Business OwnersExit Planning
Illustrative planning scenario — not an actual client. This example is hypothetical, created for educational purposes, and does not represent guaranteed results. Individual circumstances vary; always seek professional tax, legal and insurance advice before acting.
Client Profile
The owner of a mid-sized services business in Calgary, early 50s, who is thinking about selling in three to five years but hasn’t started planning for it yet.
The Situation
Most of the owner’s net worth was tied up in the business itself, with limited assets held outside it. A future sale would trigger significant decisions around corporate structure and taxation, and would determine what retirement income looked like afterward.
What They Initially Wanted to Solve
What multiple the business might realistically sell for.
What Made It More Complicated
Value is only part of the picture. How a sale is structured — a share sale, an asset sale, or an earn-out — significantly affects after-tax proceeds. The corporation also held both operating assets and passive investments, which complicated eligibility for certain tax treatments.
Planning Priorities
- Understand how proceeds might be taxed under different sale structures
- Review whether a holding company structure could help clean up the corporation before a sale
- Identify how much personal retirement income the eventual proceeds would need to support
- Start separating personal financial independence from the business’s day-to-day performance
A Coordinated Planning Approach
- Worked with the accountant on structure options well ahead of any transaction
- Built a retirement projection based on a range of possible sale outcomes rather than a single number
- Began diversifying some assets outside the business to reduce concentration risk
- Set a timeline for revisiting the plan annually as the target sale date approached
Professional Coordination
- Accountant — structure options and tax planning
- Corporate lawyer — share structure and future sale documentation
- Business valuator — an informal value range to plan around
- Financial planner — retirement income modeling and coordination
Important Considerations
- Transaction structures and tax treatments available at the time of a sale depend on rules in effect then and individual eligibility — this is not a guarantee of any tax outcome
- Business valuations are estimates and can change materially as market conditions and the business itself evolve
The earlier the planning starts before a sale, the more options remain on the table.
Related Service: Learn more about our Financial Planning for Business Owners services.
