Who can help me with succession planning for my business?

Succession planning consulting is not one profession. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) reports that formal succession planning remains uncommon and that many owners find the financial, legal, tax and valuation questions hard to work through. Each of those four areas has its own kind of professional, and the owner has to decide whom to call first. This guide sets out the main sources of help in Canada, what each one is suited to, and the questions that make the first meeting useful. It is a map of who does what, not a recommendation of a firm, and nothing here tells you whether to sell, keep or hand over your business.

Start by naming the questions

Before you hire anyone, write down what you actually need answered. CFIB says finding a suitable successor is the most significant barrier owners face, so one question is who the successor could be. Others are what the business is worth, how the shares or assets would change hands, what tax follows, and how the business runs once you step back. An adviser is easier to choose when the question is specific. If you cannot yet say which of those is the biggest, say so in the first conversation and ask who the adviser would bring in. A plan also has a shape of its own, which the live page on what a succession plan contains walks through.

A lender or consultant for the transition plan

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) publishes advice on succession planning. Its page asks whether you will be ready when it is time to leave, and describes planning a succession strategy for a smooth transition to new ownership while maintaining the values of the business. BDC also offers consulting services, which it describes as professional advisory services in which external experts help businesses solve problems and reach strategic goals. Its consulting page does not list succession among its areas of expertise, so ask directly whether a mandate would cover your situation and what it would involve. BDC says pricing varies according to the scope and complexity of the engagement, and that it puts together a proposal including the solutions, deliverables, budget and timelines before you commit.

A valuator for what the business is worth

BDC lists reasons an owner may want to know what the company is worth, including selling the business, buying out a partner, and tax or succession planning. CBV Institute, the body behind the Chartered Business Valuator designation, runs a search by specialty and location to connect you with a qualified business valuator. CBV Institute says a CBV provides the analysis behind the figure, so you understand how the value was determined. Our comparison of an accountant and a business valuator sets out where the two roles differ.

A lawyer for the documents

Handing over a business involves agreements, share or asset transfers, and possibly a will or a shareholder or partnership agreement. The Law Society of British Columbia, for example, describes its regulatory functions, including reviewing and investigating complaints about lawyers, and lists Finding a Lawyer and a Lawyer Directory on its page for the public. That is one province’s tool, so check the law society for the province where your business operates. Ask the lawyer whether they act on business transfers, who would act for each party, and whether acting for more than one party would raise a conflict.

An accountant for the tax side

CFIB lists tax among the considerations owners find hard to navigate. Ask an accountant who knows your books to map the tax questions in a transfer before they land in an offer. Ask what transfers they have worked on, what information they need from you, and how they would work alongside your lawyer and valuator. Tax rules change and differ in their application to each structure, so the useful output from this meeting is a list of questions to confirm, not a conclusion.

• What exactly would you handle, and what would you refer to someone else?
• Have you worked on transfers of businesses like mine, and in my province?
• Who coordinates the other advisers, and how do we share documents?
• What do you need from me in the first month, and what will it cost to get a written scope?
• Do you act for anyone else who could be on the other side of this transfer?

Sequence and coordination

There is no required order, but a sensible one is to define the goal first, then value, then structure and tax, then documents. Whoever you hire first, ask that person to say which questions fall outside their role. If you are weighing the plan itself, do I need a succession plan before I consider selling covers that decision separately.