Charitable Contribution Deductions (Part I of II) The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and subsequent tax acts, such as the CARES Act, have complicated charitable giving and estate planning. This two-part article provides an overview of the current state of the law as it concerns both. In this first part, the author focuses on charitable deductions. A charitable contribution deduction is allowable for a contri ...

Related to Property Contaminated by COVID-19 Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the health of hundreds of thousands of people globally, but the government response to this health crisis has also created a significant financial burden on businesses across the country. State and local officials issued “stay at home” orders which required the majority of residents to stay at home in states and countie ...

The Bankruptcy Court Weighs-in In Re: Body Transit, Inc. The Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania In re: Body Transit, Inc. addressed how COVID-19 impacts valuations. On August 7, 2020, the Court heard and decided the case. This case proceeded under the Small Business Reorganization Act (SBRA) whereby the debtor’s objection to a creditor’s election to have its claim treated as fully secu ...

An Opportunity for Gift and Estate Planning at Low Valuations The disruption brought about by COVID-19 created certain industry “winners” and “losers.” Many of those that emerged as losers are small and medium-sized privately held businesses such as restaurants, bakeries, gyms, hair salons and spas, and the corresponding real estate holding entities that leased to such businesses, held retail and office spa ...

The Marketing Funnel (Part II of II) In the August 2020 article, the author discussed five basic ways website planning and organization can result in sub-optimal results. In this article, the author drills down and looks at ways a website can fail to support a firm’s marketing funnel. The author explores the three key parts of the marketing funnel and shares where poorly designed websites come up short in e ...

COVID-19’s Impact on Micro and Small Business Valuation As summer comes to an end, while COVID-19 remains a concern, business owners have resumed contemplating their succession and growth strategies. What have valuation analysts learned? In this article, the author shares additional questions that business valuation practitioners should be asking. The hysteria from the huge unforeseen social and economic ch ...

Speaking Our Client’s Language How many times have readers started reading an e-mail from a colleague or peer with questions on a valuation you performed and been simply lost as to why they are asking? As you re-read the e-mail time and time again, you cannot understand where their questions are coming from. You feel confused, frustrated, and lost. In this article, the author proposes that we reflect on the ...

Conducting Financial Due Diligence and Quality of Earnings Analysis Financial due diligence and quality of earnings reports provide a third-party analysis of a target company’s current financial position and historical financial performance. When evaluating a potential business acquisition, it is crucial to understand the nature and magnitude of the business’ cash flows. Whether from the perspective of the ...

Quantifying the Lost Opportunity of Being First (Generic Entrant) to Market The authors in this article explore the scale of first mover advantage in generic pharmaceuticals and the methods behind quantifying the value of being first generic to market, or the loss when being prevented from doing so. They discuss, how much is it worth to be the first generic entrant to the market? Introduction The recent Eur ...

For When a Client Wants to Buy a Business The authors in this article share a checklist developed and provided to firm clients contemplating buying a business. The following are key steps involved when a client wants to buy a business. Buyers and their advisors can use this list as a timeline and road map of the steps that are expected to occur, and what they should plan on doing. A companion posting for cl ...

the Cost of Your Reference Library? Now, there is an abundance of print and online resources that have greatly improved both our report preparation efficiency and effectiveness. Simply put, we have access to better information and are more productive in our engagements. Certainly, clients benefit from that increased access and productivity, but it comes at our ever-growing out-of-pocket library expense. So ...

The Future is Here This article describes the background, concepts behind, and implications of blockchain technology deployment for commercial, governmental, and personal use. QuickRead readers are aware of proposals to move entirely away from cash (bills and coins) for daily transactions. Such a move is expected to create a major inconvenience for those without access to credit cards and basic banking ...

Five Ways Professional Services Websites Fall Short (Part I of II) Business leaders today know that how a firm’s website is planned and organized matters more than ever. What worked well enough five years ago to separate your firm from your competition may simply not work today. At Hinge, we audit hundreds of professional services websites a year—and we see many of the same mistakes repeated. In this articl ...

to Business Valuation for Attorneys Investors who hold publicly traded securities have the luxury of knowing the value of their investment at virtually any time. An internet connection and a few clicks of a mouse are all it takes to get an up-to-date stock quote. Of all U.S. companies, however, less than 1 percent are publicly traded, meaning that most companies are privately held. Investors in privately he ...

Connecticut Appellate Court Affirms Trial Court’s Decision Not to Tax-Affect Earnings In a dispute over the buyout of the minority shares in a family business, the Connecticut appellate court addressed several important valuation issues. Notably, the appellate court upheld the trial court’s decision not to tax-affect the company’s earnings in determining the fair value of the shares, even though both the pl ...

Expert Assignments and the Impact of COVID-19 COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on the global economy. As the economic crisis deepened, the Wall Street Journal reported, “The nation’s bankruptcy industry is bracing for a wave of business collapses triggered by the coronavirus pandemic as its ranks have been thinned by a decade of economic growth.” Working on business bankruptcy assignments in 2020 will pre ...

Popular Plans to Incentivize and Retain Talent Employees and executives can get added compensation in addition to their salaries. In some cases, these benefits could exceed the salary. Most of these benefits are contractual and, where there is a discretionary element, it is usually awarded by the board of directors. This article provides a round up listing of the more popular benefits. Not included are stan ...

Highlights of the New Bankruptcy Chapter: Chapter 5 Many small businesses could not afford the processes in place under Chapter 11. The SRBA, signed into law in August 2019, created Chapter 5 and was intended to provide a “fresh start” to small business owners. This article highlights some of the key issues under the new law. On August 23, 2019, a relatively small, 22-page bill known as the Small Business R ...

with “Pinkcast” Daniel H. Pink is author of six provocative works about business and human behavior. His website contains videos and newsletters. In this article, Rod Burkert describes how Pinkcast changed the way he marketed, and provides six reasons why BVFLS professionals may want to consider Pinkcast as a resource. Do you struggle putting pen to paper … figuring out what to say in a 300–900-word dispatc ...

Highlights the “Good” and “Bad” Hindsight Debate Many predictions are doomed to fail whereas hindsight is undefeated. Predicting the future is very difficult due to the countless permutations that can occur. By contrast, anyone can observe what happened after the fact. Not surprisingly, it can be tempting to focus on the reliability of hindsight over the (typically) more relevant contemporaneous projections ...