BUSINESS OWNERS
You built the business. Now build the life it was supposed to fund.
Whether you are scaling, extracting, or planning an exit, the decisions you make today shape the next twenty years.
WHAT CLIENTS ASK
Common questions from business owners.
The most common concerns we hear from business owners; whether you're selling, planning to hand over to the next generation, or just starting to think about what comes after the business.
01 Standard Fund Threshold
My pension is approaching €2 million. Am I about to hit the Standard Fund Threshold and what do I do with the surplus?
02 Investing Company Cash
We have significant cash sitting in the company. Should we set up a HoldCo to invest it and how does that work in practice?
03 Tax on Exit Event
When I sell, do I pay 10% or 33% CGT? What do I need to do now to qualify for Retirement Relief or Entrepreneur Relief?
04 Wealth Extraction
How do I extract wealth tax-efficiently while the business is still running? Salary, dividends, pension, or something else?
05 Passing the Business On
I want to pass the business to my children. What is the most tax-efficient way to do it and what are the CAT implications?
06 Funding Retirement
Will the proceeds from a sale actually fund the next thirty years, or do I need to keep working longer than I think?
HOW WE HELP
Where we go to work for you.
Most Irish business owners are the most exposed clients in financial advice,
and often the least well served.
01 Wealth extraction
Pension funding to the Standard Fund Threshold, salary versus dividend strategy, HoldCo structures for retained cash. Moving value from the business to you, tax-efficiently, year after year.
02 Strategic exit planning
Retirement Relief and Entrepreneur Relief qualification, share structure design, liquidation versus trade sale analysis. The difference between 10% and 33% at exit is decided years in advance.
03 Business and family protection
Key person cover, partnership protection, life and serious illness. If you cannot run the business tomorrow, your family should not have to figure out the finances under pressure.
"We spent 22 years building the company but had never stepped back to ask what it was actually for. Elliott mapped the business and the personal side together. Extraction, pension funding, and what an eventual exit could look like. For the first time, we have a complete picture."
T, MANAGING DIRECTOR, GALWAY - BUSINESS OWNER
CASE STUDY
Meet Tom & Sarah
Business owner couple, late 50s, three to five years from a possible sale.
BACKGROUND
Age: Tom 58 · Sarah 56
Family: Three adult children, all working
Business: Company founded 22 years ago. €8.5m turnover. €1.2m EBITDA.
Personal wealth: Family home (€1.4m, mortgage-free). Pension assets approximately €600k. Limited personal investments. Business cash approximately €800k on balance sheet.
Tom built the business over 22 years. He now has a strong management team, a clean balance sheet, and a business that runs without him for weeks at a time. Sarah has been involved in the business at various points but never on the payroll. Their three adult children are settled in their own careers. Tom has always reinvested cashflow back into the business, meaning his personal pension is well below what his earnings could support, and he has never extracted wealth in any structured way.
THE CHALLENGES
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Tom recognises that most of the family's net worth is tied up in the business. He has never properly stress-tested what happens to the family if a buyer does not appear.
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His personal pension is well below the Standard Fund Threshold. He has left significant tax-efficient extraction on the table.
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The share structure was set up 20 years ago by a generalist accountant and was never reviewed for sale-readiness.
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Tom and Sarah have no comprehensive financial plan. They do not know if the sale proceeds will actually fund the next thirty years.
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Family protection is patchy. Basic life cover from years ago, nothing structured for key person or partnership risk.
WHAT WE DID
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Restructured wealth extraction. Funded Tom's director pension towards the Standard Fund Threshold, optimised salary versus dividend strategy, and brought Sarah onto the payroll in a structured role to fully use her tax bands and pension allowance.
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Mapped the sale ten years out. Reviewed the share structure for Retirement Relief qualification on disposal and identified two structural changes needed at least five years before sale to maximise relief.
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Built a comprehensive cashflow model running to age 95, stress-tested against three sale outcomes (no sale, partial sale, full sale) and three market scenarios.
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Designed family protection coordinated with the business. Key person cover, partnership cover where appropriate, and additional life and serious illness cover for both Tom and Sarah.
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Set up coordinated estate and CAT planning. Small gift exemption used annually for the children, lifetime gifting strategy positioned for the eventual sale proceeds.
THE OUTCOME
Tom and Sarah now have a written plan they can measure progress against. Quarterly reviews, annual deep dives, and a clear response when life moves. The share restructure means the business sale, whenever it happens, is positioned for Retirement Relief. The cashflow model confirms the proceeds will fund both of their lives to age 95 across three different sale scenarios. The family is protected if Tom cannot lead the business for any reason. And the children will receive their inheritance tax-efficiently, not via a last-minute scramble.
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This case study is illustrative and based on a composite of typical client scenarios. It does not represent a specific client or guarantee any particular outcome.