In a brief but revealing article by the Wall Street Journal, auditors at the seven largest accounting firms in the U.S. were cited for deficiencies found in 37.5 percent of the audits inspected by regulators.  The vast majority of the deficiencies involved evaluation of the market prices companies supplied for complex assets.  Citations were also made for failure to test managers’ assertions about the metho ...

Healthcare consulting in an era of reform Part 2 In Part 1 of this article, the impact of healthcare reform on the opportunities for healthcare consulting was discussed.  In Part 2, methods utilized by healthcare consultants, as well as the phases of a typical healthcare consulting engagement, are discussed. ...

Getting ready for your day in court Part 1 of Preparing for Expert Witness Testimony was published in QuickRead in August 2013.  The article dealt primarily with the importance of effective engagement letters and information gathering in the expert witness preparation process.  It would behoove readers to revisit  Part 1 to receive the full value of the expert witness process.  ...

Wandry v. Commissioner In certain cases, formula-driven, gift-giving plans have proved to be successful. In other cases, they have not. What characteristics differentiate a formula gift-giving plan that can withstand the Internal Revenue Service (the “service”) scrutiny and be upheld in Tax Court from a plan that gets defeated?  The Wandry decision1 provides insight into these questions and highlights issue ...

Summary and Solutions Morningstar announced in September 2013  it will discontinue publishing the SBBI Valuation Yearbook, but that it will continue to publish the Ibbotson SBBI Classic Yearbook.  James Harrington, who was previously director of business valuation research in Morningstar's Financial Communications Business, provides a summary of which data is being discontinued and continued, along with a d ...

How would you value a three-year old video game company that only has two games on the market and just 130 employees?  Apparently, the answer is $3 billion.  How does a valuation come up with this kind of number and more importantly, can it even be accurate?  Check out this Forbes.com profile of the deal between Japanese internet giant, Softbank, mobile online gamer, Gungho and the hot property, Supercell. ...

According to the Wall Street Journal, now would be a good time to sell a business.  When examining the small-business-for-sale market, transactions are up significantly from this time last year.  In 2012, there were 1,189 small businesses sold between July and September, while 2013 has surpassed that total with 1,685.  The upswing in sales has been mostly in service companies, followed by retailers and rest ...

In defense of the Discounted Cash Flow Method Richard R. Conn challenges criticism of the Discounted Cash Flow Approach and premise that the Market Approach is superior to an Income-Based Approach, even when there is more just superficial observations. The author proposes that “ it is important to realize that the circumstances in which the DCF Method indicates a different value than the market price should ...

Patent damages require thorough analysis and attention to detail This federal case update highlights patent cases where reports or testimony from damages experts were excluded and affirmed.  Regardless of outcome, these cases have a similar theme; it appears that some damage experts should perform a more thorough analysis and pay more attention to detail than they currently do. ...

Benefits and rules to successfully mediate claims Mediation is a process that can be employed pre- and post-litigation to settle claims. A successful mediation requires upfront work and effort, as well as good faith and settlement authority. The selection of a mediator is also critical. This article provides an overview of the practices employed to successfully settle claims. ...

Beyond an all-or-nothing approach This overview examines the circumstances under which S corporations may or may not be tax affected. Particular emphasis is placed on family law engagements, which do not always involve a consistently defined standard of value, which creates much confusion for valuation analysts. ...

  In case you missed it, the Professional Standards and Guidance Committee (PSGC) of the Appraisal Institute (AI) submitted its official comments to the Appraisal Standards Board of The Appraisal Foundation regarding feedback to drafting changes to the 2016-2017 USPAP.  In its candid response, AI says USPAP has a “mixed record” when it comes to addressing appraiser behavior in a way that establishes pu ...

Because of increased IRS audit procedures, multi-national corporations face great risk when it comes to transfer pricing from both a compliance and tax planning perspective.  The familiar multi-nationals like Amazon or Microsoft have made headlines regarding transfer pricing disputes and adjustments that run into the billions.  In an excellent article by the Journal of Accountancy, small, closely-held compa ...

In its Washington Report and State News web section, the Appraisal Institute (AI) recently reported that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) released an updated Standard Operating Procedure 50-10 5 F.  The update institutes guidelines for SBA lenders making use of SBA credit assistance.  The alteration affecting valuation involves business and intangible assets in circumstances where there is a cha ...

Gaining a competitive advantage for the mid- and small-market businesses In response to McKinsey & Company’s published article, “M&A as Competitive Advantage,” Bart Basi and Marcus Renwick explore the usage of M&A as part of a larger strategy, rather than a stand-alone deal. Special focus is given to the benefits relating to mid-market and small, closely held businesses, where the bulk of M& ...

Focus on shareholder disputes (slip opinions) Ruggiero v. Ruggiero is a New York Slip Opinion (cannot cite as authority) that is a classic battle of valuation experts.  The opinion  highlights how a New York State judge reached her decision and also provides an opportunity to deliberate and consider what can go wrong when a buy-sell agreement is either not in existence or is considered dated. Breidbart v. W ...

Reconstructing gross profits Mr. Kremer provides an overview of the techniques utilized in a shareholder oppression action where he was engaged to calculate the fair market value of the company. The challenge in this forensic and valuation engagement was that the company collected a substantial portion of the revenues in cash, and the reporting did not appear to be accurate. ...

Just because a corporate stock price is on the rise, is that justification enough for the huge payouts executives receive?  While shareholder returns are usually the most prominent factor considered by corporations when determining executive pay, many elite business school educators and industry experts don’t think they should be.  They contend that executives regularly profit off short-term bullish markets ...

In an article titled, “PCC to Ask FASB to Endorse First Private Company GAAP Exceptions”, under the subhead, “Business combinations”, the Journal of Accountancy reveals that the Private Company Council (PCC) approved a proposal to FASB that would allow a private company to elect to amortize goodwill acquired in a business combination on a straight line basis over 10 years or less. The proposal is conditiona ...

Uses of the Z-score in litigation and insolvency matters Dr. Edward Altman’s Z-score turned 45 years old this month. For the operations-focused valuation analyst, the Z-score is just as relevant today as it was when Dr. Altman introduced it in September 1968. The key to its enduring success is that it is based on fundamental financial ratios that represent value drivers, even in today’s changing market. ...