Your Clients Have a Critical Need for Succession Planning

Source: Partner Advisory Advantage

Half of all businesses are expected to change hands in the next decade. To help them through the transition you need skills in business valuation, estate planning, family psychology, personal growth, legal planning, and strategic planning. Obviously you will need a team, and some of the team members may be outside your firm. The CPA should serve as the coach of the team.

CPAs often do not know the complexity of the tax aspects of succession planning. The plan may incorporate estate tax, personal income tax, business income tax, trust tax, and merger & acquisition tax.

You must also have the right marketing program. This does not mean you have to sell succession planning services. Most important is creating awareness that you have the resources to successfully help clients through the succession planning process. Awareness can be created with brochures, speeches, and everyday behavior. Think about changing how you describe your firm. Instead of describing the firm as an accounting and tax firm, describe it as an accounting, tax, and succession planning firm.

Focus on the benefits to the client, not on the various kinds of trusts you can create. Benefits include:

• The entity will be successful after the transition. The client wants the comfort that his creation will continue to thrive.
• Prevention of family conflicts.
• Tax minimization.
• Orderly transition.
• Preparation of future leaders.

In addition to being a coach, it is helpful to develop a specialty (e.g., valuations, ESOPs, etc.) and become known for that specialty.

Lastly, you need the right delivery protocols. Each phase of the succession planning process should be covered in a manual with checklists, questionnaires, and explanations.

From Partner Advantage Advisory, September 2005, p. 1. Hudson Sawyer Professional Services Marketing Inc. www.hudsonsawyer.com. Subscription $279 per year; single issues—$25. Orders 800-945-6462.