Heading for the big exit: How a part-time CFO can help maximize value when you sell your business

The CFO Centre will provide you with a highly experienced senior CFO with ‘real-world experience’ for a fraction of the cost of a full-time CFO. This means you will have on your team:

• One of Canada’s leading CFOs, working with you on a part-time basis
• A local support team of the highest calibre CFOs
• A national and international collaborative team of the top CFOs sharing best practices (the power of hundreds)
• Access to our national and international network of clients and partners.

With all that support and expertise at your fingertips, you will achieve better results, faster. It means you’ll have more confidence and clarity when it comes to decision-making. After all, you’ll have access to expert help and advice whenever you need it.

In particular, your part-time CFO will help you to ensure that your business has planned and prepared for an exit. They will ensure that your sales process is managed in an efficient way to minimize challenges on price and prevent advisors’ fees from eating up too much of the sale price. He or she will, for example:

• Help you to implement your strategy for growth and exit    
• Identify where value can be maximized and eliminate unprofitable or low profit activities
• Ensure that shareholders’ interests are protected and consistent with the shareholders’ agreement
• Explain and introduce incentive arrangements available for key management. These could include bonus plans aligned to the business objectives or option plans
• Ensure that property is held in the most appropriate manner for the business and any potential acquirer i.e. freehold or leasehold and length of tenancy
• Review pension arrangements to identify any funding or future liability issues
• Protect intellectual property and ensure that SR&ED tax credit claims are made to help fund new intellectual property
• Review contracts and trading terms to ensure they are in place, up to date, compliant and enforced
• Identify risks to the business from suppliers and customers on whom the business may have become reliant and plan to mitigate the risk
• Improve the accuracy and timeliness of management information
• Introduce systems and controls to increase confidence in the integrity of the accounting information
• Improve and/or introduce forecasting processes and procedures so that budgets and forecasts can be used as dynamic planning tools
• Identify means of improving margins and reducing overheads to improve profitability
• Ensure compliance with GST/PST/HST, Employee Source Deductions, Income Tax and Corporation Tax legislation while seeking ways to reduce the overall tax burden to you and your business
• Introduce you to corporate finance, legal and other advisers to help with all aspects of the exit preparation and process
• Project manage the exit process internally so that it minimizes disruption to other staff and their continuing responsibilities
• Create confidence in the acquirer and their advisers so that they have limited opportunity to attempt to negotiate the price down or increase warranties from you
• Help you achieve the freedom you want after the efforts that you have invested in growing the business.

A successful exit can be very rewarding, but planning is critical to maximizing overall value. By planning ahead, you will be able to sell faster, for more money and ensure that you can plan your tax position to reduce the tax cost to shareholders. You keep a greater proportion of the sale price.

By demonstrating that you and your team have reliable information that allows you to report and forecast accurately, you will be able to instill confidence in an acquirer and their advisors. You will also minimize possible price reductions.

A part-time CFO from The CFO Centre works with you to make your plans a reality by shouldering some of the burden. We give you the opportunities to grow your business further, from a position of strength, in the

knowledge that you will be able to market your business, or take advantage of an offer to acquire it.

Book your free one-to-one call with one of our part-time CFOs now.

tel: 1-800-918-1906