, it’s their team that inspects every aspect of your business in doing their due diligence. This is a micro inspection of all aspects of your business, so it will pay to make sure there isn’t a bunch of dirty secrets hanging around.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS AND PHYSICAL APPEAL
The first time a prospective buyer visits your company they make value judgements. They will observe everything from your reception area to your signage in and on the building. If the impression they get is positive, they will want to investigate your company more. You don’t want to lose their interest based on visual appeal of your business. No matter how good your business seems to do on paper, the prospective buyer may lose interest based on your first impressions.

This observation doesn’t end with just the building. Your premises, marketing literature, dress attire of you employees, uniforms, office settings, rubbish areas and a host of other areas should be updated and tidy. Continue reading “The Final Act! The Day Will Come! Part 2” →

Shift Corporate Income For Your Personal Retirement! 

Featured by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Company Wealth, Executive Benefits, Income from your business, Key People_Or Group, Tax Free Income, Uncategorized

 If you own a business, using a split dollar life insurance plan can help you shift business income to you on a tax effective basis, without involving other employees!

 Split dollar life insurance refers to the concept of two or more parties splitting the benefits and costs of a life insurance policy, such as the premium, death benefit and cash value.   

The most common type of split dollar life arrangement involves an employer and the employee or owners, with one part owning the policy, one or both parties’ contribution to the annual premium, but both parties having a vested interest in the policy benefits.   

Split dollar plans are inexpensive and easy to administer as an executive benefit arrangement.   

Here is how it works:  

One party establishes a cash value life insurance contract under the ownership of the key executive.   

The employer receives a “collateral assignment” against the policy, entitling the corporation  to receive the lesser of the policy cash value or the outstanding loan balance.   The loan is based on the premiums contributed by the company.   The same assignment entitles the employer to a portion of the policy death benefit, equal to the outstanding loan balance.   

 The key executive pays the taxes each year on the foregone interest on the loan from the corporation to pay the premium.   

At some point in the future, the split dollar arrangement terminates when the employer’s loan is repaid (typically from the policies cash value), leaving the executive “free and clear” ownership of the accumulated gain in the life insurance policy.   

 The executive can access the accumulated gains in the policy by borrowing against it, which will typically allow for tax-free access to the values.  The policy loan is repaid to the insurance company at the death of the executive, and any residual death benefit is paid to the executives’ named beneficiaries.  

Split dollar is an easier benefit to implement than deferred compensation, and less expensive for the employer.   

 Advantages:   

  • Easy account entries 
  • Recovery of the cost for the employer 
  • Performance objectives to trigger the funding for employer 
  • Very little if any impact on company balance sheet 
  • A “golden handcuffs” for the employer and ability to set restrictions when cash value can be accessed  

 Today’s newer types of life insurance policies enhance the benefits of a split dollar plan!   Continue reading “Shift Corporate Income For Your Personal Retirement! “ →

Building Your Leadership Team And Going Deep!

by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Company Wealth, Executive Benefits, Key People_Or Group, Passive Ownership, Value drivers, Working On Your Business

One important issue an owner can spend their time on, is getting the right people to fill the right positions in their company, while removing the wrong people from positions.

Situations are always changing and can change the dynamics of the business.  For example; the retirement of a key owner or other key employee, the unexpected loss of a key person due to death or disability can pose a significant financial hit to any company.  Planning can reduce the adverse impact.

Continuity of leadership is important.  Having a backup for the key positions would be ideal.  Sometimes you don’t have the personnel to accomplish this.  A company training program can be a valuable tool for the long-term growth of the company.  Cross training is worth the time.  Having personnel filling in for important jobs when needed is a valuable element for the business growth.

Trader Joe ‘s is a very good company and a great example of a company with interchangeable job descriptions.   Employees learn multiple jobs and task.   They rotate their jobs every few hours on the employee’s shift.  They create teams, with captains and the team helps with on the job training for the e different jobs.  Their education is ongoing.  Trader Joe’s has a bench ready to go.  This is also done with their management team.  Their candidates are always being educated to move up the line and into the position.

Board of Directors

Having an active Board of Directors can help with guidance in implementing employee growth.  This is next level management.  This is a value driver which is of importance to the growth and value of the company.  It is what a potential purchaser looks for in a company that they may be interesting in purchasing.

