IBA Opens Membership to Non-Certified Business Appraisers (CBAs)

Reminder to NACVA members of new opportunity

This article calls attention to the fact that NACVA members and other business valuation practitioners once again have the opportunity to take advantage of the many additional benefits of belonging to the Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA), an affiliate of NACVA.

A few months ago, I was very pleased to receive an announcement from the Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA) that, once again, the IBA opened its membership to individuals who do not hold the CBA or Master Certified Business Appraiser (MCBA) credential. For over 20 years, I had been a very active member of the IBA and its local Minnesota chapter, even though I held neither of the IBA business valuation credentials. I also had served as a member of the national IBA Board of Governors, inasmuch as I held the ABAR (Accredited in Business Appraisal Review) credential.

I am presenting this short article because I believe that the announcement of the re-opening of IBA membership to other professional business appraisers has gone unnoticed by many members of the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts™ (NACVA®) and the American Society of Appraisers (ASA). It would be unfortunate if members of these two organizations overlook the advantages of becoming a member of IBA. Later in this article, I shall discuss why I have found membership very valuable to me as an active business appraiser for 30+ years, a member of NACVA for over 20 years, and an accredited Certified Valuation Analyst® (CVA®) since 1997.

First, it’s necessary to share a little bit of history about the origins of the IBA and its recent past-organizational events. IBA was founded in 1978 by the late Raymond C. Miles. It grew from 25 members that year to an organization of over 3,000, including international members. Mr. Miles was originally educated as an engineer. In the mid 1970s, he became an independent management consultant and business broker. He developed the Direct Market Data Method (DMDM) for valuing small to midsize, closely held companies. He described the DMDM as a method “based on the largest possible sample size of similar businesses with similar value drivers and recognizes the principle of substitution; small businesses differ from the publicly traded market so much that reliance on stock market principles often results in indefensible conclusions.” The IBA is the oldest professional organization devoted solely to the appraisal of closely held businesses.

In the recent past, the IBA was acquired by Appraisal Database and Mentoring ServicesTM (ADAM®). At that time, a new IBA organization was created, and membership was limited to individuals who held the CBA or MCBA credential and also to professionals who were then in the process of receiving the CBA designation. As part of the new plan, the IBA would not charge membership fees, but would require its members to subscribe to ADAM. Subsequently, the IBA Board of Governors urged the owners of the organization to expand membership by permitting non-IBA-credentialed ADAM subscribers to become members of IBA. IBA continues its policy of not charging membership fees, but requiring all members to pay ADAM subscription fees. The IBA Board of Governors is hopeful that the new policy will cause further growth of the organization.

Why do I urge my fellow members of NACVA to consider joining IBA and subscribing to ADAM? There are many reasons. I’ll briefly discuss some of them in the balance of this short article.

First and foremost, I believe that the opportunity to join the fellowship of highly motivated, technically skilled and principled professional business appraisers is extremely valuable. It has been my experience through the years that this group of professionals has been a very supportive community of people who have been extremely generous in providing practical help and advice to colleagues on valuation issues that arise during valuation assignments. It is hard to quantify, but take it from this old, longtime business valuation practitioner, this fellowship and advice is truly priceless!

More specifically, the IBA staff and members of the Board of Governors stand ready to provide professional mentoring, report reviews, Continuing Professional Education (CPE) instruction and technical publications for fellow members. In the continuing education matters, the IBA partners with Consultants Training Institute™ (CTI™) to provide seminars, workshops, and conferences that are on the leading edge of valuation knowledge and practice.

In no way do I want to play down the vast resources available to us as members of NACVA, but I strongly believe that also being a member of IBA (and hopefully, attaining the CBA designation) can provide that extra knowledge and skillset to enhance our services to our clients and put a few more dollars in our pockets.

Dick Thorsen is a CPA/ABV, ABAR, CVA, and CMEA. He has been an active CPA since 1954 and served as chairman of the Minnesota State Board of Accountancy and president of the Minnesota Society of CPAs. Mr. Thorsen has been elected vice president of the AICPA and has been a member of its board of directors, 21 of its committees, and chair of its Responsibilities in Tax Practice Committee. He is a past member of the IBA Board of Governors, its Professional Responsibility Board, and was one of its representatives on the NACVA/IBA Standards Unification Task Force. He is a member of NACVA’s Standards Committee and a past member of the Examination Grading Committee. Dick can be reached at dickthorsen@msn.com.