Essential reading for anyone connected to the business valuation profession is a new white paper from veteran valuer Chris Mercer (Mercer Capital). In 2021, he began taking an analytical look at the profession, which was covered in Business Valuation Update. His new white paper, published by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA), is free, and you can access it if you click here. It was first reported in NACVA’s QuickRead publication.

In the paper, Mercer considers four areas of the profession where the future will most prominently be affected—and here are some of his predictions for each:

1. Appraisal/valuation credentialling organizations (intense competition will trigger a shakeout among the three groups: the AICPA, ASA, and NACVA);
2. Business valuation standards (there will not, in the foreseeable future, be a single set of global valuation standards);
3. Business valuation theory (the new generation of appraisers will cast off some old concepts in favor of more relevant theory); and
4. Consolidation of the profession and ownership transitioning (look for more acquisitions of BV firms).

Mercer plans on doing some regular updates—and he will be speaking on the topic at NACVA’s “super” conference in Snowbird (Salt Lake City) July 12-14. For details on the conference, click here (à la carte option is available).