Business Sale & Exit Planning — Seattle, WA
Thinking About Selling Your Business? Start Here.
The owners who maximize their exit begin planning 12–24 months before they're ready to sign. WAFS provides ABV-certified valuations, pre-transaction tax structuring, and post-sale wealth coordination — all under one roof.
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"The owners who do best don't start planning when they're ready to sell — they start planning when they're still ambivalent about it. That window is where the real tax work happens."
David Okafor, CPA, ABV — Partner, Business Advisory
What WAFS Does — Before, During, and After
Exit planning is not a single transaction. It's a three-phase financial engagement that starts long before a letter of intent and ends when your post-sale wealth is coordinated and stable.
Pre-Transaction Planning
ABV-certified business valuation to establish current enterprise value
Entity structure review — asset sale vs. stock sale analysis
Tax modeling for different deal structures
Earnings normalization and EBITDA documentation
Financial statement cleanup and three-year audit preparation
Owner compensation normalization for buyer due diligence
During the Transaction
Buyer due diligence support and data room preparation
Quality of earnings (QoE) coordination with buyer advisors
LOI review and financial representation accuracy
Tax structuring refinement as deal terms evolve
Coordination with M&A attorney on deal economics
Working capital peg analysis and adjustment mechanism modeling
Post-Transaction Planning
Proceeds management and tax payment planning
Investment of after-tax proceeds with Robert Kimura (CPA, CFP®)
Estate plan update to reflect post-liquidity wealth
Earnout monitoring and compliance
Installment sale management (if applicable)
Transition to ongoing wealth planning engagement
Common Questions
What is my business actually worth?
The honest answer is: it depends on factors most business owners underestimate — industry multiples, earnings quality, customer concentration, and deal structure. David Okafor holds the ABV (Accredited in Business Valuation) credential from the AICPA, which means he can provide an independent, defensible, credentialed valuation — not a broker's estimate. Understanding your number before you're in a negotiation is one of the highest-leverage investments you can make.
Asset sale or stock sale — does it matter?
Yes. Significantly. In an asset sale, the seller typically pays more in taxes (ordinary income on some asset classes) but buyers prefer it. In a stock sale, sellers pay capital gains rates on most proceeds. The difference in net proceeds can be six figures or more on a mid-size transaction. We model both scenarios before any negotiation begins so you have clarity on your net outcome under different deal structures.
What happens to my money after I sell?
Robert Kimura's integrated CPA/CFP® practice means your proceeds move into a coordinated plan — not a separate wealth manager who doesn't know what you paid in taxes. We handle the tax planning, the investment coordination, and the estate plan update as a unified engagement. The goal is to maximize what you actually keep, net of tax and advisors.
How early should I start?
Most owners who do the best engage a strategic financial team 12–24 months before they plan to sign anything. That window allows time for entity restructuring (some strategies require 24+ months to be effective), earnings normalization, and financial statement preparation. Owners who engage six months before a LOI have far fewer options. The sooner you start, the more tools we have.
Recent Engagements
Anonymized to protect client confidentiality.
Guided $4.5M sale of Seattle professional services firm
Pre-transaction entity restructure saved approximately $280,000 in federal tax on proceeds.
Provided ABV-certified valuation for 3-partner healthcare practice
Buy-sell dispute resolved in mediation. Credentialed valuation accepted by all parties.
Prepared investor-ready financial package for $2.1M SBA-backed acquisition
Three-year audit-ready financials and normalized EBITDA documentation. Transaction closed in 90 days.
David Okafor, CPA, ABV
Partner — Business Advisory & CFO Services
David joined WAFS in 2016 after serving as CFO at a Seattle-based SaaS company that was acquired for $40M. He has provided expert valuation testimony in mediation and litigation contexts and holds the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) credential through the AICPA — one of the most rigorous exit advisory credentials in the country.
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All information shared is kept strictly confidential.