Educating Business Owners, CPAs, Financial Advisors and CEOs build Value, Preserve Options, and Plan Smart Exits —
Whether they’re selling soon or building with the future in mind.
Webinars | Seminars | Workshops | Books | Blogs | Podcasts | Youtube Videos | Courses | Products
Why learn from Wayne?
A rare, integrated perspective — not siloed advice.
Most advisors see only one piece of the picture.
Wayne Zell works at the intersection of
business exit and succession planning | estate and business law | tax minimization strategy
helping entrepreneurs make decisions that hold up not just today — but years from now, when the stakes are highest.
Rather than reacting to events, Wayne helps business owners design for outcomes.
What This Means for You
You don’t receive fragmented advice.
You receive coordinated thinking — where strategy, structure, and tax implications are considered together, so decisions made today support better options tomorrow.
Wayne Zell / Speaking & advisor education
Be the advisor who starts the exit conversation. Not the one brought in at the end.
Give your team the questions, context, and confidence to help business-owner clients prepare before a sale, succession, or crisis puts their options at risk. Wayne Zell connects legal, tax, estate, and business planning in practical programs for advisors and entrepreneur groups.
Wayne M. Zell, JD, CPA, CExP
Attorney · CPA · Certified Exit Planner · Author
Speaking Topics
Content is built around whom those advisors serve - not a generic lecture. Sessions can be a high-level landscape or a deep dive, typically 45 minutes with 15 min for questions.
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01 Pre-Transaction Planning for Entrepreneurs and Financial Advisors
02 7 Steps to Prepare a Client to Exit Their Business
03 Architecting the Multimillion-Dollar Exit
04 Planning Priorities Under and Over $30M
05 The Finish Line Tax Trap for Exit Advisors
06 Is the Business Sellable? Readiness Red Flags
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07 Legal Mechanics of a Third-Party Sale
08 Tax Implications of a Third-Party Sale
09 Quality of Earnings and EBITDA: What Buyers Really Pay For
10 QSBS — Qualified Small Business Stock After OBBBA
11 Earnouts, Escrows, and Rollover Equity
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12 Business Succession for Closely Held Businesses
13 Continuity in Crisis: Preparing for the Unexpected
14 Family Offices and Holding Companies
15 When the Next Generation Takes Over — and When It Shouldn't
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16 The $15M Exemption Era: What Changed for 2026
17 Trust “Alphabet Soup” — Dynasty, SLATs, GRATs, CRUTs, CRATs, ILITs, BDITs
18 Advanced Planning with IDGTs
19 BDITs and Dynasty Trusts
20 ILITs and Planning After OBBBA
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21 Estate Planning for Large Employer Stock Options
22 Estate Planning for Art Collections
23 Special Needs Trusts
24 Audit Defense for Gift and Estate Returns
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25 What Works in Asset Protection (and What Doesn't)
26 Asset Protection Primer
27 DAPTs and SPATs
28 PPLI — Private Placement Life Insurance
29 Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation
30 Derivatives Explained
Don’t see it here?
Most of Wayne's sessions begin with a firm’s question. Tell us your advisors’ issues, and we’ll tailor the session.
Two books. One complete plan.
Continuity in Crisis prepares your business for the transition you can't see coming. Your Multimillion-Dollar Exit prepares you for the one you can plan.
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How Wayne Helps…
Business Exit Planning
Designing and preparing for high-value exits with clarity, control and after-tax focus.
Creating a clear exit strategy for selling or transferring ownership of your business is vital for its long-term stability and your peace of mind. Wayne helps you set clear exit objectives, assess resources, and develop a succession plan that aligns with your estate planning, ensuring a smooth transition and protecting the business’s value and your legacy.
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Business and Tax Law
Structuring decisions that strengthen value and reduce unnecessary tax drag.
Businesses face a variety of challenges throughout their lifecycles. Effective business law planning can help you prepare by enabling you to understand the best legal structure for your business, how to minimize taxes, the methods for raising financing, how to compensate your team, and how to manage transactions of all sizes.
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Estate and Wealth Planning
Coordinating business success with long-term family and legacy goals.
Effective estate planning is vital for managing your assets during your lifetime and preparing for the future, including if you become incapacitated or pass away. Your plan should consider all your assets and specify who, when and how they will inherit them. We help clients create a clear estate plan that minimizes wealth transfer taxes and protects assets from creditors and predators.
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