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CHATTANOOGA, TN (February 14, 2011) – Principals Mike Costello, Kim Lawrence, and Tom Decosimo of Decosimo Certified Public Accountants will present “Exit/Transition Planning for the Privately Held Payday Business” at the Community Financial Services Association of America’s national conference, March 3 in Hollywood, Florida. The presentation will address the tax and estate planning, business valuation, employee incentives, and business growth issues that owners need to consider in order to maximize value when they are thinking about transitioning their family or closely held business.
Tom Decosimo said, “A business transition is one of the most emotional and biggest financial decisions in the lives of business owners. This issue deserves attention years before the transition is contemplated to take place.”
According to a recent study of companies with revenues between $5 million and $150 million, only 22% of owners reported having adequately planned for transition. “With the pressure of everyday business, it’s easy for owners to procrastinate,” Mike Costello added.
Presenter Kim Lawrence said, “We want to show how using experienced advisors, arriving at a plan of action, and a commitment to executing the plan can reap vast dividends for a business.”
The eleventh annual national Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA) conference will address the latest industry trends and challenges. The three day event explores new ideas and directives, as well as reviewing proposed legislation and policy. CFSA began in 1999 to ensure consumer confidence in and long-term success of the payday advance industry—one of the fastest–growing financial service industries in the U.S. Today, nearly half of the nation’s 24,000 payday advance locations are CFSA members.
Mike Costello is strategic transition planning services director for Decosimo Advisory Services, a division of Decosimo Certified Public Accountants. He is also a managing principal of Decosimo Corporate Finance. Among the many designations he holds, Mike is an Accredited Senior Appraiser by the American Society of Appraisers. A consultant with over 28 years of experience, Mike regularly assists with business valuations, business acquisitions and divestitures, and business transition planning. In addition, Mike has made presentations on business valuation, fraud, financing and preparing for the sale of a payday enterprise to CFSA conferences over the last five years.
Kim Lawrence is the Tax Principal in Charge of Decosimo’s Chattanooga office. She works with clients in the consumer finance industry providing exit strategies, entity reorganizations, buy sell agreements, state apportionment analyses, tax planning for the sale of companies, review of sale documents, revenue recognition, timing of bad debt charge offs, year-end tax planning and estate planning. She contributes to the consumer finance team by providing merger and acquisition expertise, federal and multi-state tax planning, and closely held business issue consulting. Kim has previously presented “The Tax Planning Game in the Sale or Purchase of a Business” at the CFSA conference.
Tom Decosimo, a principal with Decosimo, assisted the pioneers of the cash advance industry in raising early debt and equity financing, which included preparing comprehensive financing memorandums that explained the cash advance business model and helped those groups prepare detailed financial forecasts illustrating the sources and uses of capital, balance sheets, operations, and statements of cash flow. Tom has also performed business valuations for a variety of companies in the payday lending industry, including purchase price negotiations, analysis and restatement of historical statements of operations, due diligence services, and structured financings. Tom is also CEO and a managing principal with Decosimo Corporate Finance, LLC, a broker/dealer, member FINRA/SIPC, where he is responsible for overseeing the firm’s sell-side and buy-side advisory, debt and equity financing sourcing, and preparation of fairness opinions. He holds the Senior Accredited Appraiser designation with the American Society of Appraisers. Tom has made presentations at the 2005 and 2007 CFSA annual conferences.
About Decosimo:
Founded in 1971, Joseph Decosimo and Company, PLLC (Decosimo) is a nationally recognized firm, perennially ranked as a Top 100 accounting and business advisory services firm. The regional firm has nine offices in the United States and Cayman Islands, with approximately 300 professionals and staff. Each of Decosimo’s offices provides a full range of accounting and advisory services to a wide array of industries. Additionally, Decosimo is an independent firm associated with Moore Stephens International Limited. With 314 member firms and a total of 638 offices spanning 97 countries, the Moore Stephens association and Decosimo provide clients access to a significant depth of resources and expertise.
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