Business valuation is a relatively small profession—yet it supports not one, not two, but FIVE different credentials, notes Raymond J. ("RJ") Dragon (Rotenberg Meril Solomon) in his recent blog post, “Rating the Business Valuation Credentials.” “This BV equivalent of 'interservice rivalry' has had good and bad effects,” Dragon says:

On the plus side, people argue that competition among the BV credentialing organizations has led to more continuing professional education options and more published BV journals. On the negative side, it makes it hard to establish a public image for the BV profession, which leads to a lack of knowledge among the public, and creates skepticism in important subsets of the public, such as judges. Moreover, with competition among multiple credentials, there is the temptation for one credential to attract more members by watering down the requirements for entry. 

By analogy, he says, what if the auditing profession came with an Accredited Senior Auditor (ASA), an Accredited Public Accountant (APA), and even a Chartered Business Accountant (CBA), each with different levels of training and experience, and all boasting that their credential demonstrates superior knowledge of the profession? To confirm what really makes a good BV expert, “a two-year valuation experience minimum should be required to earn a credential,” Dragon believes, adding that the ASA “is on the right track to require significant valuation training.” Let us know your opinion.