Author: Diane Loupe

Meet Courtney Foley: GABB’s Executive Assistant

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Sign up to Attend the Dec. 9 GABB Holiday Gala

The 2021 GABB Holiday Gala will be held on Dec. 9, 2021, at Villa Christina.

Our annual gala will also be the occasion of presenting the 2021 Million Dollar Club awards to the association’s top-selling brokers. Brokers who qualify have until Nov. 5 to apply.

We ask that every attendee contribute at least $35 per guest (feel free to donate more!) to the Foster Care Support Foundation. This group helps some of the more than 15,000 children in Georgia who are in foster care, not including hundreds of thousands of children being raised by thousands of grandparents, relatives, or fictive kin. They support these children by providing vital, basic needs.  Please note in your online donation that you are a member of the GABB. 

The Foundation gives out more than $12 million of in-kind items to foster and displaced children each year and their budget is a fraction of that with no government funding. A tax deductible receipt will be sent to you for your donation. Thank you for making a difference!

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Business Valuation: GABB BCB Class Oct 19, 2021

Learn basic approaches to business valuation, including how COVID may have impacted what a business is worth and tax strategies for maximum profits in this three-hour class offered by the Georgia Association of Business Brokers. The class will be held from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021 at the Georgia Association of Realtors classroom and also available online. Registration is now closed.  Students who successfully complete the GABB class will earn credits towards the Board-Certified Broker designation, the first Georgia-specific certification for business brokers. To earn the BCB, business brokers must be members of the GABB and complete 45 hours of coursework. During this extraordinary time in our nation’s economy, the GABB feels that an excellent use of time would be to strengthen the skills professionals need to represent clients fairly, ethically and responsibly. The class (GREC #73547) also offered three hours of continuing education credit towards renewing a Georgia real estate license through the Georgia Real Estate Commission and the GABB’s Real Estate School (GREC #8074). The class will be taught by Jeff Forrestall, CPA, CFF, ABV, PFS, Managing Partner of Forrestall CPAS and Ricky Moore, CPA, PFS, ABV, QKA, MBA, the Manager of Advisory Services at Forrestall CPAs. Both instructors have experience in tax and financial planning and business valuation.  Topics to be covered in this three-hour class include:

• Reconciling Valuation Approaches – Why sellers like the market approach and buyers like the income approach
• COVID Updates: How COVID can affect entity value
• Evaluating and Reducing company-specific risk
• How to increase after-tax proceeds at the exit point
• Ethical issues affecting business valuations

If you want to attend via Zoom, and you have not received an email with information about how to join, contact GABB School Director Diane Loupe at diane.loupe@gabb.org or text her at 404-374-3990 for more information. INSTRUCTORS:

Jeff Forrestall, CPA, CFF, ABV, PFS – Managing Partner of Forrestall CPAs. Jeff graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1994 as a Distinguished Military Graduate with a BBA majoring in accounting. He became a partner at Forrestall CPAs, in January 1997. He became the managing partner in 2003. His experience includes financial, business accounting and taxation, merger and acquisitions, 401(k) auditing and administration, business valuations and forensic accounting investigations. He has consulted and advised hundreds of businesses in dozens of industries. He has been a peer reviewer auditing other auditors for compliance to professional standards. He obtained the status as a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Accounting (DABFA) and is Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF), Certified IT Professional (CITP), Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) and Certified as Accredited in Business Valuations (ABV) by the American Institute of CPAs.  He additionally obtained the Associate Professional Member (APM) and the Qualified 401k Administrator (QKA) from the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries.  He has been designated as an expert as a CPA and in business valuations by local courts. In 2002 he was recognized by the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants as one of the top 30 Certified Public Accountants (CPA) under the age of 40 in the State of Georgia as an alumnus of their Leadership Academy. He was awarded the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce “Pinnacle Top 25” for demonstrating extraordinary growth and leadership in businesses and contributions to the community. Additionally, he is an alumnus of the Leadership Gwinnett program, sponsored by the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, and an alumnus of the Regional Leadership Institute program from the Atlanta Regional Commission. He is a former member of the Board of Directors and currently serves on the Leadership Council for the Georgia Society of CPAs. He has additionally served as the Chair and the Vice Chair of the Information Technology Section, President of the Gwinnett Chapter for the GSCPA for three terms, a trustee for the Society Insurance trust, a member of the Ethic Committee, member of the MAP section and several task force groups for the Georgia Society of CPA’s.  He is a former peer reviewer for the GSCPA (audited the auditors for quality assurance). He is an active member of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries, American College of Forensic Examiners, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Georgia Society of CPA’s, the American Institute of CPA’s and the Georgia Lenders Quality Center.  He is currently the Secretary and has been a member of the Board of Directors for the north GeorgiaSBA office (CDC), Small Business Access Partners, for more than 13 years. He served abroad in the U.S. Army during the war with Afghanistan in 2001 – 2002, as a decorated Commissioned Infantry Officer.  Jeff lives in Braselton with his three younger sons.  He enjoys teaching scuba diving as a Dive Master, recreational sky diving and traveling in his free time.  Ricky Moore, CPA, PFS, ABV, QKA, MBA is the Manager of Advisory Services at Forrestall CPAs. After joining the firm as a staff accountant in 2016, Ricky quickly transitioned into advisory services focused on providing more access to a wide range of services that focus on future growth and less on past compliance for both individuals and businesses alike. These advisory services include business valuation of closely held companies, business acquisition/exit strategy, tax & financial planning, Employee-Owned Stock Option (ESOP) retirement plan design, risk management, and other unique consulting engagements designed to specifically provide a solution to specific needs in industries such as transportation, dentistry, health care, food processing, veterinary practices, childcare facilities, and real estate. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Ricky was the co-host of the Forrestall CPAs COVID-19 Small Business Update webinar series and led a task force that assisted the business community receive loan forgiveness on more than $35 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. He has also been certified by local court systems and the Small Business Administration (SBA) as a ‘Qualified Source’ for business valuation and was awarded the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) designation by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Ricky also provides retirement planning services to both individuals and businesses and was awarded the Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) credential by the AICPA and the Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) by the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA). To give back to the community, Ricky is a current board member of both the Georgia Lenders Quality Circle (GLQC) and the Hamilton Mill Men’s Golf Association. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, April, and two children. In January 2021, Forrestall CPAs announced that Ricky had become a shareholder of the firm.  

