A transfer of a business is a varied and involved process with a number of considerations you will have to make at various points along the way, including:

• What are you purchasing and have the assets or plant and equipment you have discussed with the vendor as being inclusive of the purchase price been included in the contract?
• What is being signed up for when taking over a previous business owner’s lease of premises? For example, generally rental paid to the end of the rental period will need to be adjusted for at settlement as well as ensuring that any security deposit required has been correctly accounted for. You should also have a good understanding of what state the premises is in at the date of settlement and what condition the lessor (or landlord) of the lease expects the premises will be returned to at end of the lease
• Will you be protected against the previous business owner competing with you or using the intellectual property of the business (e.g. client database or supplier information)?
• If there are existing employees of the business then adjustment of their wages and staff entitlements such as annual leave, personal leave or long service leave will also need to be adjusted for