The board helps provide management continuity and immediate oversight in triggering events, such as divorce, death, disability, or withdrawal.  The board can be made up of key insiders and some outsiders who have insight to your business, but not necessarily in your business or industry.    Continue reading “Building Your Leadership Team And Going Deep!” →

Creating Cash Flow In Your Business

by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Buy and Sell Agreements, Company Wealth, Key People_Or Group, Passive Ownership, Selling Your Business, Uncategorized

Selling your business to a key employee, or a group of employees.

Assuming that all of the purchase price is to come from the key employee (s), you can help the purchase, by (a) using a stock dividend distribution, or (b) bonus of money to the employ, such as a bonus executive program.  (See Restricted bonus agreement). 

It is important that the company have consistent cash flow, (discretionary cash flow;) to use for this purpose.  (This is the cash generated by the company which is not needed to run the operations, for debt service or capitalization of the business).

Planning for the sale of the stock to insiders, and cash flow; 

It is important to have a accurate idea of the yearly cash flow.  For example, if the discretionary cash flow is $1 million a year. You might commit 10% of the company, or $100,000 a year to help pay for stock.  Continue reading “Creating Cash Flow In Your Business” →

The Complexities and Issues of Business

by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Company Wealth, Selling Your Business, Strategies of growing business, Working On Your Business

A chief concern for many business owners is how to arrange the orderly transfer of business to the next generation of family members or key employees. By far the biggest concern is how to keep the family business and the family. It is estimated that more than 70% of family-owned businesses do not survive the transition from the founder to the second-generation.

There are essentially three levels of the business succession plan.

Management; this is day-to-day management of the business which can be left to one person, one child or a group  of children. Also, this group might not be active in the business. This group could also include key employees rather than family members

Ownership; most owners would prefer to leave their businesses to the children that are active in the business. However, not all the children might be involved. Owners would still like to treat their children fairly, but not necessarily equally. Consequently, if the business interest is not left to a group of children, some other value would be left to the non-business children. A subset of this topic is whether the business owner will need a continued economic benefit from the business after the transfer. Also, will the business owner continue to control the business after the transfer is complete.

Transfer taxes; estate taxes can erode business value.   The question would be is there enough liquidity to take on the debt and keep the business going? This is truly a challenge to high-value business especially with a estate tax being a moving target as to the exemptions and percentage of taxations.

 Level I management

It might take many years for an owner to train the successor management team so that the business can run automatically. This allows the owner to walk away from the day by day operations. To do this the owner must give up control and tasks in which they ordinarily controlled. This is easier said than done. Whether the owner creates a management team with the next generation, or a key group of employees, the owner must learn to delegate important tasks.

Continue reading “The Complexities and Issues of Business” →

What If I Want A No-Sell Buy / Sell!

by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Buy and Sell Agreements

There are business partners who at their death, want their family to continue to own their shares even though the family member will not be actively involved with the business.   We see this with businesses that are expected to grow significantly. Each owner wants their family to share in the future growth even if they should die prematurely.

A no-sell buy/sell agreement has a fairly simple structure. The management and the voting stock all remain with the surviving owner. The deceased’s ownership interest remains with his family. We take each owner’s interest in the business and divide into voting and nonvoting stock. Upon the death of one of the owners, the deceased’s voting interest is bought by the surviving owner per the terms of the buy/sell agreement. The non-voting interest of the deceased owner remains with his family. This way, if the business does grow significantly, the family of the deceased will share in the growth. The control of the business remains in the hands of the surviving owner. The family of the deceased owner has non-voting interest in the business only and cannot expect to see any money out of the deal unless, and until, the business is sold. Continue reading “What If I Want A No-Sell Buy / Sell!” →

Exiting Your Business- What You Need To Know and Do!

by YOUR BUSINESS WORTH, posted in Company Wealth, Working On Your Business

    In my last newsletter I discussed the three exit strategies business owners can use when they decide to sell their business.   As a review they are; outside sale, inside transition sale, and passive ownership.  Of course there is the liquidation sale which happens when there is no future planning. Liquidate and see what you can get, however I do not consider this an exit strategy.

So what does a blueprint for exiting your business look like?

First:  You must influence your personal company culture. Employees need to know the values and principles you have formed over the years of your business life so they understand the mission.  What needs to be communicated is how you started the company and how you built it up.  The values behind all that effort needs to be communicated to your employees, vendors, and anyone who will listen, especially potential purchasers of your business. By doing so you will gradually build a strong culture in your own organization that will remain in place whether you’re planning on being absent for a long period of time, or just a short period.     A healthy culture makes your company more attractive to buyers and sets the course for more options such as inside sale, or passive ownership.

Continue reading “Exiting Your Business- What You Need To Know and Do!” →