ESOP Planning, Documents, and Valuations

Hall & Company provides ESOP plan documents and ESOP valuations.

ESOP Planning: Many A/E firms are adding an ESOP to their overall ownership transfer plan. The tax advantages of an ESOP make it an option worth considering. However, ESOPs inevitably require that ownership be distributed across a firm’s entire staff.

Our focus is demonstrating how an ESOP can be used to facilitate ownership transfer without compromising the direct ownership opportunities of a firm’s key staff.

ESOP Documents: We have a comprehensive ESOP checklist that allows us develop almost any variation on an ESOP allowable under IRS code. This leaves us with the task of working with you to help you understand these options and to specify a plan consistent with your preferences. Further, we can act as your agent with the IRS in order to obtain a determination letter that recognizes your plan as meeting all the requirements of an ESOP.

ESOP Valuations: We perform ESOP valuations. We have developed a methodology to determine a proper value that can be supported by an internal ownership plan. Our specialization with A/E firms and our breadth of services in the area of ownership transfer make us uniquely qualified to provide valuation services. We know which publicly held firms are truly comparable and how acquiring firms value their acquisitions. The values we determine are supported by cash flows generated by the business over the firm’s ownership transfer horizon. We know how A/E firms compensate owner/employees and how to determine a firm’s true income potential.