Here’s what you’ll see:

• “AI Concerns, Experiments Highlight NACVA Confab” (BVR Editor). This is a recap of several interesting sessions at the December NACVA Business Valuation & Financial Litigation Super Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The sessions discussed ethics issues and presented some demonstrations of how to leverage AI in a valuation practice.
• “What Valuers Should Do While SCOTUS Mulls Connelly” (BVR Editor). Regardless of how the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the Connelly case, there are some steps valuers can take to better help their client business owners, many of whom could be sitting on ticking time bombs. The issue before SCOTUS is how does corporate-owned life insurance designed to fund the redemption of a deceased shareholder’s stock impact the fair market value of the subject company and the value of the decedent’s gross estate.
• “Two Ways to Treat the Vanishing Bonus Depreciation Tax Break” (BVR Editor). Michelle Gallagher and Nathan Olberding (both with Adamy Valuation) present a nice example of how to consider the sunsetting of the bonus depreciation rules in a valuation. The rules were enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).
• “Quality Control Is Now the No. 1 Concern of BV Firms” (BVR Editor). What keeps business valuation firm managers up at night? Mostly, they worry about maintaining control over the quality of the work product, according to the Business Valuation Firm Benchmarking Guide. This article presents the other top concerns.
• “‘Very Useful’ MPF Will Be Reissued in Revamped Form” (BVR Editor). Even if you do not practice in the area of fair value for financial reporting, valuers should take notice of a document that will be going out for public comment from the AICPA. The document is a revised version of the Mandatory Performance Framework, which was issued in connection with the Certified in Entity and Intangible Valuations (CEIV) credential, which was discontinued last year.
• “A Wealth of Rules of Thumb in the 2024 Business Reference Guide” (BVR Editor). At a recent conference, an audience member asked top valuation thought leader Gary Trugman (Trugman Valuation): “Do you use rules of thumb in your valuations?” He replied: “Absolutely! But only as a sanity check.” A good source of rules of thumb is the Business Reference Guide, which has been updated for its 2024 edition.

The issue also includes:

• A full section of “BV News and Trends/Global BV News and Trends”;
• Regular features: “Ask the Experts” and “Tip of the Month”;
• BV data spotlight: “DealStats MVIC/EBITDA Trends,” “FactSet/BVR Control Premium Study,” “Economic Outlook for the Month,” and the “Cost of Capital Center”; and
• BVLaw Case Update: The latest court cases that involve business valuation issues with one case featured in a detailed analysis.

To stay current on business valuation, check out the February 2024 issue of Business Valuation Update.