We Are Family: How Family Businesses Have Been Hanging Tough During the Economic Crisis

Posting by Jacqueline M. Thompson, CPA, Principal

Around the world, businesses have been handling the global economic crisis in a variety of ways, including downsizing, changing management, cutting bonuses, acquiring other businesses or being acquired, even closing down all together.  There is an element to the family business that is quite different from a non-family business, and it seems in these tough times, being family can be an advantage.

Positive Steps Everyone Can Take

There are of course some things every business […]

January 19, 2010 Family Owned Businesses Read more...

All On Board! Getting Your Family Business Started with a Board of Directors

Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA, Principal

Talk to any family business owners about their board of directors, and you’ll most likely get a wide variety of questions in lieu of answers.  How large should the board be?  Should the board even exist?  Is a board necessary when the founder or the founder’s child is running the company?  Should a board include non-family members?  Why is that?

Why Sometimes It’s Good to be Board

Some family businesses are good at what they […]

January 15, 2010 Accounting, Family Owned Businesses Read more...

Tax Relief Tools in Time for Your Next Family Business Tax Returns

Posting by Geoffrey D. Brown, CPA, Principal

A CPA down to my soul, I decided to focus on a few tax items for my blog post this month – I just can’t help myself.  There were a couple tax relief items for businesses that were passed into law last year and may be of some interest to family businesses.

Nothing but Net – Net Operating Loss Carryback

The first tax change is for Net Operating Loss Carryback.  This measure, to get a […]

January 11, 2010 Family Owned Businesses, Tax Read more...

Respecting the Business While the Family Business Celebrates the Season

Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA, Principal

Well, we’ve been seeing them trickle in since around Thanksgiving.  Snowy scenes, stockings, warm wishes, thanks, reflections on the year and hopes for the following one.  Some secular, some specific to a creed, religion, etc.  Names are printed mostly, sometimes signed, and occasionally there is a picture taken just for this.  What are these December darlings?  The company holiday cards.

What is the Message Your Family Business is Conveying?

As the economy slowing continues its […]

December 23, 2009 Family Owned Businesses Read more...

We Can’t Hear This Enough – Succession and Estate Planning for Your Family Business

Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA, Principal

Succession planning is inextricably linked to estate planning in a family business.  We’re always looking for specific family-related business issues, but this one can’t be hit home too often – your family business needs a succession plan, sooner rather than later, for a variety of very important reasons and with many options to consider.

Will the Business Stay in the Family or be Sold?

If you want this to stay in the family, you’ll need […]

November 20, 2009 Family Owned Businesses, Wealth Management Read more...

Success Comes Before Succession in the Dictionary: Honoring the Family Business Leader

Posting by Geoffrey D. Brown, CPA, Principal

At the recent Family Firm Institute (FFI) conference in New York, the first session I attended did not quite live up to the hype in the title, so I decided to change my tactic and instead of attending sessions that sounded like they would be the most interesting, I decided to attend those focusing on being conducted by people with authority and credentials in the field of family business advising.

One of those sessions […]

October 28, 2009 Accounting, Family Owned Businesses Read more...

Armani and Dangerous: When the Family Business is Really About One Person

Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA, Principal

When the product or service of a business is primarily the creativity itself, as in fashion design, the differentiator and the branding is that creative mind.  Such is the case with Giorgio Armani SpA, where anyone in the capitalist world knows what is meant when an Armani suit is worn.  Because up to this point, it’s been all about Giorgio, his designs, his presence, his business decisions.  Although this is a family business, […]

October 22, 2009 Accounting, Family Owned Businesses Read more...

Private Equity Giant Berkshire Partners Goes Shopping for Family Business Grocery Retailer

Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA, Principal

It isn’t every family business owner’s dream to grow their company huge; sometimes the desire is to be successful, manageable by the family, and perhaps to consistently continue on for some generations, producing a great reputation from the family name.  But of course many family businesses aim high and get there, like Grocery Outlet, Inc., a third-generation “extreme value” grocery retailer.

Many family-owned supermarket chains stay relatively local, with a dozen or so locations, […]

October 16, 2009 Accounting, Family Owned Businesses Read more...

To the Family Business Born: What are the Rights of Passage?

Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA, Principal

Being born into a family business does not necessarily grant one all the rights and privileges of becoming an owner of that business at birth.  All too often young family members look upon themselves as heirs of entitlement without the thought of the management obligations that must go along with the rights of ownership.

It is important for families to invest a considerable amount of time and effort in educating these young potential shareholders, […]

October 2, 2009 Family Owned Businesses Read more...

No Rest for the Restaurant-Owning Family: The Type of Family Business that Really Tests Your “Chops”

Posting by Jacqueline M. Thompson, CPA

It’s pretty hard to think of restaurants that don’t have at least some family connection, be it passed on in the family over the years, brothers co-owning, a family member implied in the name (e.g., Dave Thomas’ daughter “Wendy”), or family everywhere from head chef to valet.  It’s nearly impossible to think of a diner or similar type of eatery without thinking of family members popping up in every staffing position imaginable, ranging from […]

September 24, 2009 Family Owned Businesses Read more...