From formation to exit, how Withum maps financial journey for life-science companies

When you press Withum’s James Reynolds on why the national advisory, tax and
accounting firm was at the BioParnterning event Tuesday at the Liberty Science Center
in Jersey City.

As a firm with a strong life science practice, it was logical for Reynolds, principal of the
firm’s Assurance Services for Life Science, to be there with a team.

But when you ask Reynolds when Withum is most valuable to some of the founders of
startups at the event, the question had many answers:

• At the beginning, when you need to make sure your business is set up properly
  to take advantage of tax credits and opportunities;
• At the end, when you need to make sure your business is getting maximum
  valuation before a sale.
• And all the time in between.

Reynolds put it this way: “If you have a bank account, you have an accounting record.”

One that needs attention.

“I would say, even if they don’t think they need us, they probably do need us, because a
lot of times it’s you don’t know what you don’t know,” he said.

“Companies may not realize the opportunities that they are letting pass by.
Opportunities for tax credits that could save them money. Opportunities for evaluation
services when they’re looking to sell the company, so they don’t sell themselves short.”

“There’s a host of things that they might not even realize that we could provide.”

He pointed to R&D credits, which many may know about.

And credits many companies don’t know about: The state’s NOL program, where
companies can sell their net operating losses — a program where they can monetize
their assets even when they are not profitable.

Reynolds points out companies may not be able to fully take advantage of these
programs until they bring in a professional.

And if that relationship starts too late, there may be another delay.

“A lot of times when we get involved, we’re undoing a lot of mess,” he said. “The earlier
you get people like us involved, the more headaches you can save yourself from down
the road.

“Anybody can access QuickBooks, but just because you can access the software
doesn’t mean you have to know how to run your books.”

Reynolds’ pitch to clients at the event was simple: “You take care of the science; we’ll
take care of the rest,” he said.