Board-Certified Broker Tag

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 information below. 

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

The class fee is $49 for GABB members, $75 for non-members, and $225 to register for the BCB program plus one class. Note that the BCB program is only open to GABB members. If you want to attend via Zoom, after you register, you will be sent the link. Contact GABB School Director Diane Loupe at diane.loupe@gabb.org or text her at 770-744-3639 for more information.

INSTRUCTORS:

Jeff Forrestall, CPA, CFF, ABV, PFS – Managing Partner of Forrestall CPAs.

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.

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.

Business Broker Marketing: Virtual GABB Class on June 15

Learn how business brokers can identify their market, find clients and market businesses for sale in this class taught by one of Georgia’s most successful business brokers. The June 15 class will be held online and will qualify for the Georgia Association of Business Brokers’ Board-Certified Broker certification.

JEFFERY MERRY, Sr., MBA, J.D.

The class will be taught by Jeff Merry, MBA, J.D., owner and founder of the BUSINESS HOUSE, inc., of Gainesville. He is a lifetime member of the GABB’s prestigious Multi-Million Dollar Club and was the first Georgia broker in the GABB to receive the Phoenix award for being in the Multi-Million Dollar Club for 10 consecutive years. Jeffery has been a member of GABB for more than two decades, is a former GABB president, and is currently a GABB board member.

The class (GREC# 73188) will be held online via Zoom from 9 a.m. until noon, and students who arrive promptly and are on camera for the entire class are eligible to earn three hours of continuing education credit through the Georgia Real Estate Commission and the GABB’s Real Estate School, GREC #8074. 

The class will cover setting up a business brokerage practice, identifying your market and potential clients. Mr. Merry will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of practicing business brokering solo or in a group.  He’ll also address two different approaches to business brokering: horizontal and vertical business brokers. In the horizontal model, the broker works with a spectrum of businesses; in a vertical model, the broker specializes in one or two industries, such as restaurants, child-care centers, convenience stores.

The class will also teach students how to market yourself as a business broker as well as marketing your listings, including legal and ethical issues of documenting your work. Mr. Merry will cover basic marketing methods to market your business brokerage practice and listings:

• Post Cards
• Social Media
• Letters
• Cultivate Referral Base
• E-mail Campaigns
• Networking
• Trade Magazines
• Newspapers
• Billboards
• TV
• Radio
• Coupons – Should Business Brokers use coupons?
• Effective strategies when using different marketing media.
• Special considerations when marketing businesses for sale
  • Confidentiality
  • Due diligence

In the final hour of the class, Mr. Merry will teach students how to work effectively and ethically with other brokers, business buyers and sellers.  He will discuss the GABB Code of ethics, including ethical issues with working other brokers, co-brokering; ethical issues in working with both buyers and sellers and ethical issues in closing a deal.

The class fee is $49 for GABB members WHO REGISTER BEFORE MIDNIGHT on FRIDAY, June 11; $75 for non-members and any members who register late, and $225 to register for the BCB program and one class. Note that the BCB program is only open to GABB members. Contact GABB Executive Director Diane Loupe at diane.loupe@gabb.org or text her at 770-744-3639 for more information.

INSTRUCTOR: Jeff Merry, MBA, J.D., owner and founder of the BUSINESS HOUSE, inc., of Gainesville. After employment by a Fortune 100 company, Mr.  Merry, began the BUSINESS HOUSE, inc.^SM. Since its inception more than 20 years ago, the BUSINESS HOUSE, inc. ^SM has become one of the most successful business brokerage firms in the Southeast. As a Business Intermediary, Jeff has been involved in over 200 mergers and acquisitions that have ranged in acquisition price from $60,000.00 to over $15,000,000.00. Jeffery specializes in serving the manufacturing, distribution, veterinary, service, and medical industries. He is a lifetime member of the Georgia Association of Business Brokers (GABB) prestigious Multi-Million Dollar Club and was the first Georgia broker in the GABB to receive the Phoenix award for being in the Multi-Million Dollar Club for 10 consecutive years. Jeffery has been a member of GABB for 20 plus years and has held the Presidency and Board of Directors positions many years. Jeff holds a Bachelors Degree from Mercer University, a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Illinois, and a Juris Doctorate from Atlanta Law School. Jeffery is also a licensed real estate broker in Georgia and Florida. Further, he is an Adjunct Professor of strategic management, accounting, and finance in MBA programs.

Learn About the Board-Certified Broker Program: Aug. 4

Clients who want to buy or sell a business want to know they are working with a business broker who knows what they’re doing. That’s why the Georgia Association of Business Brokers is preparing a certification program to help train business brokers to better represent their clients.

Business brokers and those who aspire to become brokers are invited to the GABBs’ virtual meeting on Aug. 4, 2020, at 10 a.m. to hear about the Board-Certified Broker or BCB proposal.   Please register to receive the link to attend the meeting.

The GABB believes that to be a successful business broker, a person must understand issues beyond those typically covered by real estate schools. That’s why the GABB has acquired a license from the Georgia Real Estate Commission (GREC) to operate a real estate school, the only such school in Georgia dedicated to business brokering. The proposed BCB program will teach business brokers what they need to know about accounting terms, federal tax returns, understanding financial statements, recasting financial statements, business and inventory valuation, financing a business sale, understanding legal issues, understanding business structures, confidentiality, marketing,  ethics, due diligence, securing business-for-sale listings, and setting up a business broker practice.

The GABB has posted details about the curriculum online at the GABB blog.

At the Aug. 4 meeting, members and others will be able to offer feedback on our proposal.

Under Georgia law, there is no specific licensing requirement to be a business broker. However, anyone selling or buying, offering to buy or sell, acquiring prospects to buy or sell or negotiating for the buying or selling of real estate for compensation must be licensed by the GREC. According to section 520.1-.19 of Georgia law, Business Brokers are covered by the same legal requirements as any Real Estate licensee if the sale includes the transfer of any interest in real estate, including leases.

For more information about GABB, please email diane.loupe@gabb.org or call or text 404-374-3990, or contact GABB president Dean Burnette at dean@b3brokers.com or (912) 247-3209.

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqce6trzsoGNRYgNcmGnu8xN3UZEPG74eR

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.