Steven D. Lustig, JD, CPA

Steven D. Lustig is an accomplished financial, tax and transaction law specialist who possesses over thirty (30) years of experience across a diverse range of corporate, financial and business areas.

He has been a frequently requested lecturer throughout the United States (covering all 50 states) for 20 years, and is the recipient of the AICPA Discussion Leader Award in 2005 (inaugural award year) and 2006. Steve has also lectured on behalf of the ABA, CPA firms, as well as national and local business organizations.

He has authored several widely-read business textbooks utilized in full and half-day Federal tax courses on topics that include: Partnership Taxation, Purchase and Sale of a Business, Tax Strategies for Closely-held Businesses, Tax Strategies for Individuals, Estate Planning, Federal Tax Updates and Negotiating with the IRS.

Steve currently serves as founder and managing director of Galapagos Financial Partners, LLC, a Gaithersburg, Maryland and La Jolla, California-based consulting firm specializing in corporate and financial areas for closely-held businesses.

Prior to founding Galapagos Financial Partners, LLC, Steve was a partner in O’Rourke, McCloskey & Moody, heading the financial and business sector of the firm. He handled closely held business acquisitions and divestitures, tax strategies, negotiations of employment agreements, consulting agreements, leases and business contracts.

Steve operates on the principle that “It is not what a company makes or receives – rather, it is how much the owners retain” – specializes in the closely-held business sector with a primary focus of driving up the internal rate of return for the company and its owners.

He works closely with clients throughout the country and across multiple market segments, including the manufacturing sector (ranging from generic injection plastic molding to complex, one-of-a-kind multi-million dollar inventory items), retail chains, restaurants (including hot dog stands to nationally known gourmet facilities), hotels, real estate developers, real estate contractors and sub-contractors, the service sector (CPA firms, law firms, engineering firms and architects) and health care (including nursing homes, physician practices and hospitals).

Steve specializes in:

• FINANCIAL AND TAX PLANNING includes developing long term business models for the client’s profit centers to achieve annual and long term goals.
  
  
• BUDGETING projects are focused on effective use of company resources, timing of expenditures and accountability by department.
  
  
• ACQUISITION STRATEGIES include alternatives uses of funds, market segmentation and fund sources.
  
  
• SALE STRATEGIES starts with a two (2) to five (5) year planning period prior to sale to place the closely held business in its best position to maximize internal rate of return on sale.
  
  
• BUSINESS GROWTH STRATEGIES takes the successful closely held business and designs programs for protecting existing markets, growth and expansion.
  
  
• FUNDING SOURCES AND USE OF FUNDS goes together with all of the sections listed above to ensure that the funds required are there when the client needs it.
  
  
• TAX STRATEGIES are implemented to, within the boundaries of the tax laws (Federal, state, local and sales tax), minimize the tax burden for the client.