More than half (54%) of valuation practitioners surveyed recently expect more demand for their services over the next two to five years. Most respondents anticipate a growth rate of between 10% and 50%, reveals a new survey, the 2014 AICPA Survey on International Trends in Forensic and Valuation Services. A total of 443 practitioners in forensic and valuation services (FVS) responded.

Growth driver: Forensic experts are even more optimistic, as 76% say they expect growth in demand for their services. One factor driving this expectation of growth is the belief (held by 76% of all FVS respondents) that there will be an increase in litigation and regulatory enforcement.

Over the past year, in terms of valuation services, respondents saw a rise in demand in these areas in particular: shareholder and partner disputes, contractual disputes, litigated valuations, gift and estate, and family law/marital dissolution cases.

Top issues: Electronic data analysis (so-called “big data”) is now the No. 1 issue facing FVS professionals, cited by 25% of respondents. Interestingly, this issue did not even appear on the list in 2011. Other top issues are increased complexity and scrutiny in engagements (20%), competition and fee pressure (14%), and regulatory changes (11%). Rounding out the list is attracting and retaining qualified staff (7%), which slipped from its No. 1 position in 2011 to the No. 5 position this year.