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Stay appraised of all the latest business considerations in the jewelry industry! The report explains how jewelry stores operate, the nature of their revenue streams, value drivers, the industry environment, the risks involved, and other key factors.
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Firms unprepared for new lease accounting
Only one in five finance, accounting, and other professionals say their companies are “extremely” or “very” prepared to comply with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) and International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) respective new lease accounting standards, according to a recent poll from the Deloitte Center for Controllership.
The Big Four’s booming consulting biz
Collectively, the Big Four accounting firms saw 42% of their global fiscal 2017 revenue come from consulting and advisory work.
Check out this slate of CPE events
Valuing Accounting Firms: Unique Factors and Litigation Issues (April 30), with Bryan Rice (BCR) and Gary Holmes (Accounting Practice Sales Inc ...
Big Four pecking order unchanged
Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG remain in the top four positions, respectively, on the 2017 Top 100 Firms list Inside Public Accounting (IPA) recently published.
COVID-19 updates and guidance from the valuation community
Valuation professional organizations, special interest groups, and valuation and accounting firms are issuing updates and guidance amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Coronavirus fallout impacts the valuation community
The unpredictable coronavirus is disrupting work plans of valuation and accounting firms and impacting the global market.
Advisory services overtake audit at Big Four
Business valuation and related services typically fall under the “advisory services” practice area at the Big Four and other accounting firms. Advisory services now total 40% of all revenue for the Big Four firms, according to GlobalData’s International Accounting Bulletin World Survey 2020 (select tables are available here).
SEC approves PCAOB updates to fair value audit standards
The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved proposed rules by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to revise auditing standards that increase oversight of specialists employed by accounting firms.
Chancery Adopts Merger Price Sans Cost Savings Reduction
Chancery agrees with company expert’s reliance on merger price as best estimate of fair value of company where DCF and comparable companies analyses lack reliable data, but court rejects downward adjustment for purported cost savings related to merger.
Chancery Decries Accounting Firm’s Compromised Valuation
Chancery says major accounting firm’s merger-related appraisal represents “new low”; to achieve client’s goal of zero corporate tax liability, firm abandoned sound prior approaches and simply copied another accounting firm’s report and called it its own.
Value Determination Accords With Parties’ Contract, Chancery Says
Court says valuation firm’s determination of value of defendants’ put units accords with agreement to which plaintiff and defendants committed themselves; since contract does not provide for judicial review, court won’t “second-guess” valuator’s judgment.
Valuations Bolster IRS’s Transferee Liability Claim
In transferee liability case, Tax Court finds IRS proved petitioner was liable for causing company’s fraudulent asset transfers and benefitted from intermediary company’s fraudulent transfer; valuations showed company was insolvent at time of transfers.
PCAOB 2020 inspection reports released
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has issued its 2020 annual inspection reports for the largest U.S. audit firms, including each of the Big Four, BDO, and Grant Thornton.
Financial reporting watchdogs ‘too lenient,’ say investors
The investor community is pressing the SEC to overhaul its financial reporting infrastructure as well as the PCAOB and FASB (overseen by the SEC), saying the watchdogs “are too lenient towards businesses and the accounting and auditing industry, especially the Big Four firms, that serves the businesses at the expense of investors who provide the capital,” according to an article in Accounting and Compliance Alert.
BV business increases at most Top 100 accounting firms
Almost 80% of AccountingToday’s Top 100 Firms for 2017 say they have increased their business in business valuation services.
Practice opportunity in new SEC rules for private funds
There is a “big opportunity” for valuation practitioners as well as accounting and attestation firms as a result of the new SEC rules designed to enhance the regulation of private fund advisers, remarked Justin Kuczmarski (NAV Valuation & Advisory LLC) during a session at the 2023 ASA International Conference recently in New Orleans.
Fredericks Peebles & Morgan LLP v. Assam
In buyout dispute over law firm interest, court credits firm’s expert, noting his extensive relevant experience, his taking care to value interest under fair market value standard, as required by the partnership agreement, and his detailed risk analysis to support a deep discount.
Pinto v. Schinitsky
The Supreme Court of New York denied motions to dismiss assertions of excess compensation, payments to a consultant, and a salary paid to the defendant’s mother. The court also denied a Daubert motion to exclude the plaintiff’s expert on the reasonableness of compensation. The plaintiff’s expert, a CPA, was found to qualify even though reasonable compensation was not his competency for his practice.
Sultan v. Malik
Appeals court upholds trial court’s valuation of accounting firm based on asset approach where prevailing expert added goodwill value as intangible; court says intrinsic standard of value does not mandate use of income approach for service-based entity.
Robertson v. Hyde Park
This case was a partnership dispute where the defendant partners tried to buy out the plaintiff partners. On appeal before the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division, the defendants argued that the plaintiffs’ dissociation was wrongful and damages should be assessed, discounts for lack of control and marketability should be applied to the value, and the partnership value should be reduced to account for partnership outstanding debts and other amounts. The plaintiffs argued that the trial court erred by relying on the defendants’ expert’s report and not their expert’s report, refusing to increase the value by personal loans taken by the defendant partners, and failing to find that the partnership overpaid management and accounting fees. The appellate court affirmed the trial court with one exception, whether the partnership agreement disassociated properly. On that count, the appellate court determined that the disassociation was appropriate.
Sternat v. Sternat
Appeals court says trial court’s decision to admit opinion of seasoned CPA expert who was not a credentialed business valuator was not error because valuation was a “non-issue” where evidence showed the indebted company was no longer a going concern.
In re Appraisal Solera Holdings, Inc.
In an appraisal proceeding, the Chancery finds the deal price minus synergies provides the best evidence of fair value; court says there was an efficient market and the sales process, though not perfect, was able to deliver the value generated in an arm’s-length transaction.
Merlin Partners LP v. AutoInfo, Inc.
Chancery agrees with company expert’s reliance on merger price as best estimate of fair value of company where DCF and comparable companies analyses lack reliable data, but court rejects downward adjustment for purported cost savings related to merger.
Ramcell, Inc. v. Alltel Corp.
In this appraisal action to determine fair value, petitioner Ramcell Inc. exercised its appraisal rights in asking for a statutory appraisal of the value of its 155 shares of Jackson Cellular Telephone Co. Inc. The respondent, Alltel Corp. (dba Verizon Wireless), had converted the 155 shares at a value of $2,963 per share. “Respondent’s expert opines that Jackson’s per-share value was $5,690.92 at the time of the merger. Petitioner’s expert has offered two appraisal ranges, opining that, at the high end, Jackson’s per-share value was $36,016 on the merger date.” Both parties agreed that the DCF method should be the sole method for determining the value. The Delaware Chancery Court, using that method, determined the fair value of each share at $11,464.57. The court noted that the disparity in the parties’ valuations was due to disagreements as to the inputs to the DCF model and how they should be calculated.
In re Appraisal of Jarden Corp. (I)
Court finds record shows unaffected market price is best evidence of fair value; court says company expert’s efficient market analysis and event study provide strong support for use of market price; court’s own DCF analysis generates value close to market price, thus corroborating market price.