KPM

Financial Statements Sec. 179 Tax Deduction Health Care Plan Assessing Customer Credit QBI Deduction Cash Withdrawal Small business retirement Spouse travel expenses Accounting Software Strategic Planning Process Insurance Schemes Enterprise Risk Management Program Account-Based Marketing Wrong Software For Your Organization Operational Review Internal Benchmarking Reports Sales approach Capturing Data Older Workers Pooled Employer Plans Financial Statement Options BOI Reporting Rules Privileged Users Medicare Premiums DOL Business valuation Trust Fund Recovery Penalty Value-Based Sales Fringe Benefits Green Lease Strategic Planning Financial Reporting Marketing Strategy Succession planning health care benefits Cyberinsurance PTO Buying Media Screening Pipeline Management Billing Best Practices Solo 401(k)

Use A Buy-Sell Agreement To Avoid Succession Drama

The highly popular series “Succession” aired its final episode recently, and if it accomplished anything, it showcased the chaos and uncertainty that can occur if a long-time business owner fails to establish a clearly written and communicated succession plan.

While there are many aspects to succession planning, one way to put some clear steps in writing — particularly if your company has multiple owners — is to draft a buy-sell agreement.

Avoiding Conflicts
A “buy-sell,” as it’s often called for short, is essentially a contract that outlines the terms and conditions under which the owners of a business, or the business itself, can buy out an owner’s interest if a “triggering event” occurs. Such events typically include an owner dying, becoming disabled, getting divorced, or deciding to leave the company.

If an owner dies, for example, a buy-sell can help prevent conflicts — and even litigation — between surviving owners and a deceased owner’s heirs. In addition, it helps ensure that surviving owners don’t become unwitting co-owners with a deceased owner’s spouse who may have little knowledge of the business or interest in participating in it.

A buy-sell also spells out how ownership interests are valued. For instance, the agreement may set a predetermined share price or include a formula for valuing the company that’s used upon a triggering event, such as an owner’s death or disability. Or it may call for the remaining owners to engage a business valuation specialist to estimate fair market value.

By facilitating the orderly transition of a deceased, disabled, or otherwise departing owner’s interest, a buy-sell helps ensure a smooth transfer of control to the remaining owners or an outside buyer.

This minimizes uncertainty for all parties involved. Remaining owners can rest assured that they’ll retain ownership control without outside interference. The departing owner, or in some cases that person’s spouse and heirs, know they’ll be fairly compensated for the ownership interest in question. And employees will feel better about the company’s long-term stability, which may boost morale and retention.

Funding The Agreement
There are several ways to fund a buy-sell. The simplest approach is to create a ‘sinking fund’ into which owners make contributions that can be used to buy a departing owner’s shares. Or remaining owners can simply borrow money to purchase ownership shares.

However, there are potential complications with both options. That’s why many companies turn to life insurance and disability buyout insurance as a funding mechanism. Upon a triggering event, such a policy will provide cash that can be used to buy the deceased owner’s interest. There are two main types of buy-sells funded by life insurance:

1. Cross-purchase agreements. Here, each owner buys life insurance on the others. The proceeds are used to purchase the departing owner’s interest.

2. Entity-purchase agreements. In this case, the business buys life insurance policies on each owner. Policy proceeds are then used to purchase an owner’s interest following a triggering event. With fewer ownership interests outstanding, the remaining owners effectively own a higher percentage of the company.

A cross-purchase agreement tends to work better for businesses with only two or three owners. Conversely, an entity-purchase agreement is often a good choice when there are more than three owners because of the cost and complexity of owners having to buy so many different life insurance policies.

Getting Expert Guidance
Creating, administering, and executing a buy-sell agreement calls for expert assistance. Our firm can help you identify, gather, and organize the relevant financial information involved.

Related Articles

Talk with the pros

Our CPAs and advisors are a great resource if you’re ready to learn even more.