As I sit here about to board an airplane on a Saturday morning, I find myself feverishly responding to work related emails. This leads me to take a break from my emails and wonder if technology has made my work life easier or more demanding? Clearly there are arguments to support both positions but Continue reading
I’d like to share some exciting news with you today! I have spoken at a number of conferences over the past few years and have developed a real liking for it. I usually speak to groups of pharmacy owners, ranging from 25 to 150+ people. This is an industry I’ve gotten very familiar with Continue reading
The following are a list of things everyone should make a valiant effort to accomplish and compile before going to see their accountant, it keeps costs down in terms of what you have to pay your accountant to do and equally importantly helps you get organized so your accountant is only confirming information you’ve already summarized, not surprising you with brand new facts and figures. Here goes: Continue reading
Do you ever think to yourself “Why is it so difficult to obtain reliable, productive and cost effective computing with my current network?” If you do, then we’re in the same boat. Since the conception of our computer network, we’ve been having the same computer networking problems over and over. And as our firm’s “chosen tech handler” if you will, I have been trying to get us set up with a cohesive, functional system for a few years now.
Like most small and medium size businesses, we Continue reading
Too often I see new entrepreneurs come to our accounting firm with their corporate and personal financial affairs in a mess. There is usually a huge push to get the business up and running and very little or no resources are spent on the administrative side of the operation. Continue reading
During this festive time of year, our clients often ask us whether or not employee gifts, bonuses and social events are taxable. Unfortunately generally speaking, a gift or award that you give an employee is a taxable benefit and must be included in their employment earnings. However, the good news is that there are some exceptions. Continue reading
I hear this question all the time. As owner managers look forward to retirement, their company represents a large portion of their retirement assets. How much is this retirement asset and when is the right time to sell?
Once it has been decided to (at least) consider retirement, I get the request, “Please value my business so I know what it is worth and the price I will get”. The words value, worth and price tend to be used interchangeably as though they have the same meaning, but they are quite different in the context of selling your business.
It still amazes me when I see people scrambling the week before the holidays to buy last minute gifts for their friends and loved ones. I often wonder why these people wait until they have to fight the crowds at the end of December when they know how busy the stores are going to be. I have come up with a formula to explain this behaviour – 1/3 procrastination + 1/3 laziness + 1/3 poor planning. I could write a whole blog on how procrastination and laziness may lead to the fall of the North American economy in the next fifty years, but that would be more self cathartic than interesting, so I’ll focus the remainder of this blog on planning.
Why do business owners find it so hard to sit down and plan for their succession?
According to a survey conducted by a national accounting firm, only one-third of family-owned businesses survive the transition to the second generation. And of these businesses, only one-third survive to the third generation. Pretty poor odds for your grandchildren taking over the family business.
There are three basic reasons why transferring the business to the next generation fails. Continue reading