Exit and Succession Planning
Building a business is one thing, but exiting it is an entirely different set of skills. It requires strategy and discretion.
Often, businesses want to create a five year exit plan that is geared towards growing the business, and then selling it after it has reached a certain size or value.
Equally there can be a variety of reasons why a business would want to plan for the succession of a family member to take over.
Whether you are looking at commercial or personal reasons to create a plan for an exit, we have a wealth of experience helping you, your shareholder or family attain your goals.
We can assist you with all the practical steps from creating the plan, delivering it and ultimately the exit and sale of the business.
It is crucial to maximise profitability for all parties, so that exit and succession is properly timed, the tax implications are planned for and considered, and the business is properly valued.
Whatever your situation is at MWA Accounting, we can help you plan to make the next step the most profitable and smooth transition for everyone involved.
Our Strategic Advisory Services
Virtual Finance Department
- A dedicated point of contact in MWA Accounting on hand to give advice and answer queries
- Providing a variety of services from forecasting to advising on business structures
Cashflow & Profitability Planning
- Cashflow planning for business owners
- Planning, budgeting & forecasting
Exit & Succession Planning
- Clarifying reasons and goals for a business exit plan
- Creating a tangible exit plan
Margin Health Check
- Reassessing the margins of products and services
- Identifying "leaks", removing and restructuring
- Improve decision making around growth and increase margins
Vision Days
- Defining your business vision
- Identifying areas of weakness
- Creating a tangible business plan going forward
Who we work with
Sellers shipping internationally
Sellers scaling from UK to EU and US
Digital Product Creators
£500k to £5M+ Businesses
Case Studies
MWA assists with a successful business sale package
"A company was referred to MWA last year as they were looking to sell their business for an impending retirement. They had some interested parties; however, the accounts and bookkeeping weren’t of a sufficient quality to give potential buyers what they needed.
We were engaged to assist with the sale, advising on the tax implications of different options, amending and reclassifying bookkeeping records to allow departmentalised monthly management accounts. As part of this process, we were also involved in preparing a seller's pack to distribute to potential buyers, dealing with all financial due diligence and to assist with SPA terms, as well as completion accounts. There was a successful sale package totalling £1.2m."
MWA creates a mutually beneficial share structure
“MWA were approached by a family holding a property portfolio spread out across various members and limited companies. They wanted to grow their portfolio in a tax-efficient manner, whilst long-term ensuring that the portfolio could easily pass to their children.
After a tax planning review, MWA were able to start the process of bringing all properties into 1 corporate group, headed by a Family Investment Company with a share structure that allowed for the children to benefit from the future growth.
By planning it properly, MWA were able to save the family SDLT & CGT of £1.6m on incorporation, Annual tax taxings of c£20k and IHT saving of c£3.2m."
FAQs
We will spend time with you and your team getting to grips with what your goals are and challenges. Then we will put together a plan of action of what is required to reach your goals and how long that is likely to take.
If you own a business, manage family wealth, or are thinking about retirement or selling your company in the next 5–10 years, it’s a good time to seek professional advice. Early succession planning gives you more options and helps maximise long-term financial outcomes.
Ideally, succession planning should begin 5–10 years before an owner plans to exit the business. Early planning allows time to strengthen management teams, improve business valuation, and develop the most tax-efficient transition strategy.
Family business succession planning focuses on transferring ownership, leadership, and wealth from one generation to the next. Professional guidance helps manage family expectations, structure ownership correctly, and ensure the business remains financially strong.
Succession planning in wealth management focuses on protecting and transferring wealth between generations. Through structured financial planning, tax strategies, and investment management, families can preserve and grow their assets long term.
Succession planning focuses on preparing the next generation of leadership, while business exit planning focuses on the owner’s strategy for leaving the business. Financial advisors and accountants often integrate both to achieve the best financial and operational outcome.
What do MWA Accounting's exit and succession planning service look like?
We will spend time with you and your team getting to grips with what your goals and challenges are.
Then we will put together a plan of action for what is required to reach these goals and how long that is likely to take.
Our main goal is to work in a way that is convenient to you and your business and achieve impactful bottom-line results for you.
Contact us so we can have an informal chat with you as to how we could help you and your team.
Book a Call
"extremely friendly, approachable, and give clear advice. The team are highly efficient and go the extra mile for me and those that work with me. Whenever I have a query Richard is always on the end of the line to assist. I would highly recommend MWA to any other company looking for a reliable accountancy practice..."
Alex, Managing Director, UK Expert Medical
"...inputs and response times are fantastic ... advice has been timely, professional and commercial both in dealings with us and other professional advisers... it’s unusual to find an accountant in practice who speaks in plain English and is so commercially-minded, which is exactly what we have in MWA.”
Andy Scott, Chairman, REL Capital
"...great service from MWA Accounting every time, really pleased we switched across to them and they've really helped us out as a company over the last couple of years, always offering great advice, would certainly recommend."
Josh Ainsley, Managing Director, Ainsley Signs
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