Do I Need Help From a Business Lawyer To Sell My Company?

By Phil Reese · April 9, 2021 · Updated June 26, 2026

The Importance Of Hiring An Experienced Attorney When Selling a Business In Arizona

Working with a business broker to sell your company can ensure that you get the best price for the business you have worked so hard to build over the years. Your business broker can also help connect you with qualified buyers, can oversee the due diligence process, and can help you with many other aspects of the sale. But, eventually, you will need the help of a business lawyer. You will have to create, review, and sign a lot of documents throughout the process of selling your business, from getting it ready for sale to undergoing due diligence to actually closing on the deal. Mistakes or omissions on any of these documents can undermine the sale, leave you open to liability, or put you at other risk. Hiring an experienced business attorney can ensure that you have the right documents to protect your interests and ensure a successful sale.

Hiring An Experienced Attorney When Selling a Business In Phoenix, AZ

To Ensure the Buy-Sell Agreement is in Your Favor

Getting the price you want for your business is not the only thing you’ll need to consider in the final sale. A good business lawyer will help ensure that you have a final buy-sell agreement that is in your favor. For example, the buyer could demand a warranty that could result in major expenses or liability for you later. Your attorney would flag these and other issues in the buy-sell agreement that could cost you a lot of money or be a major hassle later - and then help you avoid them.

To Solve Legal Issues that May Occur While Selling a Business

Should any legal issues arise during the sale of your business, a business attorney will be there to offer guidance and implement solutions. Your attorney can counsel you on your rights and legal options, and can draw up whatever documents are necessary to provide solutions, or can initiate legal proceedings on your behalf. In many cases, just having your business attorney draft official correspondence on your behalf can hasten negotiations or lead to quick agreements to avoid any legal issues during your sale.

To Help Submit All Legal Documents Needed for a Business Sale

You will need several documents for the sale of your business, and it is essential that they are drafted properly to protect you against all liability and to ensure that the sale is closed successfully. You will need documents both before and at the close of the sale. Some of the documents that an experienced business attorney can draft for you leading up to the sale include:

A Non-Disclosure Confidentiality Agreement

A Personal Financial Statement Form For The Buyer To Complete

Note Of Seller Financing

Financial Statements For The Current & The Past Two To Three Years

A Statement Of The Seller’s Discretionary Earnings & Cash Flow

Accounts Payable & Accounts Receivable Aging Reports

Inventory List With Values Detailed

Some of the documents that you may need once the sale has started include:

A Letter Of Intent

The Buyer’s Due Diligence

A Purchase Agreement

Confirmation Of The Buyer’s Method Of Payment

A Transfer Of Ownership

It is imperative that all the documents related to the sale of your business are created by a business attorney representing your interests. Any mistakes or oversights in them can jeopardize the sale or can lead to liability for you later. Always work with an experienced business attorney to create or review these documents.

Need a Master Certified Business Intermediary To Sell Your Company? Or a Business Attorney To Help With The Sale?

If you need a master certified business intermediary to sell your company, call Phil Reese in Arizona. Phil Reese has been helping people buy and sell businesses in the Scottsdale and Phoenix areas for the last two decades, and he is ready to help you. If you are ready to go through with your sale, contact the experienced business attorneys at Gunderson, Denton and Peterson in Mesa today. Our attorneys can create or review all documents related to the sale of your business, no matter what kind of sale it is, what kind of business you own, or what size business you own. Our business attorneys have been helping clients throughout the Phoenix area for many years. Call us today to meet with a business attorney and discuss your needs.

Buying Or Selling A Business As An Asset Sale vs A Stock Sale: What's The Difference?
The purchase agreement on the list above reads differently in an asset sale than in a stock sale. This explains both structures, the tax difference between them, why a buyer's attorney usually pushes for an asset sale, and the Arizona sales tax liability that can follow a buyer regardless.
How To Be Prepared For A Buyer’s Due Diligence
The buyer's due diligence is one of the stages above. This is the seller's side of it: the financial, legal, and asset records to organize before the buyer's CPA starts asking, from tax returns and leases to the shareholder agreements and licenses in your legal folder.
How Are Business Acquisitions Financed?
The note of seller financing on the document list is common because most deals include one. This explains how seller carry notes work alongside all-cash deals and SBA loans, what a typical term and down payment look like, and why buyers read a seller's willingness to carry as confidence.
“I Don't Need A Business Broker To Help Me Sell My Tempe Business."
What the documents above are for. An owner who sold without them carried a note for half the price, skipped the buyer's personal financial statement and credit report, filed nothing to protect himself, and had no way to collect when the payments stopped a few months after closing.
The Process of Selling a Business
Where each of these documents falls in the sale. The eight steps from the decision to sell through training the new owner, with the confidential business review, the letter of intent, due diligence, and escrow in sequence, so you can see when the attorney's work actually happens.

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