Financial advisors trying to prove their worth to business-owner clients may get more mileage from financial planning done years before a sale than from portfolio returns earned after it, according to wealth managers who specialize in liquidity events.
The stakes are large. Nearly 90% of owner wealth is locked inside the company itself, and 73% of privately held U.S. businesses plan to transition within the next 10 years – a roughly $14 trillion transfer – according to the Exit Planning Institute's National State of Owner Readiness research. Firms are already seeing the demand. Bernstein Private Wealth Management said new business from its business-owner segment in the first quarter of 2026 had already topped 30% of its full-year 2025 total.
Homer Smith, a certified financial planner and executive director of Integrated Private Wealth, the business-owner unit of Boston-based RIA Integrated Partners, says performance is only one input into how much wealth ultimately reaches a family. The bigger levers, in his view, are decisions on taxes, liquidity and risk that get made – or missed – before a deal closes.
"While a great headline number is exciting, it often doesn't translate into maximizing family wealth. A comprehensive planning approach can make all the difference in building the future the owners want for everyone involved," Smith said.
Getting involved early lets him test whether an owner's expectations for the sale are realistic and bring in additional specialists if they aren't. Tax and estate work completed before the transaction, he said, can swing the net proceeds to the owner and family by millions of dollars.
"If the advisor is just focusing on the investments after the transaction is done, they are missing critical planning opportunities that add more value to the family wealth than investment expertise could over their lifetime," Smith said.
Kirk Licata, a certified financial planner and founder of Atlanta-based Licata Financial Design, makes a similar case. Portfolio decisions, he said, should come only after an advisor understands a client's goals, balance sheet, cash flow and tax picture. That order matters more for business owners, whose cash flow tends to swing more than a salaried client's. In Licata's framing, investments serve the plan rather than steer it.
Concentration is usually the first red flag. Smith said many owners hold 70% to 90% of their net worth in a single illiquid company, leaving the family exposed to industry disruption, customer concentration, regulatory change and economic downturns.
"Early planning also reveals tax and estate issues, liquidity needs, weaknesses in financial reporting, dependence on the owner or key customers, and unaddressed family considerations. The real advantage of starting early is optionality. A problem identified before a sale is underway is something you can plan for. The same problem discovered after an LOI is signed becomes a constraint the owner must live with," Smith said.
A letter of intent, or LOI, is the preliminary agreement that sets a deal's key terms before final documents are negotiated.
Licata said the most valuable tax and estate strategies often take years to put in place. He pointed to inefficient business structures, estate tax exposure, thin insurance coverage and succession gaps. He also urges owners to work on transferability – clean financial records, durable profits and operations that don't hinge on the founder – because buyers typically pay a premium for those traits, and building them can take several years.
"The difference between preparing three to five years in advance versus six months before a sale can be substantial," Licata said.
Jeremiah Barlow, chief commercial officer at Denver-based Mercer Advisors and an estate and tax attorney by training, said big decisions tend to expose existing gaps rather than create new ones. He described an owner planning to sell in five years while relying on an estate plan drafted when the business was worth a fraction of today's value, and a couple nearing retirement who miss the tax planning window that can open once their earned income stops.
Older estate documents may also predate current federal rules. The estate and gift tax exemption stands at $15 million per person for 2026, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made that level permanent with annual inflation indexing.
"In my experience, the costliest financial mistakes are rarely the result of bad decisions. They're often the result of decisions made without enough time to prepare," Barlow said.
An owner approaching a sale may be fielding advice from an investment banker, a CPA, an estate attorney and an M&A attorney, Smith said, each viewing the deal through a specialist's lens. Someone has to make sure those recommendations add up to the outcome the owner actually wants.
"A planning-oriented advisor can be a valuable partner in this process. They're not replacing other professionals but helping connect all the pieces for the owner," Smith said.
Licata said successful clients value their time and often prefer one trusted advisor running point. That coordinating role is central to the exit planning conversations advisors need to have with owners.
"I often compare this role to a general contractor overseeing a complex home renovation. The contractor is not necessarily performing every specialized task, but they coordinate the process, keep everyone aligned, and ensure the project moves forward efficiently," Licata said.
He sees that role as durable. "Those who position themselves as the primary guide for major financial decisions will continue to thrive, even as technology and AI make information more accessible," he said.
For many owners, the sale feels like the finish line, but Barlow said it is more often the start of a chapter they haven't prepared for. Some spend more time getting ready to sell than thinking about what comes next.
"The biggest questions usually aren't just financial. They're personal. What does life look like after the sale? How much is enough? What legacy do I want to leave?" Barlow said.
Answering those questions often means stress-testing spending well ahead of a deal, which is why retirement cash flow planning for business owners starts years early. It also means building liquidity outside the company, including how advisors help owners diversify business equity before an exit.
Barlow said those decisions ripple across taxes, investments, family dynamics and philanthropy, which is why he argues the advisor's job extends well beyond the portfolio.
"I've found that the most valuable advisors aren't just managing investments; they're helping orchestrate a client's financial life. When tax, estate, and investment decisions are aligned, clients can gain something that's hard to put a price on: confidence that every part of their financial life is working toward the same goal," Barlow said.
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