The current state of the economy may have had the most impact on BV practices in 2011, according to our annual end-of-the-year survey. But as domestic and global markets stabilize, the increasing specialization of the BV profession should have the greater influence in the year ahead, say survey respondents, who are also feeling the emphasis (by courts, regulators, and clients) on more empirical analyses:

Compare these results to our 2010 survey, in which well over half (57%) of respondents believed that the convergence of U.S. and international financial reporting standards would have the greatest impact in 2011. (Fewer than 7% did this year, so their answers were grouped with “all others.”) Likewise, over half (52%) of last year’s participants thought that the promulgation of international standards would be a BV-shaping trend in 2011, compared to only 4% this year. BV institutionalization was also much more of a concern, as was the emphasis on empirical methods and data (57% of 2010 respondents ticked off those two items). Over 30% believed that BV firms would pay more attention to practice management this year—but macro-economic concerns seem to have eclipsed this micro-focus for the near future.

Our thanks to all who participated in the latest survey, which tallied more responses than in any prior year We’ll have a full write up of results and commentary in the Feb. 2012 Business Valuation Update.