Among our areas of specialization are Exit Planning services, the use of ESOP's in exit planning, and business valuation by our certified business appraisers for a variety of purposes. Information these services can be found under "Exit Planning Services", "Employee Stock Ownership Plans" and "Business Valuations."

As this list of services is by no means all-inclusive, please feel free to inquire about a service if you do not see it listed. If it is not a service we provide, we would be more than happy to refer you to a qualified professional.

If you would like to learn more about any of our service offerings, please email us and let us know.

Tax related services have long been one of our strengths. With experts in individual, corporate, LLC and partnership taxation issues, planning opportunities and more, we are here to help you minimize your tax and meet all your reporting and disclosure requirements

We use state-of-the-art federal and state tax preparation, research and planning software, which coupled with our extensive experience allows us to do more to minimize your tax burden – whether you're required to file in a single state or in twenty.

Even more importantly, like any investment you need to constantly know whether your business is growing or declining in value. To truly know that, you need to determine the value of your business on a regular basis.

An independent valuation of your business (or of certain estate planning entities such as Family Limited Partnerships) may also be a legal requirement, as in the case of Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) owned companies. Or, a valuation could be strongly recommended, as in many estate planning and reporting situations.

Business valuation is an evolving and complex area of practice. It’s important that a business valuation be performed by a trained and qualified professional for it to beneficial to you, as well as defensible if the valuation is to meet legal requirements.

That’s why we affiliated our firm with the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA), one of the most widely recognized organizations of valuation professionals. All of our valuation services are provided by our four NACVA accredited Certified Valuation Analysts (CVA). That means you receive top-notch service in this important area.

If you’re not legally required to have your business valued, why do so? Importantly, unlike your home, (the value of which can increase dramatically for reasons outside of your control), your business is a living breathing entity that grows when the right forces are applied to it.

For every business, the right 'forces' are different. For some businesses it's changing processes or the way they do business, for others it's changing who they do business with, for others it's changing the team structure, for others it's tighter financial control, for others it's implementing a solid strategic plan and for others it's something entirely different.

The other purpose of our business valuation services is to measure those forces. To find out if the right forces have been applied and take action accordingly. Naturally if they have, we would suggest you do more of whatever caused that increase in value.

Conversely if the value decreased we'd work with you to identify alternative 'forces' or ideas to apply that could correct that position as quickly as possible.

A periodic review of the value of your business then ultimately helps us assist you increase the value of your business.

The tax benefits described above are available to C-corporations and their shareholders. If your company is an S-corporation, the tax benefits of selling to an ESOP are different, but just as exciting. It is possible for an S-corporation to effectively "opt out" of the tax system, since the ESOP's share of S-corporation income is not subject to federal or state income taxes. And, absolutely no current income taxes are paid relative to the income of an S-corporation which is 100% owned by an ESOP!

While ESOP’s are not appropriate for all companies, they're not just for huge companies either. The only way to determine if an ESOP would work for you is to explore the possibility.

We’re ESOP experts who’ve been working with ESOP companies for fifteen years. As one of the few Colorado professional firms with membership in both The ESOP Association and the National Center for Employee Ownership, we have the knowledge, skills and experience to help you determine if an ESOP is right for you and your company.

We can help you evaluate the ESOP potential of your corporation – and our initial consultation and analysis is free of charge!

If proceeding beyond that initial analysis makes sense to you and us, we and other professionals we work with can help you establish the Plan, assist you in securing financing for the purchase of your stock by the ESOP and assist in decisions relative to Plan administration. As Certified Valuation Analysts and business appraisers, we can also perform the required annual valuation of company stock for use in ESOP related transactions.

We work together with your current CPA firm as a specialist in the ESOP field, complimenting rather than competing with your current CPA. ESOP implementation is a team effort. In this area, we work with attorneys specializing in ESOP's and qualified plans from a number of prominent law firms, as well as other consultants, third party administrators and banks who provide financing to ESOP companies. By taking this approach, we can provide you with a complete ESOP solution.

For more information on ESOPs, please check out the website of the National Center for Employee Ownership- there are a number of online articles which answer many basic questions about ESOPs and their tax benefits.

For more in-depth information and to see if an ESOP will work for your company's specific circumstances, contact us for a one-on-one consultation.

We and our strategic partners- exit planning specialist Ken Stiefler, CLU, ChFC and President of eXITS, LLC and attorneys Keith Davis JD, LLM, MBA and Francis Brown JD, LLM, MIM, principals of Davis & Associates, P.C. can help you realize your dreams.

Over the years, our team members have assisted many clients with the sale of their companies, ranging from sales to individual buyers to a Fortune 100 company to Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP's).

