We have written this section of our website because we have found that a lot of sellers have been caught out by additional costs that were not accounted for.
Besides the obvious cost of the agents sales commission, there are other costs involved when selling a business that you should be aware of.
Legal Cost
You’ll need to engage a solicitor to help you prepare contract for sale of the business. Depending on if a property lease is involved costs for these services range between $1,500 and $8,000 depending on complicity of the purchase. For some large businesses this cost can be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Talk to your legal representative prior to engaging them and obtain estimate for they services.
Valuers
In some cases stock or plant valuation will be necessary and depending on the agreement, the cost of this could be paid partially or in full by you. Costs start from $200 and can be up to several thousand of dollars for larger businesses.
Penalties for early loan re-payments.
For some loans you could have to pay penalty for early repayments. To prevent this surprise obtain a pay out figure from your loan provider.
Lease transfer fees and charges
If as part of the business there is transfer of the leases for plant and equipment you may have to pay re-assignment fees, check this during the preparation stage with your leasing company.
Payable Accounts
All payables incurred by the business on a day to day basis and unpaid on the date of the settlement will have to be paid by you or your company.