• Financial Forensics - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    The January Hangover

    January 28, 2026

    A 10-Day Fraud Detection Sprint That Protects Business Value It is important to not only establish next steps but attempt to blur the line between fraud-driven forensic investigations and valuation to provide the connective tissue; explaining how they overlap resulting in misleading valuation calculations. In this article, the author shares a 10-day fraud detection “sprint” to identify the reliability of earnings and balance sheet integrity. This past December, I authored a short article titled, “’Tis the Season (for Fraud): How Businesses Can Be On-Guard”[1], which discussed many of the tactics that are employed by fraudsters during those chaotic periods such…

  • Case Law - QuickRead Top Story

    Legal Update: December 2025

    January 28, 2026

    In re Harnack: Don’t Ignore Discovery and the Court’s Orders In re Harnack, 2025 IL App (1st) 240835, 2025 Ill. App. Unpub. LEXIS 1094, 2025 LX 124170 (Ill. App. June 24, 2025) serves as an admonition to litigants that are obstinate and refuse to follow the court’s order. Frequently, this happens in connection with discovery and paying judgments. This case serves as a reminder that there is a cost to failure to comply and follow a court’s order. Dr. Joyce Brothers, perhaps the first psychologist to gain fame through television, once said, “My husband and I have never considered divorce.…

  • Artificial Intelligence

    How Consultants Can Use AI Without Exposing Client Data (Run AI Locally)

    January 28, 2026

    Learn how to run an LLM on your computer so you do not have to worry about exposing client data. If you have been curious about protecting your client data but you still want the benefits of using AI, this video is for you. Today I am going to show you a simple way to run AI directly on your own computer; no cloud required. In the next few minutes, you will see how to use GPT4All to run a local LLM so you can test ideas, stay in full control of your data, and still get the power of…

  • Healthcare - QuickRead Top Story

    2026 MPFS Final Rule Increases Physician Payments

    January 21, 2026

    Physician Groups Express Concern Over Efficiency Adjustment and New ASM Model, and Push Towards a Value-Based Model On October 31, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its finalized Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for calendar year 2026. This article discusses the provisions contained in the MPFS final rule, as well as stakeholder reactions. On October 31, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its finalized Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for calendar year (CY) 2026, which “advances primary care management through improved quality measures, reduces waste and unnecessary use of skin substitutes, and introduces a…

  • QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    AI, Ethics, and Standards in Valuation Practice

    January 21, 2026

    Guidance for a Rapidly Changing Landscape Confidentiality remains the first and most immediate area of professional risk. Many AI tools store inputs, transmit data to outside servers, or use information to train future models. For valuation professionals handling confidential data, the stakes are high. The author shares how to use AI and adhere to professional and ethical standards. Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly become part of the daily toolkit for many valuation and financial forensic professionals. Whether used for data cleanup, modeling assistance, industry research, or drafting support, AI can reduce time spent on lower-value tasks and help analysts focus…

  • Healthcare - QuickRead Top Story

    CMS Publishes 2026 OPPS Final Rule

    January 14, 2026

    Financial Implications to Hospitals Serving Substantial Percentage of Medicaid & Medicare Patients On November 21, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its Calendar Year 2026 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Final Rule, affecting approximately 4,000 hospitals and 6,000 ASCs. The rule finalizes payment updates, policy reforms, and transparency requirements that will impact hospital and ASC operations beginning January 1, 2026. This article discusses the key OPPS changes and updates included in the Final Rule. On November 21, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its Calendar Year (CY)…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    The Case for Out-of-Court Winddowns

    January 14, 2026

    A Comparison to a Bankruptcy Proceeding and Views from the Various Stakeholders When a business faces insolvency, the path forward is rarely straightforward. This article examines the reasons why out-of-court winddowns may be a preferred alternative over bankruptcy for private equity sponsors, lenders, and boards of directors. Introduction When a business faces insolvency, the path forward is rarely straightforward. Should the company file Chapter 11 in hopes of reorganizing? Should it liquidate under Chapter 7? Would an assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC) or a court-appointed receivership make more sense? These options dominate conversations around distressed businesses, but they…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    Injury to a Medical Professional

    January 7, 2026

    One Economic Loss or Two? A medical professional suffered a career ending injury. The injured person owned and managed the practice through which he provided his services. This medical professional also had employees who aided him and generated additional revenue and profits for the practice. The situation addressed in this article is as follows: While it seems plain that the physician here has lost earning capacity, has this injured medical professional also lost the value of his practice? If, the answer to the latter is ”yes”, how should such a calculation be made? In this article, the author discusses his…

  • Financial Forensics - QuickRead Top Story

    AI Fraud Detection and Forensic Accounting

    January 7, 2026

    Embracing Innovation to Combat Financial Crime Fraud and financial crime have become increasingly complex and create pervasive issues for organizations of all sizes and specialties. As a result, advanced technology and AI have emerged as invaluable tools in the fight against such issues. This article focuses on how advances in AI and machine learning can aid forensic investigation procedures and further bring the detection of fraud and other financial crimes into the digital age. Introduction In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, fraud and financial crime have become increasingly complex and create pervasive issues for organizations of all sizes and specialties.…

  • Artificial Intelligence

    Create a Custom GPT to Automate Your Favorite Prompts

    January 7, 2026

    Learn how to create a Custom GPT with AI writing the prompts for you! In this short demo, I will show you how to create a goal-setting Custom GPT. Here is a practical way to put AI to work in your consulting practice. If you find yourself using the same prompt over and over, you can automate it by creating what OpenAI calls a Custom GPT. Every AI platform has its own name for this concept, but the idea is the same: a reusable, automated prompt that delivers consistent results whenever you need it. In the video, I walk through…