Pre-sale tax positioning
Roth conversions, charitable structures, gifting strategy, and entity-level decisions in the 12 to 24 months before close. Most of the tax-savings opportunity is in this window.
Business exit planning covering pre-sale tax positioning, deal structure, and the post-sale wealth plan. The exit's the easy part. What you do with the proceeds is the rest of your life.
Roth conversions, charitable structures, gifting strategy, and entity-level decisions in the 12 to 24 months before close. Most of the tax-savings opportunity is in this window.
Asset sale vs. stock sale, earnouts, seller financing, rollover equity. Each structure has different tax effects. We work with your attorney and CPA on the personal-side math.
Sale proceeds often arrive as a concentrated payment. We plan the diversification, the tax timing, and the investment allocation that fits the new wealth position.
Most owners think about the sale. Few plan for the years after. The investment strategy, the new tax bracket, the time horizon, and the lifestyle decisions all need a plan.
We meet on a real cadence, usually quarterly. The plan flexes as your life and the tax code change. Most relationships span decades.
Offices in Boca Raton and Plantation, plus licensed in all 50 states. Existing clients keep us when they move.
Three things that shape how we deliver business exit for South Florida clients.
Business Exit doesn't sit alone. The investment plan, the tax plan, and the estate plan reference each other. We coordinate all three so decisions match.
No off-the-shelf model portfolios or boilerplate plans. The recommendations match your specific income, tax bracket, family situation, and timeline.
We meet on a quarterly cadence to adjust the plan as your life and the tax code change. The relationship is long-term by design.
For owners in active sale discussions, the pre-sale tax positioning work should ideally start 12 to 24 months before close. The earlier the conversation, the more levers we still have. Once an LOI is signed, the window for some of the planning closes fast.
We don't run the sale process. We aren't the investment banker, the broker, or the M&A attorney. We're the personal financial planning piece, coordinated with the team that does the deal work. Our job is to make sure the owner ends up in the right place financially after the dust settles.
Business exit planning ties to several other areas:
The sibling page. Family transitions, internal sales, ESOPs.
See business succession planning →The audience-parent page. Full-picture work with business owners.
See financial planning for business owners →Pre-sale tax positioning is often the single highest-value planning event in an owner's life.
See tax planning →Charitable structures funded with appreciated business interests pre-sale are extremely tax-efficient.
See charitable giving →The post-sale portfolio. Usually a meaningful shift from how the owner was invested before.
See investment management →The estate plan changes when illiquid business equity becomes liquid sale proceeds.
See estate planning →Business exit planning matters most for:
"We started planning the exit 18 months before close. The pre-sale charitable trust we funded with shares saved a real amount in taxes. The post-sale wealth plan made sure we didn't blow it."
"I sold my business last year. Beth had us prepared for the tax side a full two years before the deal closed. The work in the year after the sale was the harder part, and we were ready."
"Beth coordinated with our investment banker and our attorney without stepping on anyone's toes. The personal financial plan was the missing piece. Now we know what the next 30 years actually look like."
Posts our wealth advisors have put together on this topic.
Ideally 12 to 24 months before close. The pre-sale tax positioning, charitable structures, gifting strategy, and entity-level decisions all benefit from runway. Once an LOI is signed, some of the planning windows close. Even 6 months out, meaningful work can still happen.
It varies, but for many owners the largest single opportunity is funding a charitable structure (donor-advised fund or charitable remainder trust) with appreciated business shares pre-sale. This avoids the capital gains tax on the shares used to fund, generates a charitable deduction, and keeps the charitable intent intact. The math often dwarfs every other tax move.
An asset sale transfers individual assets and liabilities, with the buyer often able to step up the tax basis of the assets and the seller potentially facing ordinary income treatment on some pieces. A stock sale transfers ownership of the entity, usually qualifying for long-term capital gain treatment on the entire purchase price. Buyers usually prefer asset sales for the step-up; sellers usually prefer stock sales for the cleaner capital gains treatment. The actual structure is negotiated and matters a lot to the tax outcome.
Earnouts (deferred consideration paid based on post-sale performance) come with their own tax planning. We coordinate the timing of when earnout payments hit, how they're treated for tax purposes (capital gain vs. ordinary income depending on structure), and how they fit into the post-sale investment plan.
Florida has no state income tax, which is a meaningful advantage for owners selling here. For clients considering a residency change to Florida (or another no-tax state) before a sale, the planning around when and how to establish domicile matters. We coordinate with your tax counsel on the timing.
The first meeting is a conversation, not a sales pitch. We'll talk about where you are, what you're working through, and whether Intercoastal is the right fit. In person in Boca Raton or Plantation, or by video from anywhere.