Gene Marks

The average age of the U.S. small business owner is about 53 years old, which means that many will be looking to transition from business owner to retirement in the years to come. But what’s the best strategy for you? What are the considerations for passing your business down to family members? What options do you have for selling your company? How should you best prepare your company — and your finances — to best take advantage of today’s tax and business laws?

Join certified public accountant Gene Marks for a fast paced, entertaining and informative discussion where you will better understand your best succession actions you should be taking that benefit yourself, your family and others connected to your business.

• How the 2017 tax reform will impact your business structuring and life insurance planning.
• The latest estate planning developments from the recent year that affect business owners like yourself.
• The key issues in transitioning a business to family members or key employees while providing for financial security.
• The most important retirement and estate tax considerations you should be taking into account to ensure that your income will be maximized for the years to come.

Currently a $1.5 trillion market, the cyber crime economy continues to grow. Is your business prepared with the security it needs to protect against a cyber attack? In 2023, the workforce is more virtual than ever, making cybersecurity a priority for every business.the years to come.

Join nationally recognized journalist, best-selling author, and business owner Gene Marks CPA for a fast paced, entertaining and data filled presentation where he will share with you advice, lessons and actions to position your company for security in the years to come. During this lively presentation Gene will cover the following topics:

• A look at how cybersecurity has changed during the pandemic and why cyber attacks are increasingly on the rise.
• The biggest and latest threats in 2023 that business owners are facing in this new hybrid, virtual world such as ransomware, phishing/ SMiShing, Internet of Things, and reputation implications.
• How business owners can protect themselves, their business, and employees through training, security software, password management, multifactor authentication, backups, VPN, managed services providers, and operating system upgrades.
• The importance of employee training: The biggest cause of data breaches and malware attacks is employee error. And the biggest reason why so many employees are making errors is because they’re not satisfactorily trained.
• The new and latest software technologies that your business can begin implementing and investing in today to ensure security for your entire business for the future.
• Workspace collaboration tools to migrate and manage all your business data in one secure place and more.

Whether you are looking to buy a business or sell your business, there are a number of steps you’ll need to take. Join CPA and journalist Gene Marks as he walks you through each step and hits on the biggest issues facing buyers and sellers in today’s current market. During this presentation Gene will cover the following topics:

• A current M&A market review to understand popular locations, industries and hot buttons
• A look at the most popular ways to value a business from asset valuation to income multipliers
• Pros/cons of stock vs asset deals;
• Tax implications of M&A transactions for both buyer and seller
• Who should be on your buying or selling team
• A deep dive into all the documentation needed for a transaction
• A review of buy/sell agreements that every business should have

Mobile tech, office collaboration techs, customer relationship management, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, cyber-security…these are only a few of the major technology trends that are having a significant impact on how we do business, generate leads, sell and service our customers, both now and in the future.

Join Forbes and Inc. Magazine technology columnist Gene Marks for a review of the hottest technologies that smart business leaders are investing in today…and preparing their businesses for tomorrow. Gene will discuss how the most successful businesses in your industry are using these technologies to:

• increase their sales
• control their finances
• expand their online presence
• find/manage/compensate their people
• service their customers

Gene will also take a forward look at upand-coming technologies — cyber-security, AI, robotics, augmented reality — that will affect your industry, and your target audience, over the next decade.

Whether you’re a financial person or not, this presentation is critical for your business. Why? Because taxes represent the biggest expense you have in your organization and personally. Minimizing your tax expense will free up capital to invest, hire and save. Knowing the tax breaks and incentives that you can use will help you defer the costs of bringing on great people and growing your business. Both the 2017 Tax Reform bill and recent legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act include significant provisions that have a material impact on your business — and personal life too. But that’s just the beginning! You don’t need to be a financial expert to understand all the ins and outs of tax legislation. You just need to know the issues and questions to ask your accountant. That’s the objective of this presentation.

Join author, columnist and CPA Gene Marks for a fast paced, entertaining but very detailed discussion of how tax reform will affect you, your company and your employees. During this lively presentation Gene will cover the following topics:

• The organizational structure that’s right for your business
• COVID stimulus tax breaks that are still applicable today
• New energy efficiency and vehicle tax credits to leverage in your business and personally
• Moves to lower taxes on your compensation
• Property and equipment investments that qualify for tax breaks
• Special employee related credits to help reduce the costs of compensation and benefit plans, including healthcare
• An update on tax rates, rules and strategies for your company’s retirement plans
• Tax considerations when exiting your business
• Key questions you should be asking your accountant

Managing cash flow continues to be one of the biggest issues small business owners face. Almost two thirds of small business owners are regularly stressed or have anxiety about cash flow concerns. In this economic downturn never has intelligent cash flow management been more important. Join CPA and journalist Gene Marks who will discuss some of the latest trends, technologies, best practices and strategies that smart business managers are implementing to manage their cash flow and build reserves to see them through to future growth.

• Technologies and strategies to help you intelligently revisit and segment pricing, product lines and margins.
• The latest tactics for managing receivable payables and the most relevant financial metrics needed to navigate your business through a downturn. Also some thoughts on reducing your taxes before year end.
• The newest and innovative cloud based technologies that are helping companies of all sizes increase productivity and profits.
• Financing options and opportunities available from governments, nonprofits, private organizations and other lenders.

Thinking of getting a customer relationship management (CRM) application for your company? Already have one and want to know how to use it better?

Please join Forbes CRM columnist, author and CRM expert Gene Marks CPA to discuss all you need to know about CRM applications in 2023. During this presentation, Gene will cover the following topics:

• A comparison of the top CRM applications for small and medium sized companies along with pricing, pros and cons
• Where to find them and how to evaluate these applications.
• How can you determine the ROI of a CRM investment
• Thoughts on how to maximize these applications for their best use in your companyThe most popular add-ons to make a CRM system effective
• The future of CRM: trends to consider for 2023 and beyond
• Other tips and best practices to consider before buying.