Publications

Tax Valuations from a Judge’s Perspective

Recently the Honorable David Laro (U.S. Tax Court) spoke to conference attendees. Judge Laro provided five significant elements that every valuation report should contain, whether for use in tax or litigation valuation assignments… (learn more)

Median market Valuation Multiples

Many business owners realize their company is likely to be their most valuable asset they own, yet oftentimes owners are unaware of this real worth on the open market. This article focuses on two median market valuation multiples calculated from a broad range of business types over the last… (learn more)

Assets of a Business for SBA Lending Purposes

The Small Business Administration (SBA) issued an update to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that requires an independent appraisal report issued by a “qualified appraisers on any business loan exceeding…(learn more)

Valuing Intangible Assets in a Business

Many companies over the course of time build or occur intangible assets and in some cases, may represent a significant portion of the businesses overall value. So how do you determine the value of intangible assets? Let’s consider the following…(learn more)

Valuing New Business Ventures

Valuing a start-up business is not as straight forward as valuing established companies. Why? With mature businesses, a business appraiser can rely upon historical performance to support future expectations. Many start-up business ventures have…(learn more)

Business Valuation Discounts

Two of the most common discounts are “marketability discounts” and “minority discounts”, both playing an important role in the valuation process. Often more money is at stake determining what amount of discounts to apply when arriving at the underlying or base value…(learn more)

Does The Size of a Business Really Matter

According to the Small Business Administration, approximately one-third of all businesses in America gross less than $1 million annually. With the transfer or sale of ownership in a small business, does size really matter? A business appraiser primarily has three…(learn more)

Can Company Assets be Worth Different Amounts?

Consider for a moment the assets of a profitable operating business. Let’s look at three examples of the same type of asset being worth different amounts for various…(learn more)

Common Errors in Business Valuation Reports

With the accelerated transfer of wealth between generations, an increasing number of gift and estate tax returns being submitted to the Internal Revenue Service annually. As a result, the IRS has undertaken a proactive stance in examining and challenging the opinion of value in many…(learn more)

Measuring the Financial Fitness of a Company

It is critical to keep an eye on the company’s financial picture. According to the American Bankruptcy Institute nearly 115,000 U’.S. businesses file for bankruptcy within the last …(learn more)

Valuing a Professional Practice

Professional practices have unique value and risk drivers that are much different than other industries. One must first understand how value and risk drivers are analyzed for…(learn more)

Financial Ratio Analysis

The purpose of financial ratio analysis is to highlight trends and performance of a business over time. There are nearly 200 ratio measurements covering financial matters such as, efficiency, performance, capacity and …(learn more)

Valuing Machinery & Equipment

Appraising machinery and equipment, along with other business assets have a wide application. The process and required guidelines for appraising machinery and equipment are outlined in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice publication commonly called USPAP. USPAP contains minimum standards for…(learn more)

Can Debt Increase a Business Value?

It depends on the circumstances, for instance, businesses have long accepted the old adage that debt is bad. But this is not always so – in fact, in some cases debt has little or no bearing on a…(learn more)

Valuations for FASB Reporting Purposes

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) changed the accounting rules for mergers and acquisitions financial reporting to shareholders for “Business Combinations” and “Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets” asset transfers based upon…(learn more)

Accessing Key Person Risk

Does a business or professional practice depend on a single owner or vital individual? The impact of losing such a key individual might have an effect on sales and profitability. A key person discount is based upon and individuals or group’s contribution to...(learn more)