There is a big swing in prices for HVAC firms—from under 10% of revenue to over 100% of revenue—depending on the mix of business. Read more >>

Four out of five business valuation firms surveyed say they ask for 50% down before starting work on a new engagement. Read more >>

A recent Washington state divorce case included a noteworthy discussion of goodwill where the owner spouse’s business arguably was separate property. Divorce experts will notice that the court’s goodwill analysis has much in common with an appreciation analysis. Read more >>

Management projections are the sine qua non of a discounted cash flow analysis, and, in a recent statutory appraisal action involving the pet product giant PetSmart, the Delaware Court of Chancery found they did not cut the mustard. The court called the projections, “at best, fanciful,” and concluded the most accurate measure of fair value was the merger consideration. Read more >>

Here's a summary of the latest business valuation professional and firm news, originally published in Issue #178-2 of BVWire. Read more >>

Comments are due by Aug. 7, 2017 on an IRS notice that puts the proposed Section 2704 regs on the chopping block. Read more >>

When, in a Mississippi accounting malpractice case, the trial court used an outside "technical advisor" to determine the admissibility of the parties’ proposed expert testimony, the Daubert hearing assumed a whole other dimension. It was no longer simply a battle between the opposing experts, but an occasion for outside experts to judge the work of the parties’ experts. Read more >>

In a controversial ESOP case that turned on the trustee’s oversight of the pretransaction valuation work, the defendant trustee recently filed a motion for reconsideration. It argued the court had committed errors related to its liability and damages findings. Although the court owned up to some mistakes, including a misunderstanding of the concept of beta, it ultimately stuck to its earlier decision. Read more >>

The bonding process is very important for electrical contractors, especially in large metropolitan areas where they can’t work on certain jobs without being bonded. Read more >>

A list of the latest business valuation professional and firm news, originally published in Issue #178-1 of BVWire. Read more >>

Comments are due Sept. 26, 2017, on an exposure draft of a “disclosure framework” that establishes parameters of documentation requirements for the Certified in Valuation of Financial Instruments (CVFI) credential. Read more >>

When and whether to apply a discount for marketability in divorce valuations has been an open question in Tennessee, owing to some confusing court rulings. However, a recent amendment to the Tennessee Code seeks to provide clarity to valuators handling divorce cases in this jurisdiction. Read more >>

The brand is the single most important intangible asset in wine businesses, accounting for 17.5% of enterprise value on average, according to latest data. Read more >>

HealthCare Appraisers Inc. has just released valuation multiples of single-specialty and multispecialty ASCs based on data representing over 700 entities. Read more >>

A casual observer may look at the various business valuation standards different organizations issue and get the idea that they are at odds with each other. But that is not the case. Read more >>

The plaintiff is the “prevailing party,” a Minnesota district court recently decided, allowing the minority owner of a well-known family business to sell her share for over $40 million. The valuation trial featured high-caliber experts who disagreed about every input and assumption underlying their discounted cash flow analyses. Read more >>

We recently reported on a case in which annotated expert draft reports were subject to discovery notwithstanding Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(4). Valuation professionals who frequently work on federal cases also need to know that Rule 26 does not protect expert notes and nonattorney communication, as an important 11th Circuit ruling explains. Read more >>

In an estate and gift tax case, the U.S. Tax Court recently sided with the Internal Revenue Service when the court found the value of assets transferred from the decedent to a family limited partnership was includible in the value of the decedent’s gross estate. The real surprise lay in the court's decision to propose a new way of calculating the includible amount. Read more >>

Here's a roundup of the latest business valuation professional and firm news, originally published in Issue #174-5 of BVWire. Liz Moreau, a partner at Broussard Poché, headquartered in Crowley, La., has become a Certified Healthcare Financial Professional. Lougen Valenti Bookbinder & Weintraub of Amherst, N.Y., has hired Thomas Schwartz as valuation manager. Read more >>

The 11th Circuit recently affirmed a four-year-old Tax Court valuation of a revocable trust’s interest in a limited partnership. The linchpin in the valuation was the marketability discount. Read more >>