Credits, CPAs and Cannabis: Issues for Georgia Businesses
Andrew Moore, CPA, of Frazier & Deeter speaking to the GABB.
Three CPAs from Frazier & Deeter spoke at the May 28 Georgia Association of Business Brokers meeting about the emerging cannabis industry as well as other tax programs that affect both buyers and sellers of businesses.
Matthew Foster, CPA, Tax Partner at Frazier & Deeter and the firm’s National Practice Leader for the Cannabis Industry, discussed the emerging cannabis industry in Georgia, including tax issues and obstacles to financing. Andrew Moore, CPA, Senior Manager of the Tax Department at Frazier & Deeter, discussed film credits, low income housing credits, opportunity funds, and syndicated conservation easement transactions, all of which can lower the taxes due after the sale of a business. Jennifer Gruner, CPA, tax partner in Frazier & Deeter’s Real Estate Group, covered opportunity funds.
Linked here is a copy of their presentation. Credits CPAS Cannabis Presentation To GAAB_05252019
Hear an audio of their remarks.
The Georgia Association of Business Brokers meets at conference room hosted by the Georgia Association of Realtors at 6065 Barfield Road, Sandy Springs, GA, 30328. The monthly GABB meeting is free and open to the public and is preceded at 9:45 a.m. by a free light breakfast and networking session. The meeting will last from about 10:30 to somewhere between 11:30 and noon. Please fill out the form below if you are not a GABB member but wish to attend our meeting.
While Andrew specializes in working with small and middle market companies and their related owners, his background allows him to serve a broad client base from smaller “mom & pop” type establishments to much larger corporate conglomerates. He has extensive experience helping clients recognize and implement tax saving opportunities and prides himself on recognizing opportunities often missed by others. Prior to joining Frazier & Deeter, Andrew led major initiatives that include helping clients implement the IRS Tangible Property Regulations and filing related accounting method changes which resulted in his clients saving millions of dollars in taxes.
At Frazier and Detter, Andrew is an active member on the pass-through team and participates in the overall delivery of tax compliance, consulting and planning services offered by the firm.
Before joining Frazier & Deeter, Andrew spent just over nine years working with clients in the automotive, manufacturing & distribution, trucking, legal, technology and service based industries at various other accounting firms in Atlanta.
Matthew Foster, CPA, of Frazier & Deeter, speaking to the GABB.
Matthew Foster is a Partner in the Atlanta and Las Vegas office tax practices and serves as the firm’s National Practice Leader for the Cannabis Industry. He has over a decade of experience in public accounting, with the majority spent practicing at Frazier & Deeter, LLC.
Matthew’s primary areas of focus are middle market companies that are privately owned or backed by private equity. His tax expertise in this area has allowed him to help his clients with various opportunities, such as corporate structuring for tax strategies, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and ESOPs. His clients operate in a variety of industries including, but not limited to, manufacturing, distribution, technology, real estate and construction.
Jennifer Gruner, CPA, of Frazier & Deeter, speaking to the GABB.
Jennifer Gruner has more than 11 years of public accounting experience, which includes five years with Ernst & Young’s real estate tax compliance department. Jennifer has a wealth of experience with tax compliance for small to large national real estate developers, builders, investors in commercial estate and the individual partners of those firms. In addition, she has signification experience with various types of investors of real estate deals, including foreign and domestic individuals, syndicators, foreign and domestic funds, including tax exempt investors and REITs.
Jennifer has extensive knowledge of limited partnerships, limited liability companies and family partnerships with multi-tier structures operating or investing in various states. She also has experience with complex partnership allocations and waterfalls, technical terminations, sale of assets, depreciation and federal and state withholding for foreign and domestic investors.
The GABB is the state’s largest and oldest association of professionals who specialize in brokering the purchase and sale of businesses and franchises. Broker members help owners determine the asking price of their business, create marketing plans and strategies for selling their business, identify and qualify buyers, and have the knowledge, experience and skills needed to help maintain the confidential nature of the process. The professionals of GABB relentlessly pursue professional development so they can provide superior, ethical services for all customers and clients. Affiliate members include bankers, lawyers, appraisers, insurers and other professionals like Mr. Moore who work closely with brokers to help owners and buyers get to the closing table.
For more information about GABB, please contact GABB President Dean Burnette at 912-247-3209 or dean@b3brokers.com, or GABB Executive Director Diane Loupe at diane@gabb.org or 404-374-3990.
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Thinking About Succession Planning
If you own a small business and haven’t thought about succession planning, you should. Brad Cherniak Co-Founder and Partner of Sapient Capital Partners, a Toronto-based advisory firm, examined the importance of succession planning in a February 20, 2019 Divestopia article, “All Companies Need to Look at Succession Planning.” Owning and/or operating a business can be a great deal of work, but it is imperative to take the time to develop a succession plan.
Succession Planning is for Businesses of All Sizes
Cherniak says that every business owner to realize that succession planning isn’t just for big businesses. But the majority of small-to-medium sized businesses, as well as their senior managers, simply don’t focus much on succession planning at all.
Many business owners see succession planning as essentially being the same as exiting a business. Cherniak is quick to point out that while the two can be linked and may, in fact, overlap, they are by no means the same thing. They should not be treated as such.
“Succession planning comes down to this: Are more general, innate skills critical to the leadership of your company, or are more situation-specific skills?” Cherniak asks.
