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Succession planning

Learn about exit strategies, how to ensure your successors have the skills they need and getting the timing right with our selection of articles, books, links and guides.
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Latest on succession planning

Read our latest features and articles on business succession planning. 
Exclusive Succession in family businesses
  • Article
  • 19 Oct 2021
Outlining the options in this incredibly important area
Exclusive Creating a succession plan
  • Article
  • 12 May 2020
Having a succession plan is vital for all businesses, start yours here.

Webinars

Exclusive Top tips for exiting a business
  • Webinar
  • 10 Nov 2022
It’s never too soon to think about an exit plan. Planning empowers you to choose how you leave and release maximum value in the process. In this final webinar in a series from the ICAEW Small and Micro Business Community, we'll cover the most popular exit strategies for small and micro businesses.
More webinars

Business press

The ICAEW Library & Information Service provides access to leading business, finance and management journals. These journals are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use.
Exclusive How to choose a CEO: Lessons from large family businesses
  • Article
  • 01 Jan 2024
An update on new research analysing succession practices in businesses, which has found that large family businesses have much better succession practices than their non-family counterparts. Some best practices for CEO succession which were identified from the research are shared.
Exclusive Unconventional exits: An increasing number of owners are selling their companies to ESOPs
  • Article
  • 01 Jan 2024
  • Cheryl Meyer
Why an increasing number of US business owners are choosing to sell their companies to Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) as an exit strategy. The article discusses the benefits of ESOPs but also the potential risks, particularly in terms of financing and the credit-worthiness of the company.
Exclusive What's the plan?
  • Article
  • 01 Dec 2023
  • Jamie Zachary
Succession planning and family business experts share advice on avoiding conflict during business ownership transitions. Tips for business owners include accepting that the new owners may have a different idea of how the company should be run. A clear plan is needed, setting out roles, responsibilities and milestones to work towards.
Exclusive Preparing your firm for your death or disability
  • Article
  • 01 Sep 2023
  • Edward Mendlowitz
Advice on creating a Practice Continuation Agreement (PCA) with another firm. The PCA is an agreement by a practitioner with a firm who would acquire their practice upon their death or would service their clients if they needed time to recover from a temporary disability. The article covers how to choose a PCA partner, how to prepare before approaching them and ways to structure payment under a PCA.
Exclusive Succession planning: Secure a positive future for your credit department
  • Article
  • 01 Jun 2023
  • Jamilex Gotay
A summary of the steps credit professionals must take to ensure the future success of their departments. Tips include setting in place delegation of authority and fostering a spirit of mentorship to train up employees.
Exclusive Succession stories: lessons learned from former family office CEOs
  • Article
  • 01 Jul 2022
  • Jane Flanagan
The article discusses succession planning in family enterprises, considering how CEOs may retire without causing significant disruption. The author highlights the importance of trusted advisors, and outlines key aspects of the succession planning process.
Exclusive Making succession planning effortless
  • Article
  • 01 May 2022
  • Brannon Poe
An accounting firm broker discusses how to create a firm which is in a good place for succession planning and staff retention. Tips include: focus your service offerings, be selective about your clients, hire staff to fit your firm culture and price your services appropriately.
Exclusive Have a plan to pass the torch for succession planning success
  • Article
  • 01 Oct 2021
  • Paula K.Barrett, William Onorato
Article covering basic elements of a succession plan for an owner-managed business, plus how to accelerate business value before the exit.
More articles

Articles and books in the ICAEW Library collection

The collection of the ICAEW Library & Information Service includes a range of articles, books and reports on succession planning. Use the links below to see what we have available to request in our Library catalogue (Libcat).

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to borrowing books.

You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.

External resources

Board composition and refresh
  • Website
  • Jan 2015
  • SpencerStuart
Julie Daum talks to NACD BoardVision about trends in board composition, director tenure and diversity, based on findings from the 2014 Spencer Stuart Board Index. She also reports on shareholders' views on board succession.
Looking to the future: Business succession for family business
  • Website
  • Nov 2016
  • Accountancy Europe
Guide highlighting best practices for business owners. The publication is intended for accountants to give to clients as part of a succession review process.
Planning your exit from your business
  • Website
  • Feb 2022
  • Atom Content Marketing
Business guide to planning your exit from your business, covering planning head, shareholder, company and management objectives when exiting, getting your business in shape for your exit, possible business exit routes, planning a trade sale, planning an MBO and planning a family succession.
Succession planning (CIPD)
  • Website
  • Nov 2020
  • CIPD
This factsheet from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development looks at the background to succession planning, the main features of modern succession planning and the role of HR.
Succession planning: Strategies for building the pipeline
  • Website
  • Feb 2015
  • SpencerStuart
The executive search consultancy firm Spencer Stuart provides a guide on how boards can create a credible and balanced CEO succession planning process.
What is succession planning? 7 steps to success
  • Website
  • Oct 2021
  • Robert Half
Recruitment firm Robert Half covers seven basic steps to follow when you are succession planning.
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