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Medicare: Open Enrollment and You

BY BOB SMITH

Medicare riddle: What do Annual Open Enrollment and Halloween have in common? Each year they seem to start earlier and earlier. Halloween candy appears on store shelves in September along with health plan solicitations in mailboxes, on TV and radio.

When individuals “age into” Medicare, the plan selection process can be a daunting and challenging experience. When I initially meet prospective clients in their homes, I often see piles of solicitations strewn across tables where they have unsuccessfully tried to compare the multiple options available in their county.  The window of opportunity for selecting coverage begins three months prior to one’s 65^th birth month, although we recommend that you investigate options up to six months prior to your birth month.

Each year, Annual Open Enrollment mirrors the “aging in” period, and over eight weeks offers consumers time to learn  about plan design changes that have been approved by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). The period runs October 15 through December 7; carriers can present their 2022 plans on October 1, but they cannot process applications until October 15.

Open Enrollment provides multiple opportunities to consider these options:

• Switch from an Advantage plan to another.
• Individuals with Medigap plans
  • can consider another prescription drug plan (Part D) or
  •  terminate an Advantage plan and return to original Medicare (not recommended) and select a stand-alone Part D.
• If a beneficiary is happy with their existing coverage no decision is necessary as coverage will automatically roll over to their carrier’s 2022 plan design.  

With each passing year, the competition for new members becomes more aggressive, prompting plans with enhanced benefits that can include home health care, hearing aids, eye wear, and transportation, just to name a few. When considering plan benefits, it is essential not to overlook plan provider networks and drug formulary, or a list of generic and brand name prescription drugs covered by your health plan. Participation in each can change each year and confirming the status of your doctors and drugs in the 2022 plan is important.

To aid in understanding changes, CMS requires each carrier to provide the Annual Notice of Change (ANOC) document. This alerts clients of their benefit changes from year to year, i.e., copay, deductibles, etc. The ANOC is an important document to review; in my experience, clients can often overlook this document in their regular mail delivery. 

Other than allowable Special Enrollment Periods (SEP), there are few exceptions to change coverage during a calendar year. It’s important to be aware of the available options to avoid costly errors. For example, when confirming drugs in the formulary, you may find one carrier categorizes a drug as a Tier 2, when the same drug is categorized a Tier 3 by another carrier. A carrier can also change the Tier designation of a drug from one year to the next. The difference may cost the patient significantly over the next year if not noticed when confirming plans.   

My goal in writing this article is to provide insight to those looking at Medicare, as decisions can be complicated and once made, can’t be changed for the calendar year unless you qualify for an SEP designation. Take time to consider options; a licensed health agent, certified annually to represent plans with Medicare contracts, can be a vital part of a risk adverse strategy. The role of an agent is to represent their client with no monetary incentive to favor one carrier over another, as their compensation is the same for each plan and regulated by CMS.   

Since 2009, licensed health and life insurance agent (and Tucker resident) Bob Smith has represented major health insurance carriers for the ACA Marketplace, Medicare, Medicaid, Ancillary Plans and life insurance. For a free no-obligation quote and review of your health coverage programs call Bob at 404.593.9663 or email Bob@BobCareForYou.com. For additional insight, visit BobCaresForYou.com. From Obamacare to Bidencare to Bobcares℠  – Helping Families Protect Their Health, Wealth and Assets.

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GABB Million Dollar Club Applications Due Nov. 5

The GABB is now accepting applications for the 2021 Million Dollar Club, recognizing members who have sold businesses that added together are worth at least $1 million in the previous year.  The deadline for submitting applications is Nov. 5, 2021.

Awardees will be honored at the annual GABB Holiday Gala on Dec. 9 at Villa Christina. GABB board members Jeff Merry and Jon Roman comprise the Million Dollar Club committee and will review the applications.

GABB members are eligible for the:

• Million Dollar Club if they have eligible sales from Nov. 1, 2020 to Oct. 31, 2021 of  $1,000,000 to $1,999,999.
• Multi-Million Dollar Club if they have eligible sales generated totaling $2,000,000 or more during the same period.
• Life Membership in the Million Dollar Club when they’ve been elected to the Million Dollar Club for three consecutive years or any 5 years.
• Phoenix Award if they have been elected to the Million Dollar Club for any 10 years.
• Silver Phoenix if they have been elected to the Million Dollar Club for any 25 years.

To be eligible for the award, an applicant must be a current member in good standing of the Georgia Association of Business Brokers. Each business sold doesn’t have to be worth more than a million, but the total sales price of all businesses sold during the qualifying period must total a million or more. Only transactions closed after the effective date of membership in GABB will count towards Million Dollar Club volume.  All Million Dollar Club members must have attended at least three GABB events during the eligible period, such as meetings, conferences, or social events, either in person or online.

The online application, along with detailed rules about the club, can be found at the GABB website.

Million Dollar Club rules:

Please contact diane.loupe@gabb.org or 770-744-3639 if you have any additional questions about this matter, or if you are unable to complete this application online.

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