At Brown Schultz Sheridan & Fritz (BSSF), we understand the unique challenges that face family-owned and closely held businesses.  With a client base largely made up of family-owned and closely held businesses, our Firm has witnessed the complexities of combining close partnerships and family dynamics within the business. We are aware of how working together in the business affects not only the family and partnerships but also key decisions for the company.

Over the 25 years that BSSF has worked with family-owned and closely held businesses, we have developed the experience and expertise required to help companies with our wide range of services. Apart from our core services of accounting and auditing and tax planning and compliance, we also provide specialty business consulting services for family-owned and closely held businesses.

Consulting Services for Family-Owned & Closely Held Businesses

BSSF differentiates ourselves through the resources and breadth of services that we bring to our clients. As your trusted business advisor, we look to bring value to the table through our knowledge of not only best practices of family-owned and closely held businesses but also your company.

Our consulting services for family-owned and closely held businesses are geared towards helping you resolve common issues that we find in companies working with close relationships. We advise you on issues including but not limited to:

  • How to Transfer Ownership of the Business
  • Ownership and Structure of a Family-Owned or Closely Held Business
  • How to Value Your Business
  • Governance in Family-Owned Businesses
  • Employee Retention

The services that we provide include:

  • Strategic Planning
  • Succession Planning
  • Business Advisory Board Services
  • Family Governance
  • Estate Planning
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Exit Strategies
  • Like Kind Exchanges
  • Benchmarking Financial Analysis
  • Assistance in Evaluating and Negotiating Financing
  • Assistance in Negotiating Purchase/Sale Agreements
  • Human Resources Consulting and Recruiting
  • Educational Planning
  • Temporary Controllers

Our Family-Owned & Closely Held Business Experience

At BSSF, we have two Certified Exit Plan Advisors (CEPAs) on staff who specialize in transition strategies for Family-Owned & Closely Held Businesses. We have also helped numerous clients through our Family-Owned & Closely Held Business Advisory services including succession planning, business valuations, strategic planning and more.

Our Partnership With the Messiah Business Institute

BSSF is a proud Corporate Sponsor of the Messiah Business Institute (MBI).

MBI was created in 2019 by Messiah University and a group of corporate sponsors who shared a common vision of building a thriving business community in Central Pennsylvania. MBI brings together local business owners and leaders to:

  • Access educational content and resources provided by local and national experts within their specific industries.
  • Engage in friendly events and environments that are conducive for business networking and collaboration to occur.
  • Interact with Messiah faculty and staff, in addition to meeting potential interns or new hire candidates from the Messiah University student body.

For more information about the MBI and how to become a member, please visit https://www.messiah.edu/mbi

BSSF: The Family-Owned & Closely Held Business Initiative

The goal of the Family-Owned and Closely Held Business Group is to discover new resources and value-added services that we can provide to our family-owned and closely held business clients. As a part of this initiative, BSSF has partnered with Messiah College to help bring an educational seminar series to family-owned and closely held businesses in our community.

Check our calendar for upcoming Family-Owned & Closely Held Business Initiative events.

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