No Tulip Bulbs Here! What is a non-fungible token (NFT)? How are NFTs valued? This article discusses NFTs and the valuation challenges these present. What is a non-fungible token (NFT)? Recently, the media has seemed to catch on to the new(ish) invention—NFTs. Even the recent episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL) has featured an entertaining segment explaining the nature of NFTs to the rhythmic beat of an Em ...

Benefit Valuation Adjustment The so-called tax amortization benefit (TAB) adjustment represents the present value of the federal income tax savings resulting from the tax amortization of an acquired intangible asset over a statutory period. Internal Revenue Code Section 197 allows the cost of certain acquired intangible assets to be amortized for federal income tax purposes. However, not all acquired intang ...

An Alternative to the IPO The popularity of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) has been soaring in recent years. There are 35 times as many SPACs operating in 2020 as in 2010, and these companies seem poised for greater exponential growth in the future. While many experts are predicting a continued, rapid increase in SPACs, this article will also examine the factors that could possibly slow SPAC ...

What Prospects Believe About Our Pricing is What We Believe About Our Pricing When prospects say, “You’re too expensive” (and some inevitably will), we may have a problem. Because on the one hand, they may be telling us the truth (or their truth). But on the other hand, we think we are worth it. This article identifies two issues, suggests that there may be one impediment, and provides readers with resource ...

for SBA Lending Programs Despite the pandemic, the number of small businesses started continues to increase. This article discusses the various Small Business Administration (SBA) programs and the value of serving these lenders. “Success is a full-time job.” Grant Cardone Any entrepreneur or a small business owner would agree that running a successful small business is a full-time job. To run it well requir ...

Creative Settlement Strategies for Real Property Damages In challenging financial and operational times, parties need more creative tools than ever before to reach settlement and bring swift resolution before issues can become protracted litigation. Particularly in the realm of real estate and environmental damages, where mass tort and class action lawsuits are common and the stakes can be very high, Value ...

Dieckman v. Regency GP LP et al. This article discusses Dieckman v. Regency GP, LP, a recent Delaware Chancery Court decision. It is a reminder for valuation professionals providing damages testimony to be wary when mixing the use of the market approach and income approach when estimating damages in situations where multiple entities are involved. For example, using the income approach in valuing the allege ...

Operating v. Non-Operating Assets With the growth of the digital economy, new types of assets have emerged that may be subject to property division in divorce. An increasingly common example is credit card reward points. No one may actually “own” these points, since the written agreements for rewards programs commonly state that points are not the cardholder’s property, have no cash value, and cannot be tra ...

of a Tax Loss Target Company Acquisition This article summarizes the factors that acquirers—and their valuation and other financial advisers—should consider when structuring an M&A transaction that involves a target corporation with such income tax attributes. Introduction Valuation analysts and other financial advisers (collectively, analysts) are often retained to advise acquisitive clients with regar ...

A New Online Board to Punish Infringers If you are a creative person, copyright protection is important. It gives you the right to prevent others from copying your work, which is a valuable right that can be used, sold, or licensed. This article discusses the enforcement protection afforded under the Copyright Alternative in Small Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 (CASE Act). If you are a creative person, copy ...

COVID-19 and Business Valuation—One Year Later: What Worked and What Didn’t On March 2, 2021, Jim Hitchner, Managing Member of Valuation Products and Services (VPS), made a follow-up presentation, COVID-19 and Business Valuation—One Year Later: What Worked and What Didn’t. This article summarizes the issues discussed during this follow-up webinar. A year has passed since the COVID-19 pandemic first impacted ...

These Drivers Quantify the Time and Money You Get from Your Practice Time and money. These are two things we generally want more of. Because they are generally two things, we think we don’t have enough of. If you want more time and money than you are currently getting out of your practice, this QuickRead deconstruction is for you. Time and money. These are two things we generally want more of. Because they ...

in the Cryptocurrency Economy Although cryptocurrency and blockchain technology create an environment that can help combat fraud within their systems, their introduction into the global economy has opened numerous doors for nefarious activity. This article provides an overview of what is cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and the rise of threats to digital assets. Fraud used to be much simpler for the f ...

Employing Open Source Data, OSINT, and SOCMINT in the Due Diligence Phase Today’s accountants specialize in document management, research, money laundering, inter-national banking, e-discovery, and much more. They go even further. They ask to learn about open source research, cryptocurrency, and network-based financial transactions. In this article, the author discusses how to use public record resources, s ...

Put on the Gloves, Speak Bluntly, and Devise a Plan to Emerge from Chaos The author shares the trials and tribulations involving a troubled company that was on the verge of closing and managed to recover. In this engagement, he took the lead, coordinated and assigned roles within the company, negotiated with the IRS Revenue Officer, had difficult conversations with bank (a potential deal breaker), and was c ...

Why it Matters Distinguishing between enterprise (or business) goodwill and personal (or professional) goodwill can sometimes be difficult. That distinction is often necessary in marital dissolution and shareholder dispute cases, and when a business is sold. For valuation purposes, the classification is important because prospective buyers will only pay for goodwill that is transferable. In addition, there ...

Valuation Implications On November 20, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule to modernize and clarify the Stark Law. The Stark Law governs those physicians (or their immediate family members) who have a financial relationship with an entity, and prohibits those individuals from making Medicare referrals to those entities for the provision of designated health servi ...

Confessions of the Pricing Man, How Price Affects Everything Financial experts often struggle with setting fees for their own services and expertise. It is easy to see how someone could have trouble with decisions involving hourly billing versus fixed fees, premium pricing, bundling, discounting, and adjusting for scope creep. The author in this article shares insight from Hermann Simon on the above conside ...

Apropos Restrictions of Data, Time, and Financial Resources When uncertainty rises to a level—where facts appear to be indistinguishable from fiction—business valuation, forensic accounting, and litigation support must prioritize the virtues of unimpeachable neutrality, integrity, and objectivity. These three virtues provide a means of best assisting the trier of fact in distinguishing that which is mislead ...

If I Were Starting Today Business valuation and financial litigation services (BVFLS) practitioners—since the COVID-19 disruption—have embraced the use of social media. Yet, some BVFLS practitioners remain on the sidelines. In this article, Rod Burkert shares 10 social networking tactics he would use today to build his BVFLS practice. One thing I have seen since COVID-19 began is the uptick in social media ...