Exit Planning in Practice
A EPI Academy Mastery Series
Course Overview
Exit Planning in Practice equips Certified Exit Planning Advisors with a firsthand view of how experience practitioners apply the Value Acceleration Methodology to real client engagements.
Presented by a rotating faculty of experienced exit planning professionals, this course helps advisors move beyond theory by turning frameworks into decisions, individual engagements into repeatable approaches, and real-world case studies into practical tools they can apply with their own clients. Across seven real-world sessions, participants will explore how advisors evaluate exit options, navigate owner readiness, and build long-term value across a variety of industries and transition strategies.
Attendees will gain further knowledge on:
- Applying the Value Acceleration Methodology to real client engagements across industries
- Identifying the readiness gaps and emotional blind spots that shape a business owner's exit
- Evaluating exit strategies and transaction structures across both internal and external transition options
- Collaborating with a multidisciplinary advisory team to solve complex client challenges
EPI Academy Mastery Series Format
- Six-week online program
- Weekly 90-120 min sessions, to be completed by weeks end
- New tools and resources provided with each module
- Submit questions throughout the course through the designated question form
- 40-question online exam in weeks five and six
- Earn EPI Academy Mastery Series certificate upon passing exam
Course Details
Price: $995 $1,399
Platform: EPI Academy
Style: Online / Structured Pace
Value Acceleration Knowledge Hours: 10
Course Schedule
For more details on other EPI Academy courses, download the brochure.
Week 1: Financial Planning for the Owner and Spouse
Week 2: Private Company Valuation for Exit Planning
Week 3: Facing the Personal Planning Gap
Week 4: External Exit Options
Week 5: Internal Exit Options
Week 5 - 6: Exam
Upcoming Course Dates
Course Curriculum:
- Session 01: Financial Planning for the Owner and Spouse
- Sequencing a financial planning process that starts with discovery, not documents, to uncover what an owner and spouse haven’t yet calculated
- Turning post-exit unknowns into a number by modeling the income needed to make the sale timeline-driven rather than pressure-driven
- Extending the advisor relationship beyond the closing table through structured check-ins and trusted professional introductions
- Learning how patience, rather than haste, added more than $1 million to the final outcome
- Session 02: Private Company Valuation for Exit Planning
- Testing an owner’s assumed valuation against real market evidence before the sale conversation begins
- Applying all three valuation approaches together to build a more defensible value
- Spotting dependency and concentration risks that can quietly erode enterprise value, illustrated through a real case
- Translating valuation gaps into a concrete pre-exit action plan using Value Acceleration strategies
- Session 03: Facing the Personal Planning Gap
- Using an alignment assessment to turn an owner’s goals into ranked, actionable priorities
- Mapping advisory relationships to identify which add value and which drain an owner’s capacity during transition
- Comparing exit offers against an owner’s definition of freedom, not simply the highest price
- Guiding owners through identity and legacy work so post-exit success is measured beyond enterprise value
- Session 04: Selling to a Private Equity Firm
- Distinguishing what different types of private equity buyers are looking for before a deal is structured
- Reading a Quality of Earnings review for signals about how a buyer may price and structure the deal
- Evaluating post-sale leadership and governance terms to assess long-term fit, not just headline multiples
- Balancing founder goals with investor return expectations as a deal takes shape
- Session 05: How to Retain the AUM After a Business Sale and More
- Opening succession planning conversations well before a sale becomes imminent
- Assembling a coordinated deal team so the financial advisor remains part of the process
- Recognizing early warning signs that a client may be preparing to move assets elsewhere, illustrated through real client stories
- Applying a proven pre-sale framework to time and prepare a client’s exit
- Session 06: Understanding Family Transitions with the Bruce Family
- Untangling a family’s ownership history to identify how past decisions created future conflict
- Separating ownership and management decisions to resolve role confusion among sibling leaders
- Recognizing when family transition conflict is rooted in fairness and identity, not money
- Building a multigenerational ownership strategy that accounts for family members not yet in the business
- Session 07: ESOPs: Creating Liquidity Without Sacrificing Legacy
- Weighing a leveraged ESOP against other transition paths based on an owner’s liquidity needs
- Structuring ESOP financing and understanding the trustee’s role in protecting plan participants
- Evaluating how corporate structure choices, including C-corp vs. S-corp, affect the tax outcome of an ESOP transaction
- Determining when a partial ESOP sale better fits an owner’s goals than a full sale
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