This questionnaire is designed to help you pinpoint planning opportunities for your family business and organize your goals. It can also be of use when answered with the assistance of your attorney, accountant and/or financial planner.

C Corporations

1. Is compensation to shareholder/employees reasonable in light of the services rendered and the success of the company? Is any compensation currently being paid for past services? Do the corporate minutes reflect this fact?

For many years, estate and gift taxes have been undercutting the wealth of successful family businesses. For instance, though married couples with children may double the tax-free amount they can pass on to their families, there is relatively little shelter if one parent dies. In such a case, tax rates can quickly reach as much as 55% on the fair market value of the deceased parent’s property.

For families with children in private school or college, education costs can be prohibitive. Financial aid is can be hard to obtain and scholarships can be even more elusive. For many families, tax incentives are the only assistance left. The following is a survey of tax-related incentives you may want to consider.

Education IRAs

Peter Drucker wrote in his book, The Practice of Management, that the purpose of a business is "...to Create Customers." He went on to state that said there are two ways to create customers: Marketing and innovation. Innovation comes from the ability to entrepreneur new ideas, develop something that fits a need and work out the kinks to make it effective. Marketing is more than the "5 P's" learned in Marketing 101, that is: Product, Price, Place, People and Promotion.

Many family and ESOP business CEOs find themselves looking at the next generation and saying, "they are not as hungry as I was their age," or "they don’t have the knowledge I had then (or have right now)," or, "they do not want to take any risks."  We also hear stories of CEOs who have grown their businesses as much as they can and are frustrated that all of their time is spent on maintaining, not growing the family firm profitably. Both of these scenarios relate directly to the company’s ability to develop and encourage entrepreneurs.

Welcome to the PTCFO Knowledge Library.

This section of the PTCFO website contains a wealth of information, covering many topics of business management.

Informative Articles : Various articles about business management and life cycles.

Publications : Books that we have authored.