Who knows how the tables will turn in light of the worsening national economy, but the good news is that when we surveyed BV professionals for our recently-released 2009 Business Valuation Firm Economics & Best Practices Survey, respondents were very optimistic about what the future would hold. Indeed, our data confirms what many know intuitively: the number of practices offering valuation services has grown at an accelerated rate. Consider too that in addition to drawing revenue from “tried-and-true” areas of specialization—like trusts and estates and family/matrimonial—the BV professionals queried were also poised to tap into new territory.

Which areas generated the most revenue? Not surprisingly, tax work was rated by 20% of survey respondents as “most profitable.” Other areas, ranked in order of respondents’ perceived profitability, include: fraud/forensic accounting (identified by 12% of respondents); fair value (10%); matrimonial/family (9%); and healthcare, transactions, shareholder disputes (tied at 8%). For more information: Deluxe BVU subscribers can glean additional insights on the profession as outlined in our survey by downloading a free executive summary. To get your copy, login to BVLibrary, then click here.