This training walks through how to model a Company Estate Freeze using Voyant’s Canadian corporate planning tools. This is an advanced workflow designed to help advisers clearly demonstrate ownership changes, future growth, and tax outcomes when a business is frozen and later sold.
Availability note: The Company Estate Freeze module is available in select subscriptions as an advanced option. If you don’t see it in your plan, contact our support team for more details.
What You’ll Need Before You Start
Before modeling an estate freeze, make sure the following are already in place:
A corporation (holding company) entered in the client’s plan
The appropriate corporate module enabled in your subscription
Once the company exists, the estate freeze itself is modeled as a What-If scenario, allowing you to compare outcomes against the base plan.
Step 1: Create the Company Estate Freeze What-If
Navigate to the What-If section of the plan
Select Company Estate Freeze
Choose the company you want to freeze
Example: Mary’s Company
Select the timing of the freeze
In this example, the freeze occurs at Plan Start
Define the recipients of future growth
Example: 50% retained by Mary
50% allocated to persons outside the plan
Review your selections and click Save
Confirm that you want to keep the new What-If plan
You are now working inside your Company Estate Freeze scenario.
💡 Tip: You can switch between the Base Plan and the Estate Freeze plan using the plan selector at the top of the screen.
Step 2: Review the Estate Freeze Inside the Company
Go to the Dashboard
Open the Corporate section
Select the company you froze
You can confirm the freeze by reviewing the Share Buyback and Issue New Common Shares section, which reflects the restructuring of ownership after the freeze.
Step 3: Establish a Cost Basis for Common Shares
Before modeling the eventual sale of the business, it’s important to establish a cost basis for the original common shares.
By default, common shares do not automatically have a cost basis. Without this step, capital gains may not be calculated as expected at sale.
To Add a Cost Basis:
Open Common Share Ownership
Toggle Use Share Class to ON
Add a new Share Class
Name the share class (e.g., Original Common Shares)
Enter the original cost basis
Example: 1,000 shares at $1,000 per share
This ensures that long-term capital gains are properly reflected when the business is sold.
Step 4: Model the Sale of the Business
With the estate freeze and cost basis in place, you can now model the sale.
Navigate to Ownership Transfer
Confirm the estate freeze is active
Choose Sale as the transfer type
(A gift may be more appropriate for transfers to a spouse or child)
Select the buyer
Example: Person outside the plan
Set the timing of the sale
Example: At Mary’s retirement
Click Done to save
The sale is now reflected in the plan.
Step 5: Review Cash Flow, Ownership, and Taxes
After saving the sale, review the financial impact across the plan.
Key Areas to Review:
Year View
Corporate Tab
Shows:
Business value by year
Ownership percentages
Ownership dropping to 0% in the year of sale
Investments Tab
Displays:
Growth assumptions applied to the business
Contributions from the sale into the client’s cash account
Taxes Tab
Review:
Taxable capital gains
Cost basis used in the calculation
Taxes due in the year of sale
Final Thoughts
Modeling a Company Estate Freeze in Voyant helps advisers visually communicate the real value of the strategy, including:
How today’s business value is locked in for the current owner, creating certainty around future tax exposure
Where future growth flows, clearly showing the shift of appreciation to the next generation or a family trust
The long-term cash flow and tax implications of eventually redeeming or selling the frozen shares
By making these outcomes visible, advisers can move the conversation beyond technical tax rules and focus on what clients care about most: protecting wealth, planning succession, and preserving more value for the next generation.
If you would like assistance with a plan you are working on you can click the client name in the top-right corner and select Request Support, or email your support team at support@planwithvoyant.com
We’re always happy to help.
Bonus tip: Model a what-if without the estate freeze a show the difference in the tax outcomes with and without your advice to highlight the value of working with you.
For a full video walkthrough see the below training.
