The AICPA has issued a bridging document to move a VS100 valuation engagement to an IVS-compliant valuation engagement. Learn more about what this might mean for the BVLS field. Read more >>

BIZCOMPS, a comprehensive online database with financial details on small, Main Street private companies, has been recently updated with new transactions, and the current BIZCOMPS/BVR Deal Review (BDR), exclusively for subscribers, is now available. This special publication analyzes general trends, valuation multiples, and operating ratios for transactions in the database. Get a sneak peek at the Summer 2021 issue with highlights including harmonic mean and median sale price, median SDE/rent, and more. 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 >>

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 >>

Recent developments have put the spotlight squarely on projected financial information (PFI). The perception is that too many valuation experts simply accept projections and forecasts they’re given without applying enough scrutiny—or any scrutiny at all. Fortunately, there is some new guidance on how to examine and substantiate PFI you get from management or other third parties in BVR’s new Guide to Management Projections and Business Valuation: Analysis and Case Law. The following is an excerpt from that chapter. Read more >>

Financial experts may be subject to standards of professional practice from a number of sources when they measure lost profits damages and give related expert testimony. The sources can include governmental regulators as well as professional membership organizations and societies. In addition, a technical community may establish professional standards of practice in other ways. Read more >>

A number of issues have emerged that analysts will encounter when performing a valuation in a bankruptcy context. Valuation analysts who become involved in bankruptcy-related assignments should expect their work to come under a great deal of scrutiny because most of these engagements are done within a litigation or some other adversarial context, cautioned Robert Reilly, a managing director at Willamette Management Associates, during a BVR webinar back in 2017. While his remarks were made a few years ago, they continue to resonate, and a chapter from Business Valuation and Bankruptcy: Case Law Compendium, 3rd edition, contains more of his timeless advice on how to handle the challenges valuation experts will face. 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 >>

The 2020 AICPA Forensic and Valuation Services (FVS) Conference held this past November was loaded with great speakers and interesting sessions—so much so that we can’t include everything. Here are some key takeaways from the early sessions we attended. Read more >>