September 22, 2017
Published by 
Stephanie Ramsey on September 22, 2017
Stephanie Ramsey on September 22, 2017HR Reality Check: Yep, the Stories are True! HR Case Study #7 Scenario: Clyde Smith owns and operates the Smith Family Funeral Home in a suburban southwestern town. He is well known in the community and provides several part-time positions to a number of local college students. As far as Clyde is concerned, the work environment at his facility is professional and friendly. This all changed when two of his part-time employees entered his office late one Friday afternoon clearly arguing. He also noted that the mouth of the 19-year-old, Billy, was very red. Sara, his 22-year-old co-worker, was very clearly agitated. Immediately upon entering his office, they both started talking at once to explain their position. As they began talking over each other, Clyde had trouble understanding the details of what had happened. However, one fact was crystal clear; […]
September 13, 2017
Published by 
Dan Isard on September 13, 2017
Dan Isard on September 13, 2017Where Do I Go From Here? The components of a buy-sell agreement, establishing fair market value, valuing shareholders’ stock and determining whether the transaction is financeable. Dear Dan, Almost 30 years ago, I started to work for a funeral home. About 10 years into my employment, I was given the chance to buy a 25% stake in the business for $100,000. The seller, 10 years older than I am, continued to work with me as the 75% stockholder. I agreed to allow him to deduct $650 per month from my paycheck to finance this purchase over 20 years. His lawyer wrote up a buy-sell agreement I was told was routine and ordinary. Over the past 20 years, nothing has changed within the scope of the buy-sell agreement. Even with the decline in interest rates, I did not request a change. […]
September 13, 2017
Published by Dan Isard on September 13, 2017
Dan Isard on September 13, 2017September 11, 2017
Published by Dan Isard on September 11, 2017
Dan Isard on September 11, 2017Cemetery Impossible How can you tell if a cemetery is priced right? by Daniel M. Isard, MSFS Dear Cemetery Impossible, I own a small cemetery in a two-cemetery town. The other cemetery is larger, and I am very familiar with it. About a decade ago, it was bought by someone and then acquired by another company, then was acquired by another company, and so on. I asked the current manager of the property to let me know if his company ever wants to sell it. Well, I recently received an offering memo, with financial data, from the company. It turns out that they own hundreds of cemeteries and funeral homes. I thought the asking price looked reasonable, so I took it to my accountant and lawyer. They both agreed that it was a great deal. I then took it to […]
September 11, 2017
Published by Stephanie Ramsey on September 11, 2017
Stephanie Ramsey on September 11, 2017Last year many funeral business employers were frantically attempting to address the potential change to their payroll based on implementation of the Fair Labor Standards Act Overtime Rule which was anticipated to go into effect on December 1, 2016. The enactment of this rule was stalled by a Texas District Court judge issuing a nationwide injunction in November. Then President Trump paused, via a presidential memorandum, all proposed federal regulations that had not yet taken effect. Does that mean that the FLSA Overtime Rule is dead? What about other new or proposed employment regulations that might impact funeral business owners? For employers, the environment under which they try to operate a business is often caught up in the ever-changing waves of new employment laws or regulations at both the state and federal levels. At mid-way through 2017, let us take […]