Following an Arc Pattern
Importantly, Cherniak notes, “Succession planning should also be linked to your strategic planning.” He feels that both entrepreneurs and businesses managers follow an arc pattern where their “creativity, energy and effectiveness” are all concerned. As circumstances change, entrepreneurs and business managers can become exhausted and even a liability.
The arc can also change due to a company’s changing circumstances. All of these factors point to “coordinating the arcs of business,” which includes “startup, ramp-up, growth, consolidation, renewed growth and maturity,” with whomever is running the business at the time. In this way, succession planning is not one-dimensional. Instead it should be viewed as quite a dynamic process.
Evaluating Each Company Individually
Cherniak highlights the importance of making sure that the team matches the needs of a company as well as its stages of development. Who is running a company and setting its direction? Answering these questions is important. It also is of paramount importance to make sure that the right person is in charge at the optimal time.
Companies and their circumstances can change. This change can often occur without much notice. As Cherniak points out, few small-to-medium sized businesses focus on succession planning, and this is potentially to their detriment.
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Could the Red-Hot Market for Businesses Be Cooling Down?
The economy is red hot, and that fact is translating into lots of businesses being sold. However, it is possible that this record-breaking streak of sales could cool down in the near future. Entrepreneurs who are considering selling their companies say they’re worried about the future of the economy, according to an article posted on Inc. in February, 2019.
Some 319 business brokers, mergers and acquisitions advisors were surveyed by Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business, the International Business Brokers Association and the M&A Source.
A whopping 83% of survey participants believed that the strong M&A market will come to end in just two years. Perhaps more jarring is the fact that almost one-third of participants believe that the market would cool down before the end of 2019.
The participants believe that the economy will begin to slow down, and this change will negatively impact businesses. As the economy slows down, businesses, in turn, will see a drop in their profits. This, of course, will serve to make them more challenging to sell.
Laura Ward, a managing partner at M&A advisory firm Kingsbridge Capital Partners, told Inc., “People are thinking about getting out before the next recession.” The Pepperdine survey found that a full 80% of companies priced in the $1 million to $2 million range are now heading into retirement. In sharp contrast, 42% of companies priced in the $500,000 to $1 million range are heading into retirement. Clearly, retirement remains a major reason why businesses are being sold.
Is now the time to sell your business? For many, the answer is a clear “yes.” If the economy as a whole begins to slow down, then it is only logical to conclude that selling a business could become tougher as well.
The experts seem to agree that whether it is in one year or perhaps two, there will be a shift in the number of businesses being sold. Now may very well be the right time for you to jump into the market and sell. The best way of making this conclusion is to work with a proven and experienced business broker. Your broker will help you to analyze the various factors involved and make the best decision.
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How to Create A Business Plan
A business plan, which projects 3-5 years ahead, is your road map for your business. It outlines how a company plans to reach yearly milestones, including revenue projections.
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What Kind of Buyers are You Most Likely to Meet?
Selling a business can be an exciting and rather lucrative time. But going through the sales process means embracing the notion that you’ll have to be very prepared for whatever might be thrown your way. A key aspect of preparing to sell your business is to know what types of buyers you’re likely to encounter.
It is only logical to anticipate the types of buyers you may be dealing with in advance. That will allow you to plan how you might potentially work with them. Remember that each buyer comes with his or her own unique desires and objectives.
The Business Competitor
Competitors buy each other all the time. Frequently, when a business is looking to sell, the owner or owners quickly turn to their competitors. Turning to one’s competitors when it comes time to sell makes a good deal of sense; after all, they are in the same business, understand the industry and are more likely to understand the value of what you are offering. With these prospective buyers, a great confidentiality agreement is, of course, a must.
Selling to Family Members
It is not at all uncommon for businesses to be sold to family members. These buyers are often very familiar with the business, the industry as a whole and understand what is involved in owning and operating the business in question.
Often, family members are prepared and groomed years in advance to take over the operation of a business. These are all pluses. But there are some potential pitfalls as well, such as family members not having enough cash to buy or not being fully prepared to run the business.
Foreign Buyers
Quite often, foreign buyers have the funds needed to buy an existing business. However, foreign buyers may face a range of difficulties including overcoming a language barrier and licensing issues.
Individual Buyers
Dealing with an individual buyer has many benefits. These buyers tend to be a little older, ranging in age from 40 to 60. For these buyers, owning a business is often a dream come true, and they frequently bring with them real-world corporate experience. Dealing with a single buyer can also help expedite the process as you will have fewer individuals to negotiate with.
Financial Buyers
Financial buyers are often the most complicated buyers to deal with, as they can come with a long list of demands. That stated, you should not dismiss financial buyers. But just remember that they want to buy your business strictly for financial reasons. That means they are not looking for a job or fulfilling a lifelong dream. For financial buyers, the key point is that your business is generating adequate revenue.
Synergistic Buyers
A synergistic buyer can be an excellent candidate. The reason that synergistic buyers can be such a good fit is that their business in some way complements yours. In other words, there is a synergy between the businesses. The main idea here is that by combining the two businesses they will reap a range of benefits, such as access to a new and very much aligned customer base.
Different types of buyers bring different types of issues to the table. The good news is that business brokers know what different types of buyers are likely to expect out of a deal.
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