Recognition that a business meets some body of criteria according to a certifying body of some kind.

Helping leaders level up their skills and impact.

A consumer-owned co-op, typically a retail grocery store brick and mortar operation.

A "captive insurer" is generally defined as an insurance company that is wholly owned and controlled by its insureds; its primary purpose is to insure the risks of its owners, and its insureds benefit from the captive insurer's underwriting profits.

Growing better leaders at all levels.

Testing for qualified retirement plans, e.g., ESOPs, pertaining to IRC Section 415 which limits the annual additions allocated to a participant’s account in all defined contribution plans to the lesser of 100% of the participant’s compensation or the statutory limit in effect for the calendar year in which the Plan year ends.

Preferred stock represents ownership in a company with higher claims on dividends and asset distribution compared to common stock

Generally speaking, a collective is an organization that is managed without hierarchy. This means that every person has equal decision-making power. Some decisions may be delegated to individual members or sub-committees, but no one has the special, authoritative power usually granted to a manager.

Accounting for the total compensation expense of ESOP shares with the average fair value of the released shares during the year. The difference between original cost per share and the average fair value per share is recorded through paid-in-capital or retained earnings and is a non-cash adjustment. The ESOP compensation expense is part of operating income.

A credit union is a member-owned financial co-operative. Unlike in a traditional bank, where the owners are those who buy stock, not necessarily those who have accounts, credit unions are created and operated by account holders, who are the members-owners, and profits are shared amongst the owners.

A decision making process that rather than voting that is committed to finding decisions that everyone actively supports, or at least can live with. All decisions are made with the consent of everyone involved, to ensure that all opinions, ideas, and concerns are taken into account.

This percentage represents how much of the money earned by a business is directly spent on creating products or providing services. The lower the percentage, the higher the margin, and the more cost-effective the business appears to be. (To calculate a gross profit margin, first take the gross profit from the Profit & Loss [i.e. total revenue minus direct costs/Cost of Goods Sold]. Divide this number by total revenue. Multiply by 100 to show as a percentage.)

Also called Collective Equity in a cooperative, Retained Earnings are the accumulated net income that has been retained for reinvestment in the business rather than being paid out in dividends to stockholders. Retained Earnings is a part of the equity section of a business’ balance sheet.

Payroll taxes are taxes imposed on employers or employees, and are usually calculated as a percentage of the salaries that employers pay their staff. Payroll taxes generally fall into two categories: deductions from an employee’s wages, and taxes paid by the employer based on the employee’s wages.

In accounting, anything of value that a person or business buys. Assets can be physical, such as real estate or stocks, or intangible, such as a claim on debts, such as accounts receivable or liens, or a right, such as a patent. Of crucial importance to assets is their relative liquidity, or the ease with which they can be converted to cash.

In economics, variable cost and fixed cost are the two main costs a company has when producing goods and services. A company’s total cost is composed of its total fixed costs and its total variable costs combined. Variable costs vary with the amount produced. Fixed costs remain the same, no matter how much output a company produces.

A forecast of future revenues and expenses for a business, organization, or country. A financial projection will typically take into account both internal information such as historical income and cost data, and estimates of the development of external market factors, providing estimated figures in addition to projections of the general financial condition of the company in the future.

An F reorganization is defined in Internal Revenue Code Section 368(a)(1)(F) as a mere change of identity, form or place of organization of one corporation. In particular, this involves a tax-free reorganization of the target company (seller), which is typically an S corporation.

An optional rule in EO Plans that applies upon re-hiring an employee into an EO company; if they had not met the eligibility requirements during their previous period of employment, they would need to complete the break in service requirements in order to participate in the Plan.

Optimizing for the benefits of EO post-transaction in order to create and reify ownership culture with practices such as OBM

Refers to the costs associated with business sales, e.g., business broker fees with a 3rd party sale

A portion of something, such as a transaction to buy a company that occurs in parts (tranches)

The combining of two EO Plans, such as what happens when an ESOP purchases another ESOP.

The amount of money that cannot be clawed back after the transaction even if there are future problems.

A startup company valued at over US$1 billion which is privately owned and not listed on a share market.

Refers to the relative complexity of in different types of EO sales, e.g., ESOP vs EOT or worker co-op.

To write off means to reduce value. Businesses will occasionally reduce the value of certain assets by writing them off, such as writing off unpaid and uncollectable invoices as bad debt. Taxpayers may also reduce their taxable income by writing off certain expenses.

Assets that are free from any liens, debts, or other financial obligations.

A company’s value as recorded by its financial documents

An ESOP distribution policy articulates the timing, form, and method in which participants receive their account balance when they retire, leave the company, or become deceased.