Challenges and the Emergence of Peer Review Judges are often required to pick apart complicated expert analysis to assess the validity and reliability of an expert’s work when its admissibility is challenged. But in the professional domain, we would not expect a tax auditor to be able to analyze a report on macroeconomic theory. Why, then, do we ask courts to perform these analyses in fields from accounting ...

Is Recognizing Cognitive and Motivational Biases Enough? The National Academy of Sciences reported that bias is a severe problem in forensic sciences. Cognitive biases were described as, “common features of decision making, and they cannot be willed away.” Is recognizing bias, alone, sufficient to address cognitive, motivational or other biases? What can a forensic expert do to avoid the bias trap? In this ...

Economic Concerns Take a Toll on Bank Stocks Investors are selling off bank stocks amid fears that the global economy is slowing and interest rates may stay low for the foreseeable future.  Mike Cherney, Justin Baer, and Aaron Kuriloff, the WSJ, examine that bank leaders, meanwhile, say the sell-off has been overdone and don't anticipate that the U.S. will enter a recession. To read the full article in The ...

How to Safely Harness the Power of Social Media to Promote Your Firm Social media can be the best way to spread the word about your firm's offerings.  However, you may want to develop a policy to establish parameters to meet challenges and satisfy compliance requirements, all while spreading the word about what you can do for your clients.  Blane Warrene, guest blogger from MobileGuard, explains what you ne ...

Companies with Women in Leadership Roles Have Higher Profits Almost one-third of businesses studied by the Peterson Institute for International Economics had no women in the C-suite or on their corporate boards.  Jeanne Sahadi, CNN Money, discusses however, the study, which was funded by EY, also found that companies where at least 30% of executive positions were held by women tended to have higher profits. ...

2015 was a strong year for FinTech.  But, there are complexities in valuing venture-backed technology companies and the ability for market/investor sentiment to shift quickly.  So, as Jay D. Wilson, Jr., vice president and senior member of Mercer Capital’s Depository Institutions practice, explains, it is important to have a valuation professional that can assess the value of the company as well as the mark ...

Hitchner, Pratt, and Fishman Answer the Call In the past month, business valuation professionals have read reviews from a number of practitioners serving as reviewers for the Q&A Guide. All of them are positive. In this book review, we go into a little more detail and discuss what these established and accomplished business valuation professionals and leaders answer in the Q&A Guide. So, what does t ...

It is not Just About More “Clicks” How important is a website? In this article, Dr. Lee Frederiksen shares what his research reveals about high-performing websites; it is not about more clicks. ...

Businesses Where Real Estate is Integral to Operations What is the best approach to use to value a business where real estate is indispensable to operations? In this article, Dr. Brous discusses the use of the option to abandon. ...

Why Giving Employees Numerical Ratings can be Harmful Giving employees numerical ratings can cause negative emotions and can cause highly rated employees to become complacent, writes Ann Latham, founder of the consulting company Uncommon Clarity.  These grades also tend to be subjective, with some managers practicing grade inflation and others refusing to give anyone the highest possible score. To read the ...

Most Companies' Guidance for Q1 Has Been Negative The first quarter of 2016 could be a rough one based on the earnings guidance that companies have released so far.  Of the 72 S&P 500 companies that have provided guidance, 81% have offered negative guidance.  Ciara Linnane, MarketWatch editor, discusses the issue. To read the full article in MarketWatch, click: Expectations for Current Quarter’s Earning ...

Articulate Your Value to Business Clients Seeking Startup Financing Share this brochure and accompanying checklist, “Guide to Acquiring Startup Financing” with your clients as they explore options for securing capital, and help them understand how a CPA can assist.  These tools plus a PowerPoint presentation, part of the CPA Marketing Toolkit for Small Business, outline the required steps small businesses m ...

Crowdfunding: SEC Issues an Investor Bulletin The SEC published an investor bulletin recently discussing a number of rules and features related to crowdfunding.  Sujan Rajbhandary, vice president and senior member of Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Valuation Group, explains the developments, risks, and reasons of interest. To read the full article in Mercer Capital's Financial Reporting Blog, click: Cr ...

By Understanding Entrepreneurial Business Owners Better An estimated seven million baby-boomer business owners will exit their companies over the next 20 years. How can valuation advisors assist these entrepreneurs’ transition? When you are ready to exit from your own company, how can you transition most successfully for both your maximum financial outcome, as well as your personal satisfaction? In this art ...

Effective Trial Preparation and Presentations What is the role of a financial expert? How important is the financial expert? In this article, the author answers these questions and shares his experience serving as a damage expert. ...

Correlating Patent Values with Prior Citations What is forward patent citation? Why is it relevant? In this article, the author answers the above questions and details how these may be relevant to a damages expert in a patent infringement matter. These experts may need to ascertain the value attributable to the patented technology at issue. While comparable license agreements may serve useful in providing a ...

T.C. Memo. 2015-249: A Checklist to Address 2036 Concerns The issue raised in Estate of Purdue v. Commissioner was whether the “decedent’s desire to have the marketable securities and the building interest held and managed as a family asset constituted a legitimate non-tax motive for the transfer of property to PFLLC.” ...

An Era of Reform—The Four Pillars, Volumes I and II Since 1950, the U.S. population has doubled from just more than 152 million to an estimated 320 million. In this same period, the average life expectancy has increased from approximately 68 years to over 78 years. This increased life expectancy and accompanying rise in the incidence and prevalence of diseases, conditions, and injuries is driving demand for ...

What lessons can business owners learn from the experiences of others?  Perhaps there is a lesson to pay attention to basics in the emerging situation at Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.  Z. Christopher Mercer, founder and CEO of Mercer Capital, examines their performance between 2012 and mid-October 2015; Chipotle’s performance since the initial E. coli announcement; and the traditional valuation relationships ...

What Happens When Companies Ignore Disruptive Innovation One mistake companies make is assuming that disruptive innovations will target the low end of the market.  This may cause them to overlook potentially industry-changing ideas and stick with old infrastructure for too long.  Maxwell Wessel, venture capitalist at Sapphire Ventures, explains the issue and what’s needed to overcome it. To read the full ar ...