Engagement letters are standard practice among BV practices and professionals—99% of firms responding to BVR’s 2007 Business Valuation Firm Economics & Best Practices Survey now require them from new clients.  (The practice may be more widespread among BV firms than other professional service firms due to USPAP and other professional requirements.) 

But not all BV firms require an up-front retainer before taking on a valuation engagement—and among those that do, the percentages range from less than 25% to 100% of the anticipated project fees, depending on the client, the complexity of the assignment, and the context.  To see where your firm fits in the breakdown of retainer fees, please take a couple of moments to answer our on-line survey.  We’ll publish the results in next week’s BVWire.