Selling a Business
Tax planning for business exit and sale
Selling a Business: Your Step-by-Step Tax Action Plan
A visual step-by-step tax action plan for selling a business. Covers deal structure, purchase price allocation, installment sales, depreciation recapture, QSBS exclusion, and key deadlines to minimize your tax bill.
In-Depth Guides (5)
Guides (3)
Guide
Building Your Financial Team: Which Professionals You Need at Each Stage
Learn which financial professionals -- CPA, financial advisor, estate attorney, insurance agent -- you need at each life stage, how to get them working together, and what happens when advice is uncoordinated.
Guide
Selling Your Business: How Your CPA, Broker, and Attorney Work Together
Understand how your CPA, business broker, and attorney coordinate when selling a business. Purchase price allocation, QSBS implications, tax optimization, and the coordination timeline.
Guide
Selling Your Business? The Tax Decisions That Need to Happen Before the Deal Closes
Asset vs. stock sale, QSBS exclusion, installment sales, earnouts, and purchase price allocation -- the tax decisions that determine how much you keep after selling your business.
Quick Guides (31)
Buyer Not Yet Identified
Choose this if you have not yet identified a buyer or are evaluating multiple potential buyer types. Without knowing the buyer, a CPA's value is in modeling...
Deal Structure and Allocation
Choose this if you want to understand how the structure of the deal itself -- asset sale versus stock sale, and how the purchase price is allocated --...
Exploring a Sale
Choose this if you are considering selling but have not committed to a timeline or started formal negotiations. This is the earliest and most flexible stage...
Family Sale
Choose this if the buyer is a family member -- child, sibling, or other relative. Family sales are subject to a distinct set of IRS rules that restrict...
Full Retirement After the Sale
Choose this if the business sale is your exit from the workforce. Full retirement means the sale proceeds are both your liquidity event and the foundation...
Held Less Than One Year
Choose this if you have owned the business (or the equity you are selling) for less than one year. This is the most expensive holding period from a tax...
Held More Than Five Years
Choose this if you have owned the business or equity for more than five years. This is the most tax-advantaged position for a business sale.
Held One to Five Years
Choose this if you have owned the business or equity for more than one year but less than five years. You qualify for long-term capital gains rates, but the...
Management Buyout
Choose this if your management team is the likely buyer. MBOs often involve seller financing because the buyers rarely have the cash to pay the full price...
Minimize Total Tax Burden
Choose this if your primary goal is paying the least possible tax on the business sale. Multiple strategies exist, but they must be coordinated and some...
Need a Comprehensive Tax Analysis
Choose this if you have not yet made firm decisions about the sale and want a CPA to help you understand the full tax picture before committing to a deal...
Private Equity Buyer
Choose this if the likely buyer is a private equity firm. PE deals introduce structures that do not appear in simpler transactions, and each one has tax...
Your Professional Team
CPA
Always
QSBS analysis, purchase price allocation, installment sale structuring, and capital gains planning
Business Attorney
Always
Sale agreement drafting, liability protection, and earn-out structuring
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Financial Advisor
Usually
Post-sale wealth management, liquidity event planning, and diversification strategy
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Business Broker
Sometimes
Buyer sourcing, market valuation, and transaction facilitation
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Business Appraiser
Sometimes
Independent valuation for pricing and tax allocation purposes
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