Business Planning
At Grebb, Johnson, Reed and Wachsmith, we do short and long-term business planning for existing businesses, businesses just starting out, and businesses whose growth calls for restructuring.
Entity Selection for New Businesses
Corporations, partnerships, and the ever popular LLC all have uniquely different tax rules. Our firm can help you decide which business formation is ideal for you. From a tax standpoint, corporations are very easy to get into, but can be very expensive to get out of, particularly with assets like real estate. We are always ready to sit down with you to discuss the various ramifications of each type of business structure.
Sales, Acquisitions, and Liquidations
In business planning, the type of business structure you choose also has ramifications for when you sell or liquidate the business. Eventually, every business owner wants to retire, and sometimes it is easier to sell your business if it is an LLC as opposed to a corporation. Buyers looking to buy a company are less interested in buying corporate stock than in buying the assets, which can yield greater tax benefits for them in terms of new depreciations. For the seller, the tax consequences of selling an LLC may not be as beneficial as selling corporate stock, but selling corporate assets and then liquidating the business can be much more painful due to changes in tax regulations. However, because every business situation is unique, we encourage you to make an appointment to discuss your own situation and assumptions in more depth.
Our role in sales, acquisitions, and liquidations is to help you—whether you're a seller or a buyer—determine a fair value and how to allocate the price according to types of assets, i.e. real estate, equipment, intangible assets (such as business name, goodwill, client lists) and non-compete agreements. There are different tax consequences for each of these categories, depending on whether you are a seller or a buyer. As a general rule, what's good for the seller is bad for the buyer, and vice versa.
During negotiations we often work with attorneys, realtors, and other professionals. Just give us a call, and we'll be glad to set up an appointment to discuss your needs.