What Happens to Your Business When You're Done With It?
Whether you're planning to sell, pass the business to family, or simply protect what you've built — Laurence works with your legal and tax advisors to make sure the financial plan is ready when you are.
Most business owners wait too long to start this conversation.
Estate and succession planning isn't just for retirement. The decisions you make today — corporate structure, share classes, insurance, compensation — either make a future transition clean or expensive. The best time to start is when nothing is urgent.
The Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption (LCGE) can shelter over $1M in gains on the sale of your business — but only if your shares qualify. Qualification takes planning years in advance.
Without a shareholder agreement and succession plan, a death or disability can leave your business — and your family — in a deeply difficult position.
A poorly structured exit can cost hundreds of thousands in avoidable taxes. The structure you set up today determines what you keep tomorrow.
A financial plan for every exit scenario.
There's no single path. Laurence helps you build a plan around your actual goals — sale to a third party, family transfer, partner buyout, or simply winding down on your own terms.
Sale to a Third Party
Preparing your business for sale — clean books, normalized earnings, LCGE qualification, asset vs. share deal structuring, and working with your M&A advisor and lawyer on the financial side.
Family Succession
Transferring the business to children or family members — estate freeze strategies, share restructuring, family trust planning, and intergenerational tax planning.
Partner or Management Buyout
Structuring a buyout between partners or to a management team — shareholder agreements, valuation, financing structure, and tax-efficient deal design.
The financial pieces that need to be in place.
Laurence works alongside your lawyer and financial advisor — not instead of them. The CPA role is to ensure the tax structure, the numbers, and the financial plan are all aligned with your legal and personal goals.
Over $1,000,000 in gains — potentially tax-free.
The Lifetime Capital Gains Exemption allows eligible Canadian shareholders to shelter significant gains on the sale of Qualifying Small Business Corporation (QSBC) shares. But qualifying isn't automatic.
Qualification Requirements
- The corporation must be a CCPC
- 90% of assets must be used in an active business at time of sale
- 50% of assets must have been used in active business for 24 months prior
- Shares must have been held for at least 24 months
- The seller must be a Canadian resident
What Can Disqualify You
- ×Too much passive income or investment assets inside the corporation
- ×Shares held for less than 24 months
- ×Incorrect share structure — not all share classes qualify
- ×Corporate reorganization done too close to the sale
The time to check LCGE eligibility is years before a sale — not weeks before closing. If you're thinking about an exit in the next 3–7 years, the planning conversation should start now.
There's no bad time. There is a too-late.
5–10 years out
Corporate structure review. LCGE eligibility check. Share class restructuring if needed. Holding company setup.
3–5 years out
Estate freeze if appropriate. Succession plan documented. Shareholder agreements reviewed. Insurance gaps identified.
1–3 years out
Books cleaned up and normalized. Valuation prepared. Deal structure modelling. Buyer or successor identified.
Year of transition
Transaction support. CRA filings. Retirement income plan. Post-exit tax planning.
Common questions about estate and succession planning.
The best time to plan your exit is before you need to.
Book a conversation with Laurence and let's look at where you are and what needs to be in place.