In the last two issues, we presented some takeaways from the first two days of the AICPA & CIMA Forensic and Valuation Services (FVS) Conference in Las Vegas last month. There were over 60 sessions to choose from over the three days, and here are some things we learned on the third day:

• For estate/gift tax valuations, to meet the adequate disclosure requirement, the IRS should be able to replicate your conclusion of value;
• Over a third of attendees of a brand valuation session say they have the most success with the ktMINE royalty rate database;
• As for R&D at software companies, it’s easier to treat it as capex than leaving it in as an operating expense;
• A perfect storm of issues is looming over the cannabis industry: lack of reform and declining demand for the product on top of rising interest rates and inflation;
• In a poll, two-thirds of attendees say their most common areas of practice are family law and gift and estate work;
• Another attendee poll found that the most common error in valuation is a failure to normalize earnings properly; and
• In misappropriation of trade secrets cases, reasonable royalty is the damages measurement used the least (prevailed in only four cases in recent years).

We will have expanded coverage of the conference starting in the January issue of Business Valuation Update. Next year’s FVS conference will be in Dallas at the Hyatt Regency, Oct. 28-30, 2024.