Enterprise value is not spendable wealth
Debt, working-capital adjustments, transaction costs, taxes, escrows, earnouts, and rollover equity can separate headline price from day-one liquidity.
FOR FINANCIAL ADVISERS AND WEALTH MANAGERS
Connect the Business-Sale Assumption to the Client’s Life Plan
For many owners, the company is the retirement plan, the concentrated asset, and the legacy. A sound personal plan cannot treat sale value, timing, taxes, and liquidity as a single optimistic number.
THE PLANNING GAP
Model what the deal may deliver—not only what the owner hopes the business is worth.
Timing changes the personal plan
A sale in one year, three years, or never creates different savings, insurance, cash-flow, and portfolio decisions.
Buyer type changes the outcome
An SBA buyer, search fund, private-equity platform, and strategic acquirer may offer different certainty, structure, transition roles, and upside.
The client may retain risk
Seller notes, earnouts, indemnity exposure, and rollover equity mean the closing may not end the owner’s economic exposure.
A BETTER SCENARIO SET
Stress-test at least four outcomes
- No sale: Can the plan work if the owner keeps the company longer?
- Lower cash outcome: What if buyer discounts and taxes reduce usable proceeds?
- Structured deal: What if part of the value is deferred, contingent, or rolled?
- Strong strategic outcome: What decisions should be prepared in advance if the upside case appears?
The CFP Board Code and Standards frames financial planning as collaborative, requires attention to scope and conflicts, and addresses coordination with other professional providers. Any referral compensation should be evaluated under the adviser’s firm policies and applicable rules.
WHERE EXIT DESK FITS
Buyer-lens input for the planning assumptions
Exit Desk adds
- Indicative valuation scenarios by likely buyer type
- Specific risks that may affect price, structure, or certainty
- A 1–5 year readiness action plan
- A clearer basis for after-tax and liquidity scenarios
Exit Desk does not replace
- Investment advice or portfolio management
- Retirement, insurance, or estate planning
- Tax advice, legal advice, or a formal valuation
- A broker or M&A adviser in a live sale process
MAKE THE ASSUMPTION VISIBLE
Give the client’s planning team a buyer-side baseline before the transaction controls the options.
The Buyer-Lens Audit™ is $199 under $1M revenue and $499 at $1M+. Partners receive $100 per converted client; disclose and manage compensation under applicable standards and firm policies.