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American Business Brokers & Advisors Founder & President MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS BUSINESS VALUATIONS
NOVEMBER 2025
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Who Does Your Accountant Work For?
In my business of working with business owners and helping them determine what their businesses are worth, we work with many accountants. But over the years, I have run into some accountants for whom I was not quite sure who they were working for. Let me explain what I am talking about. Let’s say I am in conversation with a business owner who has 20 convenience stores. They started small and built their business into a very profitable one, and they have come to a point in their life where they are thinking about stepping away from the business. The first thing they generally will do is talk to their accountant and let them know they are thinking about selling the business and turning the business into cash to retire on.
In more than one situation, I have had the accountant attempt to talk the business owner out of selling their business because they didn’t want to lose their account. We call this kind of accountant the “Stay with me until I am ready to retire” accountant. Then we have the accountant who has been working with the business owner for a number of years, who says they can help you out and tell you what your business is worth. This is the first signal the business owner is working with someone who knows nothing about his industry. If the accountant thinks he can come up with the market value of the owner’s 20 convenience stores, he is wrong, because he doesn’t know the convenience store industry. All he knows is the income and expense statements of the business and how much profit the business makes. He doesn’t know anything about the quality of the business's assets or what buyers are paying for a chain of 20 convenience stores. All he knows is that the business makes XXX as a net profit, and multiplying this number times something is what the business is worth. We call this kind of accountant the “Delusional” accountant. Then we have the business owner who either inherited or purchased the business from their family and continued to operate and grow it. In this situation, when the business owner took over the family business, they kept the same accountant the family had been using for some time. (Get ready for this because I have encountered it more times than you can imagine.) When it comes time for my team to review the financial books and records of the business and to analyze the business, it takes them generally three times longer to complete their work because the books and records are so messed up. What should have taken maybe four weeks ends up taking between 6 and 12 months to get the numbers cleaned up because the business owner who acquired the business from their family continued the same bad accounting that was in place. The accountant is to blame because they never spoke up as the business grew from a few stores to 20 stores and continued with archaic accounting methods instead of implementing better Continued on Page 2 ...
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accounting procedures. We call this kind of accountant “Asleep at the Wheel.”
you follow the tax code, you will learn that there are lots of incentives the government gives a business owner to grow their business and reduce their tax liability. But somehow, this information never makes it to the client. Over all the years I have been in business, and this includes taking one company public, I have never had one of my accountants come to me and say, “Terry, you should consider doing this because there are tax savings involved, and you will get to put more money in your pocket.” No, instead, I have had to read the tax code, find the tax incentives, and then ask the accountant if I can implement what I read, and they say, “Oh, yes, you can do that. “ We call these kinds of accountants “The Get-Along" accountants because they don’t want to rock the boat and prefer things just stay the same, and don’t want to get out of their box. Of course, if you have read this far, I am sure you are thinking the accountant you use is nothing like any of the examples I have mentioned. Well, good, I am glad to hear you think you have a fantastic accountant who is doing a great job, and you don’t think you are overpaying on taxes. They always have your numbers ready for you each month, and things have been great for many years. My only question is, have you challenged your accountant lately and
asked them what else they could do for you and your business? Have they discussed with you what is going on with the tax laws, or what the status of the new estate laws is in case something were to happen to you? Well, if you are not challenging your accountant and asking what they can do to help improve your profitability, then shame on you. Your accountant, attorney, and business advisor, as well as myself, are hired guns, and we work for you! You employ us to help you create value, and if we are not doing our job, then shame on us and shame on you for not asking. I bring this up about accountants, attorneys, business advisors, and myself because I believe in the value system. If we are not creating value, then we should go away. I believe in the value system so strongly that in every agreement I enter into with my clients, there is a clause that says if you feel that I or American Business Brokers & Advisors is not creating value, you can tell us to go away. At American Business Brokers & Advisors, we recognize and respect the fact that we are working with our clients’ livelihoods, and our goal is to enhance their situation. It is my hope that all the professionals you work with in your business are working to help create value for you and your business. –Terry Monroe
Operating a business is hard work, and there are a lot of moving parts to owning and operating a business. The main reason for owning and operating a business, besides the freedom factor, is to generate a profit and pay minimal taxes. Keep in mind, I have made two points. Make a profit, which entails having good numbers and knowing where you are at all times with income and expenses. But a true net profit is how much you get to put in your pocket at the end of the day. You can make a lot of money, but if you are paying too much in taxes, then you are defeating your objective to be in business. Most business owners are generally clueless when it comes to what is deductible and what is not deductible, and how the tax system works. I know because when I start talking taxes with a lot of business owners, their eyes glaze over. I am not a tax expert, but I do read tax books and have a pretty good idea of how our tax system works. I need to know this because it is my job to make sure I help my business owners put the maximum amount in their pockets after the sale of their business. What I have discovered over the years is that, generally, accountants do not come forward and offer their clients tax-saving strategies they can incorporate in their business to help reduce their tax liability. If
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SUDOKU (SOLUTION ON PG. 4) Take a Break!
Find out, with just three pieces of information about your business, how we can provide a convenience store operator with a market valuation showing what their convenience stores and businesses are worth in today’s marketplace. Best of all, it costs you nothing and it is entirely confidential. Simply send an email to Terry@TerryMonroe , and in the subject line, put “3 Point Market Valuation” Information is the key to everything. Don’t play a guessing game. Get the information you need. TERRY’S ‘3 POINT MARKET VALUATION’
TRUISMS FROM MY MOTHER VIOLET
WORD SEARCH
“Do it today so you can do it again tomorrow.” About the people you will meet: “As you get older,
you will learn in life that there are more horse's asses than there are horses.” When it comes to marriage: “You know, it is just as easy to love a rich girl as it is to love a poor girl.” Gossip before social media: “The more you stir sh*t, the more it stinks!” Happiness: “You know, we are just as happy as if we had good sense.”
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INSIDE 7824 Estero Blvd., 3rd Floor Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931 1 3 Who Does Your Accountant Work For? Discover Terry’s ‘3 Point Market Valuation’
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Truisms From My Mother Violet
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Turn Negative Reviews Into a Positive Business Strategy
Smart Tactics for Managing Bad Reviews Don’t Let the Haters Tank Your Ratings
You can’t make everyone happy; it’s a fact of life we must accept to maintain our happiness and sanity, but when people leave bad reviews about your business, don’t just let it go. Think about what you could have done differently, whether something was wrong with your product or customer service, and how to fix it to ensure you don’t lose a customer. If your negative reviews start to outweigh your positive ones, you must take action immediately, or your customer base will diminish. Business owners need to keep in mind that reviews tend to be negative. Most people only leave reviews to share a bad experience, to warn others, or to receive compensation for their problem. But once your reviews are overwhelmingly negative on Google or Yelp, new customers go out of their way to avoid your business. You must counter negative reviews with positive ones, which won’t happen without effort.
Ideally, you should capture identifying information about your customers, such as their email address or phone number. This allows you to communicate easily with people who have shopped with you. You don’t want to straight-out ask these individuals for reviews. Instead, give them a reason to act. Send a message to your customers, offering a free product or service in exchange for a review. Most jump right in and give you a good review, but you need to send a follow-up to be sure you capture everyone. If you want to take it to the next level, embed an image of five stars in the email. Those who click on four or five will go straight to your main review page. Everyone else will be directed to an internal feedback form. This strategy eliminates negative reviews from the pool while learning exactly what turned these people away from your business. It’s the ultimate win-win for any business owner!
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