WEALTH CONSULTING
Succession and sale-readiness checklist
Use this worksheet to turn an intention to step back into questions your firm can act on. Work through it with the people who would take responsibility in your absence. Mark a question when discussed, including where the answer is uncertain. Completion is not a readiness score or a valuation.
Type notes below, or print a blank copy for your discussion. Use your browser’s print dialogue to save a PDF. Notes stay in this page only and are lost when it is closed or reloaded. They are not sent to Allington.
Discussion date and participants
1. Define the transition you want
1.1 What would stepping back mean in practice: less day-to-day involvement, a different leadership role, a change of ownership, or a combination?
1.2 Which priorities matter most for clients, colleagues and the business you want to leave behind?
1.3 Which options remain open, and what information or specialist advice would help us compare them?
2. Find the dependencies on the owner
2.1 Which client relationships, commercial decisions and approvals currently depend on the owner?
2.2 Who could take each responsibility, and what authority, knowledge and support would they need?
2.3 What have we tested during a planned absence, rather than assuming another person could take over?
3. Make the business understandable
3.1 Can a successor understand the service proposition, investment oversight and recurring operating responsibilities from current records?
3.2 Are management information, key agreements and business records consistent, accessible to authorised people and clearly owned?
3.3 Which gaps in leadership capacity, systems or process documentation should be addressed before a transition or buyer review?
4. Agree the next stage
4.1 What future role does the owner want, and where could expectations differ between the owner, team and a potential successor?
4.2 Who will own communications, relationship handovers and service continuity, and when should those plans be tested?
4.3 What are the next three actions, who owns each one and when will we review the evidence of progress?
Your next three priorities
1. Action · owner · evidence needed · review date
2. Action · owner · evidence needed · review date
3. Action · owner · evidence needed · review date
Choose three priorities and assign an owner, evidence needed and a review date to each. Business preparation does not establish sale value or replace legal, tax, regulatory, transaction or personal estate-planning advice. Allington can help clarify business options, reduce owner dependence and structure the work required for a transition.
Completion records questions considered; it is not a business score or assurance.