In response to our annual, on-line survey about the most important BV issue of 2007, one respondent wrote in: “All of the above!”   Another implied that next year’s political contest might take a backseat to BV concerns:

BV standards will be the biggest problem. Our profession has turned into a dog-eat-dog world, when, in fact, we ought to be working toward commonality in standards. The AICPA is the late comer on the scene and now wants to be the BIG DOG.  Discounts have always been a problem and the more formula-driven our profession becomes (and it has), the more obvious the weakness in our frail argument when we try to pin down the discount number.  BV professionals have to understand that small business valuation is very much a different animal than large corporate valuations. The courts need to realize that minority and illiquid investments do require some discounting even though they are hard to quantify. There has to be some reason brought to our work. It's starting to look like the Gore/Bush debate all over again. Who wins this one is my question?

Preliminary results show that FASB issues are neck-and-neck with S Corps, receiving 23% and 26% of the vote, respectively.  Compare this to last year, when only 6% of respondents believed that fair value for financial reporting had the greatest impact in 2006, compared to 40% who thought tax affecting was the hottest topic, followed by 35% who voted for “all things IRS.”  So far this year, the IRS has registered about 19% of the vote. Your vote counts: To add your response and comments to this invaluable survey of the profession (it will take only a few seconds) click here.