It's important to bear this concept in mind: Ultimately, for the value of your business to truly be a realizable asset for you, you need to constantly be working on it with a view to selling it sometime in the future. Whether you sell it or not is irrelevant- keeping that frame of mind means that at least you will always be in a position to sell it and realize it's true value, if you should ever want or need to.

That focus gives you a greater awareness of the need to systemize your business and make it less dependent on you.

People want to buy businesses that work, not businesses that are run by people who work and work and work … Exit planning then is an ongoing, ever improving process and is just as much about working ON your business as planning for the future. (Ask us about the concept of working 'ON' your business rather than 'IN' it and just what that could mean to you!)

Many times, the heirs are surprised at how significant this tax bite can be when no planning had been done to avoid these taxes during a financially successful individual’s lifetime.

It’s important to specifically plan your estate for several reasons.

The first reason is to minimize the impact of estate taxes and bureaucracy so your loved ones (not the government) receive the inheritance you want them to have. In many cases, potential estate taxes can be cut by hundreds of thousands of dollars by relatively simple steps taken during your lifetime.

A second reason is to put in place some controls over how your assets may be accessed and used by your heirs, to prevent dissipation of what you’ve worked so hard for to accumulate.

A third reason is to provide support and protection for minors (children, grandchildren, etc.) who may be beneficiaries of your estate.

At Zick Business Advisors, Inc., we have extensive estate planning experience and expertise to help you both meet your objectives and secure peace of mind. Where appropriate, we work closely with expert legal counsel in estate planning matters.

We also have extensive experience in accounting for the activities of estate planning entities such as trusts and family limited partnerships or limited liability companies, and in the preparation of both estate and trust tax returns.

Over the past several years, we've assisted clients ranging in size from sole proprietorships to corporations with revenues in excess of $100 million in purchase and sale of business transactions. Where required, we've represented our clients throughout the process to help achieve the best possible outcome in both sale and purchase transactions.

If you're thinking of buying or selling a business, call us first. We're happy to help you through this complicated maze.

Even the most qualified managers can benefit from competent, objective feedback. We can help your company's management team develop long-term objectives and specific strategies to facilitate your business' future growth and success.

Our team members Greg Zick, CPA, CVA, CFFA (Certified Forensic Financial Analyst) and Eric Ransick, CPA, CVA, CFF (Certified in Financial Forensics) can assist business owners in evaluating fraud risk in their companies, and in designing improved internal controls and business processes to reduce this risk.

Where necessary, we use accounting and auditing skills to provide an analysis of financial records in conjunction with dispute resolutions, as well as fraud and theft investigation.

For a variety of reasons, including concentrating on other areas of expertise, our firm is no longer accepting new audit engagements. However, for businesses and owners who need or wish outside CPA involvement in the production of financial statements, but where an audit is not required, we will perform review engagements. A review engagement is lesser in scope and considerably more cost effective than an audit. However, a review can be coupled with agreed upon procedures such as confirmation of receivables or observation of physical inventory counts, as an alternative to a mandatory audit, if a company's lenders are agreeable to this approach.

Of course, we also prepare compiled financial statements for those clients who need them. However, when possible, we prefer to help our clients implement internal computerized accounting and financial reporting systems so that monthly CPA prepared financial statements are not necessary. We feel this is a better value for our clients.

Choosing the form of entity of your business (e.g. "S" corporation, sole proprietor, limited liability company…) is a crucial decision that can have longstanding tax implications, positive or negative. We can assist you in evaluating the pros and cons of each entity type to help you determine the most advantageous form of business for your company.

A business can be profitable and still run into trouble due to cash flow issues. We can forecast and evaluate your company's financial condition, estimate financing requirements, and track cash-flow sources and uses.

Forecasting is a necessity when trying to effectively manage and lead a business to profitability. From simple projections to complex financial modeling, our experienced team can assist you in achieving your company's financial goals.

Our aim is always to help owners and management improve their businesses, since increased business value and economic benefits to owners and management result from building a better business.

Qualified retirement plans (e.g. defined-contribution or defined benefit plans, SEPs, etc.) can provide significant tax advantages for closely held businesses and self-employed individuals. Our experienced team can assist you in evaluating the type of pension plan that will best serve the retirement needs of you and your employees.

We can assist business owners in implementing a wide variey of key employee retention vehicles, including performance based bonus plans, restricted stock plans, and qualified incentive stock option plans. If properly designed, such plans can be very tax efficient for both the key employees and the company.

We can help you develop a key employee retention plan that is in line with your long-term company goals, provides great incentive to your team, and is fiscally responsible for your company.