• QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    The Anatomy of a Defensible Valuation: For CPAs, Attorneys, M&A Advisors, and Business Owners They Serve (Part I of III)

    July 15, 2026

    Key Takeaways: Use all three valuation approaches and thoroughly document assumptions for defensible conclusions. Normalize earnings with documented, market-based adjustments before applying valuation methods. Carefully support discount rates and terminal value assumptions because they drive most valuation conclusions. Every accountant, attorney, or advisor guiding a privately held business owner eventually runs into the same question: “What is the business really worth?” The word “really” suggests a bit of skepticism and proposes the need for a framework. This series dissects that structure; the anatomy of a valuation that the opposing side of the table will respect rather than tear apart. Part…

  • QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Multidisciplinary Valuation Opportunities and Challenges: Risks and Benefits

    July 15, 2026

    Key Takeaways: Multidisciplinary valuations need a defined framework, not casual collaboration between disciplines. Type II problems (partnerships, fractional/tokenized interests) can be solved via comprehensive checklists. Family partnership valuations are a growing, lucrative niche amid generational conflict. Multidisciplinary valuation can be highly rewarding but can also be quite mysterious. Regardless, the public needs cross disciplinary work and does not care whether a problem belongs in business valuation or real property appraisal, for example. They simply want a conclusion that is well supported and defensible. The author shares the benefits and risks providing multidisciplinary valuations. Multidisciplinary valuation is one of the most…

  • Artificial Intelligence - QuickRead Top Story

    Turn Your Last 10 Valuation Reports into a Custom AI Writing Assistant: How to Teach AI Your Firm’s Voice, Structure, and Standard Language so First Drafts Come Out 80% Done Instead of 40%

    July 8, 2026

    Generic AI drafts fail because they pull from broad, impersonal sources resulting in textbook-like output with wrong tone, structure, and terminology. The solution is not better AI, but better training; teach it your firm’s own voice using your past work. If you have experimented with AI for report writing, you have probably hit the same wall most valuation professionals hit: the output is competent but generic. It reads like a textbook wrote it. The section order is not yours, the terminology is slightly off, the tone is wrong for your clients, and by the time you have rewritten it to…

  • Financial Forensics - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Bridging Valuation and Forensics: When Numbers Tell a Story They Shouldn’t

    July 8, 2026

    The strongest valuation conclusions are not simply precise, they are resilient and able to withstand challenge because they connect analytical rigor with evidentiary discipline. Value is not produced by a spreadsheet alone; it is produced by economic reality, supported by credible information, and interpreted through professional judgment. In this article, the author shares a four-part framework to assess financial statements and underscores importance and value that professionals bring when they are able to pivot between valuation and forensic practices, recognize and assess potential red flags, and determine if the value story is credible. In business valuation, numbers often arrive wearing…

  • QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Sports Valuation: Expanding the Practitioners’ Toolkit

    July 8, 2026

    Sports valuation does not require abandoning established valuation principles. However, sports assets often combine complex commercial operations, unique intangible assets with no cash flows, regulatory constraints that may differ across jurisdictions, leagues, and sports, and accepted highly uncertain future outcomes, less common in traditional industries. As a result, the challenge for practitioners is properly defining the valuation problem before attempting to solve it. In this article, the author shares the complexities arising in this market. Why Sports Valuation Matters for Valuation Practitioners Over the past decade, the sports industry has evolved from a specialist, niche sector into an increasingly active…

  • Expert Witness - Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Top Story

    Unimpeachable Damages and Value Determination: A Conveniently Alliterative Detour En Route to Providing Unimpeachably Neutral Expert Services

    July 1, 2026

    This 27th article of the Unimpeachable Neutrality Series offers a conveniently alliterative detour en route to providing unimpeachably neutral and effective expert services. You raise your right hand and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Your hand has a slight shake to it, which is the coffee talking rather than the anxiety of the moment. Direct examination goes the way direct examination should: your counsel walks you through the report you wrote, the schedules appear on the screen in the order you built them, you teach the jury the difference between revenue and…

  • QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Reflections on Brundle v. Wilmington Trust, N.A.: A Pure Heart and an Empty Head are Not Enough[1]

    July 1, 2026

    The Brundle v. Wilmington Trust N.A. case has generated numerous summaries, debates, and digests. In this article, the author reflects on lessons that can be taken from the case. This came to her attention during an internal discussion of litigated ESOP cases and piqued her interest. The Brundle v. Wilmington Trust N.A. (919 F.3d 763, 4th Circuit 2019) case has generated numerous summaries, debates, and digests. It came to my attention during an internal discussion of litigated ESOP cases and piqued my interest. As I read the full text of the case, I was surprised by the numbers of “epic…