There are a lot of reasons as to why a business owner needs to do a valuation. Take a dive into one of these reasons with this preview from Chapter 3 of A Field Guide to Business Valuation. Read more >>

One of the lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis is that a coherent narrative is more important than ever in business valuation, says Dr. Aswath Damodaran, of New York University Stern School of Business, who gave the keynote address at the CBV Congress 2021. A valuation needs a marriage of narrative and numbers, Damodaran says. In a good valuation, the numbers are “bound together” by a coherent narrative, and storytelling is kept grounded with numbers. Too much emphasis on numbers can make valuations mere “plug-and-point exercises” that may be perceived to be sales pitches or a confirmation of preconceived values. Read more >>

In the May issue of the Economic Outlook Update (EOU), the publication added data highlighting the wholesale trade segment of the U.S. economy, putting a spotlight on the data the U.S. Census published. The report highlights the sales totals of merchant wholesalers for April 2021, which included adjustments for seasonal variations and trading day differences. The report showed an improvement in wholesale trade in April 2021 when compared to March 2021 and from one year ago. In April, total sales were $570.8 billion, or 0.8% higher than the revised March level and 43.6% higher than the level from one year ago. Read more >>

For years, the valuation profession has debated the definition of a control premium, including its distinction from an acquisition premium. What began years ago as a relatively simple question—if there is a control premium, what should it be?—now includes analyzing such concepts as invested capital premiums and equity-based premiums, transaction synergies and strategic values, marketability, and levels of control. All are “key points” to keep in mind throughout the quantification of a control premium, say Tim Meinhart and Nate Novak (both of Willamette Management Associates), who led a webinar on this topic titled Evaluating and Applying Control Premiums earlier this year. Read more >>

Business interruption insurance claims are on the rise, and analysts need to be on the lookout for misrepresentations. Michael Haugen, CPA, CFF, CFE (JS Held) conducted a session on this at the recent AICPA FVS Conference, and it’s an area where valuation experts would do well to bolster their knowledge and skills in financial forensics. During his session, Haugen gave some tips on how to “sniff out” misrepresentations in these claims. In the recent Business Valuation Update (BVU) article, “14 Ways to Detect Misrepresentations in Business Interruption Claims,” Haugen classifies specific techniques to detect misrepresentations in business interruption claims. Read more >>

Measuring lost profits damages for new or early-stage businesses can be a daunting task. Traditional damage analyses that rely on historical results are often meaningless since, by definition, startup companies usually lack a track record of operating results. Without an historical operating history for measuring lost profits, the damages expert walks a thin line between speculation and a reasoned analysis. Under most circumstances, to be admissible evidence, damage analyses require relevant and reliable factual bases. These legal and evidentiary requirements are often heightened when measuring damages for new businesses. Read more >>

Complicated as the year 2020 was, it was not boring. The past year offered a wealth of lawsuits dealing with business valuation and economic damages issues. The list below shows our Top 10. Read more >>

It’s always very informative and helpful to listen to judges talk about the valuation cases they hear. At its annual conferences, NACVA regularly presents sessions with judges. At its Business Valuation and Financial Litigation Super Conference in June, a session included a panel of four judges and one moderator. The panelists shared their views of when they detect potential problems with appraisers when they are on the witness stand. Read more >>

The final chapter on the impact of the pandemic on the full-service restaurant sector has yet to be written. In the meantime, thinking continues to evolve on conducting valuations in the current environment. In a new special report, What It’s Worth: Valuing Full-Service Restaurants, BVR covers the fundamentals and unique considerations for restaurant valuation—as well as how to assess the long-term outlook for consumer preferences and financial performance. Based on conversations, webinars, and conference sessions with many valuation experts, here are six pandemic-related issues you should consider. Read more >>

BVR is excited to announce the release of its new Guideline Public Company Comps Tool (GPCCT), a state-of-the-art, web-based platform that offers access to complete financial statements, financial ratios, and multiples for comparable companies—and even includes an Excel add-in. Read more >>

When looking to appraise or value paving companies, there are many unique factors to consider that set this industry apart from others: the seasonality of the business, specific bidding requirements for federal, state, and local governments, as well as contracted set asides for businesses owned by women, minorities, and veterans. There are even special rules for determining what qualifies for these ownership types. Read more >>

BVR’s most recent case study explains how a valuation professional used DealStats to help determine the value of an Italian restaurant and how the platform provided the real-world data necessary to arrive at a reliable value conclusion. Read more >>

Learn how tax reform has impacted the world of business valuation and how to navigate key issues facing business appraisers, including how to adjust pre-Tax Act valuation multiples for post-Tax Act business valuations. Read more >>

Healthcare is arguably the most highly regulated industry in the country. For any healthcare valuation, appraisers should have a reasonable understanding of regulations affecting healthcare providers and nonprofit organizations and a grasp of the current changes that Congress and state legislatures may enact. Excerpted from the Guide to Ancillary Healthcare Services Valuation, here are some special considerations to take into account when valuing home healthcare businesses. Read more >>

In addition to revisions to existing material and examples, there’s new material on valuing stock options, preferred stock, debt, and startup ventures. Read more >>

Class actions have their own rules, including when it comes to expert testimony. An unresolved issue is whether damages expert testimony is subject to a Daubert inquiry at the class certification stage, before the court has approved the request to proceed as a class action. The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to give clear guidance, but defendants are increasingly proactive and move to exclude the testimony at the beginning of the litigation in an attempt to thwart class certification and knock the case out early. Read more >>

If the jury had sided with the plaintiff in the Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven" case, it would have had to carve out the value of the riff that only forms part of the song. BVWire asked Michael Pellegrino (Pellegrino & Associates), a valuation expert (and musician) who specializes in intellectual property, for some insights into some of the thoughts behind how this would have been determined Read more >>

At the recent NYSSCPA business valuation conference in New York City, Daniel Van Vleet (Stout Risius Ross) told the audience that the Van Vleet model (S corporation economic adjustment model) is being used for the first time in a pending U.S. Tax Court case. What’s more, both the IRS and the taxpayer are using it in this case, says Van Vleet. Read more >>

Shannon Pratt, Roger Grabowski, Jim Hitchner, Nancy Fannon, and the Honorable Judge David Laro of the Tax Court are just a few of valuation thought leaders dubbed by NACVA as “industry titans” who gave presentations at the organization’s 25th anniversary conference in San Diego Read more >>

Last year, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued for public comment a staff consultation paper on potential standard-setting activities related to the auditor using the work of specialists, including valuation professionals. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is conducting a survey on the role of specialists in developing and evaluating the fair value estimates used in audited financial statements. This research may help in the PCAOB’s standard setting in this regard. Read more >>