IVSC have made available a study on how business leaders perceive the valuation profession and particularly its evolving standards. Almost three-quarters (72%) of finance executives around the world believe there are material inconsistencies and/or contradictions between the various business valuation standards currently in use globally, the study, published in Bewertungs Praktiker, concludes.

The study was led by three academics, all of whom are members of the International Valuation Standards Council’s Europe Board: Dr. Marc Broekema, assistant professor at the Department of Business Studies, Leiden Law School of the Leiden University; Dr. Olesya Perepechko, lecturer at the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University; and Professor Klaus Rabel, a professor of business valuation at the University of Graz. Their final sample consists of 196 participants from 32 different countries across all continents.

The business valuation profession have taken huge steps toward global standards harmonisation in the last five years particularly, but this study suggests that, lacking a single source, the business community remains ignorant of this progress. IVSC and BVWire—UK note that the study does not mention the detailed comparison that has been made of the global valuation standards that concludes that they do not conflict with each other. The new study includes a comparative chart of current international business valuation standards, and here’s an additional point-by-point comparison of the different U.S. business valuation standards.