• QuickRead Featured - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Estate of Elkins

    Fifth Circuit Reverses the U.S. Tax Court and Upholds the Fractional-Ownership Discount The Fifth Circuit reversed the U.S. Tax Court recognizing the fractional-ownership discount advanced by the Estate of Elkins and awarding the Elkins family a $14.4 million estate tax refund. Joseph Brophy explores the recent ruling.

  • Estate Planning - QuickRead Featured - Valuation/Appraisal

    Koons v. Commissioner

    Key Issues For all of Mr. Koons’ careful estate planning, involving a significant sale and redemption transaction of business operations to provide liquidity and flexibility in his later years, the planning was disrupted by an untimely death—Mr. Koons’. The disruption here highlights the importance of starting early with business valuation input to help avoid a complex confluence of strategic transactions within a narrow time frame.

  • Financial Forensics - QuickRead Featured

    Divorce

    The Trouble for the Innocent Spouse with the IRS and State Tax Authorities Spouses that unwittingly sign a state or federal tax return may be held joint and severably liable for underpaid taxes. The expanded innocent spouse relief provides potential relief, but that relief takes time and requires extensive documentation.

  • QuickRead Featured - Valuation/Appraisal

    Developing Supportable Attrition Rates in Customer Relationship Valuations

    Valuation of the Customer Base The value of the customer base is a function of attribution. Measuring percentage attribution requires access to internal data, and this data is often missing. Where it is available, the valuation professional can use the Constant Revenue or Revenue Decline Model. This article explains how these models are developed.

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Featured

    Identifying and Calculating Recoverable Damages in Cyber Security Breaches—Part 2

    Predicting Cyber Security Breaches Cyber security breaches often result in the improper transfer of personal identifying information or sensitive financial and health information. This article focuses on the identification of potential cyber security breaches and how courts are addressing the presentation of such cases, including the issue of damages. Read Identifying and Calculating Recoverable Damages in Cyber Security Breaches—Part 1

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Featured

    Identifying and Calculating Recoverable Damages in Cyber Security Breaches—Part 1

    Predicting cyber security breaches Cyber security breaches often result in the improper transfer of personal identifying information or sensitive financial and health information. This article focuses on the identification of potential cyber security breaches and how courts are addressing the presentation of such cases, including the issue of damages.

  • QuickRead Featured - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Calculations and Opinions: Bringing Clarity to a Cloudy Issue

    Opinions are like viewpoints; everyone has one Opinions are often provided in connection with calculation values and a conclusion of value. SSVS No. 1 does not prohibit or explicitly endorse either. In this article, Jim Hitchner shares his views on whether the term “opinion”―offered in a litigation or non-litigation engagement—should be used as part of the engagement or offered in connection with a calculated value.

  • Mergers and Acquisitions/Exit Planning - QuickRead Featured - QuickRead Top Story

    Purchase Price Allocation

    Analyze early and avoid earnings surprises The purchase price allocation (PPA) process is often treated as an afterthought in mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Thinking about PPA can help guide a deal to a more predictable conclusion. In the most rewarding deals, a prompt PPA process helps acquirers analyze, from a financial reporting point of view, the primary drivers or intangible values associated with the transactions.

  • QuickRead Featured - Valuation/Appraisal

    Common Risks Often Missed During Due Diligence

    The impact on shareholder value Knowing the value of a business and delivering real value to a client company entails far more than using EBITDA multiples or going along with a rule of thumb to keep the peace. As professionals, valuators must be far more rigorous in their engagements, and focus on delivering value. The obligation to identify, measure, manage, and mitigate the risks are their responsibility. In this candid analysis, Dr. Carl Sheeler shares some insights, based on his 1,000+ engagements, where he has found problems that led to disputes, misalignment of expectations, and company-specific risks that impair value…

  • Case Law - QuickRead Featured

    Case Law Update: Recent Delaware Court Cases

    Fair value litigation and more The Delaware Chancery Court is considered one of the pre-eminent U.S. courts when it comes to business valuation and governance issues. This article reviews some recent court decisions pertinent to valuation practitioners and which will be discussed in more detail in NACVA’s Federal and State Case Law Update this fall.

  • Estate Planning - QuickPress - QuickRead Featured

    Sudden Loss and Estate Planning

      It was a shock to most people when the news hit that actor and comedian, Robin Williams, had suddenly passed away earlier this month at the age of 63. While most were aware of Mr. Williams’ hard-won 20-year sobriety milestone, what they didn’t know was the financial struggle he was facing in recent years. Forbes.com takes a respectful and detailed look at the estate planning of Mr. Williams, and shows how taking the right steps early on can secure the future of loved ones, even in the face of financial hardship and unexpected sudden loss. [button color=”blue” link=”http://www.forbes.com/sites/trialandheirs/2014/08/12/whats-next-for-robin-williams-family-and-estate/” target=”_blank”…

  • Healthcare - QuickRead Featured - QuickRead Top Story

    Intangible Assets in Healthcare

    Approaches and Methods Used to Realize Income from Licensing IP Assets This article discusses valuation topics related to a subset of intangible assets which are most applicable to healthcare businesses. Business valuation professionals are often engaged to value specific intangible assets, either as part of a detailed business valuation or after a transaction has been completed. When valuing healthcare-oriented service businesses, it is common for a business’s intangible value to be far greater than the value of its fixed tangible assets. Intellectual property (IP) can be licensed and provide a source of income.

  • Case Law - QuickRead Featured - Valuation/Appraisal

    Fifth Circuit Vacates 40 Percent Valuation Penalty

    What This Means for Appraisers In a new twist involving litigation that impacts valuation analysts, on June 11, 2014, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Tax Court’s valuation of a historic preservation façade conservation easement, but vacated the Tax Court’s imposition of a gross undervaluation penalty. The latest ruling, as Joe Brophy explains, raises a host of new issues.

  • QuickPress - QuickRead Featured - Valuation/Appraisal

    AICPA Survey Says Valuators Optimistic About Future

      In spite of the current economic climate, a recent survey from the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) showed that 54 percent of valuation professionals expected a 10 to 50 percent increase in the demand for their services over the next two to five years. These results are part of the 2014 AICPA Survey on International Trends in Forensic and Valuation Services. Forensic experts were even more optimistic about their future as 76 percent expected a healthy increase in business, mostly due to a rise in litigation and regulatory oversight. Electronic data analysis was voted the number one issue facing…