The majority of chartered accountants in public practice or industry have worked with private companies that are in the truest sense a family business -- that is, the ownership is made up of family members who also work in the business. In order to have the luxury of such choices, a governance structure within the business is essential. In other words, the business needs to have a professional system of communication and decision making. A professionalized governance structure also gives the entrepreneur the opportunity to turn the business into a true investment, as the business is not dependent on the owner to make it operate day to day. When setting up an advisory board, it must be clear what its aim and focus are. As for the entrepreneur, the benefit of a board is that he or she gets an outside perspective of his or her business, a perspective that can be beneficial to the operations or the long-term strategic direction.

Family owned businesses
Chartered accountants