Steps of asset liquidation

If you are closing a business, there are several key elements you need to follow in order to successfully close your doors. First, talk to your landlord and let them know you will be terminating your lease, speak to your utility companies and choose a disconnect date, and do not forget about asset liquidation. Liquidating assets is one of the best ways to get rid of all the excess equipment and things that you don't need and don't want to take home with you.

Make sure you are legal
As you focus on asset liquidation, you need to meet with your attorney and make sure you are legally closing your doors. You don't want trouble with the IRS so it is vital to talk to your attorney and ensure that you are liquidating assets and paying taxes on the profit amount. An accountant will also get your books up to date and ensure that everything is correct and taken care of appropriately. A good accountant will not only provide you with help as far as closing your books goes but they will also contact all of your credit card issuers and close these accounts as well.

Organize key information
Help the closing process to go smoothly by gathering all of the important data that needs to be balanced out and closed. You will need to go through your inventory and assets and get ready to sell off everything. Some companies take photographs of everything as it does make it a lot easier to have physical evidence and proof. Include other information like serial numbers and item descriptions. The more information you have, the better it looks.

Prepare assets for Sale
Upon documenting everything, your next step involves the sale of your assets. You will need to come up with a reasonable price for the assets you plan to list for sale. Everything you have from furniture on down to your bookmarks can be eligible for sale as long as they are business items. Some companies don't want to deal with paying taxes on all their property they have acquired over the years so a great way to avoid the tax bill is by donating it all to charity. By doing this you also open your business up to receiving a hefty tax write-off for a charitable donation.

Any time you are selling large equipment or machinery, make it look new again so you can get the maximum value out of it. Shine it up and also look around for the owner's manual along with the warranty if there is one. This helps to add value to the assets so you can acquire a higher price tag for it.

Security Measures
Unfortunately not everyone is honest. When you announce the closure of your business, you are going to upset a lot of people. Watch out for the employees that can become disgruntled as they can cause a lot of damage to your business. If you are concerned about employees stealing products from inventory and other things, consider hiring a security guard for a few weeks or change the locks. You have to be careful about closing your business because it does make your company vulnerable.

Appraisal and Sale
As you prepare everything to be sold, have them appraised. This will make sure you are getting a good value out of a lot of the products you are listing for sale. Hire an appraiser to come in and determine how much your equipment is worth. Clean it before they come so it does look like brand new again, it will give you a higher appraisal amount. This will help you when it comes down to negotiation time as you can haggle with buyers to let them know it was appraised for a certain amount.