Financial and succession planning for SMEs

Allensbach University offers an important academic training course for business owners, potential successors and consultants in the form of the "Financial and Succession Planning for SMEs" certificate program.

The number of company successions is constantly increasing. Around 100,000 SMEs are to be handed over or sold to successors every year. Around two thirds of short-term successions (by the end of 2023) have already been successfully arranged, as the latest KfW succession monitoring shows. Another important statement: "Currently, 31% of entrepreneurs are already aged 60 or older - according to KfW, that is around 1.2 million and therefore around three times more than 20 years ago. Only one in ten business owners is under 40 years old. Even with active engagement, the undertaking of handing over the business to a successor will not succeed or will not succeed smoothly."

It is therefore important that potential successors deal with the professional challenges even before they start their entrepreneurial activities and acquire the skills they really need to work at the top of the company. And already active owners can continuously expand their professional skills in order to meet the demands of business practice in the long term. The university certificate "Financial and succession planning for SMEs" of the Allensbach University.

Prioritization of investment objectives, financial planning, development of a financial plan as well as implementation and monitoring

"The course is suitable for owners of small and medium-sized companies who want to hand over their company to the next generation in the near future and want to optimize this process. The certificate is also suitable for people who would like to take over a company as part of a succession plan or who work in this area in an advisory capacity, for example in investment consulting or asset management," says Prof. Dr. Maximilian A. Werkmüller, Professor of Family Office Management at Allensbach University of Applied Sciences in Constance and responsible for the university certificate "Financial and Succession Planning for SMEs". Allensbach University of Applied Sciences in Constance is a state-recognized university in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg and offers various part-time Bachelor's and Master's programmes in the field of economics, including a Master's degree in Finance.

The content of the certificate program, which is based on the content of the Master's program in Finance is based on the following topics: prioritizing investment goals, financial planning taking into account tax aspects, developing a financial plan and implementing and monitoring it. Other topics include asset succession planning and the structuring of private asset succession, the management of foundations and selected taxation elements in the context of financial planning. There is also a special focus on German and international inheritance law and the possibilities of "anticipated succession". The certificate course also deals with moving abroad and its tax consequences. In addition, case studies on tax accounting, capital and asset allocation and current special cases in tax law for financial and succession planning are dealt with.

"Participants learn about the contents of careful financial planning and receive an overview of the legal and tax structuring options for asset succession in order to avoid classic structuring mistakes with regard to entrepreneurial assets. Both the private and business spheres are analyzed against the background of objectives and risk appetite. In addition to national issues, cross-border matters also play a role in the case of larger assets," explains Prof. Dr. Maximilian A. Werkmüller.

The university certificate "Financial and Succession Planning for SMEs" is completed online and without compulsory attendance. It is designed to last six months and can be extended free of charge for the same period. There are no special admission requirements for this course. A submission task must be completed as an examination, which can be worked on at home.