• Practice Management - QuickRead Featured - QuickRead Top Story

    Changing the Workplace Narrative

    Assess Change, Communication, Control, and Emotions before Implementing Changes Exploring change, communications, control issues, and emotions is often the best way to begin to understand what is causing conflict in the workplace, and what can be done to curb or control the situation. Once there is a basic understanding of these elements, it is much easier to develop a management strategy that constructively reduces stress in the workplace, which in turn will decrease absenteeism, improve productivity, and ultimately influence health care costs.

  • QuickRead Featured - Valuation/Appraisal

    The Asset-Based Valuation Approach

    Common Analyst Misconceptions The first article in this series provided an introduction to valuation analysts (analyst) regarding the need to integrate and use the Asset-based Approach to value going-concern businesses and securities. This second installment addresses common analyst misconceptions regarding the use of the Asset-based Approach to value both asset holding companies and operating companies.

  • Practice Management - QuickRead Featured

    Are You Making These Mistakes with Your E-mail Trailers

    Personalize the Trailer to Engage the Reader An e-mail trailer provides an opportunity for the reader and firm to engage. Using mindless disclaimers at the end of an e-mail misses an opportunity to stand out and differentiate yourself and your firm. In this article, the author discusses the opportunity and provides some clever trailers used by established firms…that do work.

  • QuickRead Featured - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    The Asset-Based Valuation Approach

    Introduction Valuation analysts are retained to value closely held businesses, business ownership interest, and securities for a variety of transaction, financing, taxation, accounting, litigation, and planning purposes. For each engagement, analysts consider the three generally accepted business valuation approaches: the Income Approach, the Market Approach, and the Asset-based Approach. However, most analysts rarely apply the Asset-based Approach in the typical business valuation. This column is part of a series of discussions related to the application of the asset-based valuation approach.

  • Forensic Accounting - QuickRead Featured

    The Value of Using the Services of a Forensic Accountant in Legal Matters

    Engage and Assist Legal Counsel It is critical that the right person with the right expertise, training, and background be selected. This article will describe the various areas of specialization in which a forensic accountant performs, how counsel should select the right professional for the job, and the benefits of using a forensic accountant.

  • QuickRead Featured - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Why We Shouldn’t Add a Size Premium to the CAPM Cost of Equity

    A Critique of the Ibbotson Methodology In this paper, the author argues that the Size Premium in Excess of CAPM (and other similar size premium measures) should not be used by valuation practitioners because: a) it is inconsistent with the empirical evidence; b) it is constructed using a method that is inconsistent with how practitioners estimate their CAPM cost of equity; and c) it does not properly calculate the “premium” for use in a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis. Through an illustration, the author also demonstrates the challenges one faces when correcting for the latter two issues.

  • QuickRead Featured - QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Estimating Debt Betas and Beta Unlevering Formulas

    Use of Benninga-Sarig to Estimate Debt Betas in a Valuation Engagement In the July 8, 2016 In re Appraisal of DFC Global Corp. Opinion (DFC Opinion), the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware suggested that debt betas should be estimated for individual companies and it cited Pratt and Grabowski’s Cost of Capital as a source for debt betas based on the firm’s credit rating. In addition, the Court also adopted the Hamada Formula over the Fernandez Formula to unlever betas because it believed the Hamada Formula “is widely accepted, readily understood, and not subject to dispute about whether…

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Featured

    Defending the Devil

    An Expert Witness Tells All Martin H. Abo, CPA, ABV, CVA, CFF shares the story of a fraud engagement, where he was retained to analyze the business practices of FirstPlus Financial. Mr. Abo shares his experience getting the engagement and testifying in the racketeering case.

  • QuickRead Featured - Valuation/Appraisal

    Transfer Pricing Business Models

    Aligning Business Models and Business Practices A key factor in establishing a reasonable transfer price is establishing the business model used by sales and distribution organizations. In this article, the authors describe the three primary models and their relevance establishing and defending a transfer price.

  • Litigation Consulting - QuickRead Featured - QuickRead Top Story

    A Case for Mediation

    What do You Have to Lose? Since only a fraction of the cases filed go to trial, it seems prudent to explore settlement sooner rather than later. It is not rocket science, and statistics support the claim that the earlier a case settles the lower the expense to achieve that settlement. If this is not enough to encourage someone to consider mediation sooner rather than later, then perhaps recent court statistics will. Although the trend over the past few years has shown a decline in the total number of filings, the cost and length of time to resolution has increased.…

  • QuickRead Featured - Valuation/Appraisal

    The Quandary Over Wandry

    Audit Risk and Use of Defined Value Clauses Estate planning attorneys and their clients are aware of the risk of an audit. Despite knowing this risk, they seek certainty. Business valuation is as much art, as it is science. Estate planning attorneys have devised techniques to hedge the aforementioned risk and provide their clients with a greater degree of certainty. One such technique utilized by estate planners is the use of Formula or Defined Value Clauses. The merit of defined value clauses seeks to mitigate audit risk, while providing the client with the certainty of knowing, at the date of…

  • Practice Management - QuickRead Featured - QuickRead Top Story

    The Best Learning Tool Ever

    After Actions Reviews A firm’s intellectual capital is the most important source of its long-term wealth creating capacity. It must be constantly replenished and created to build the firm’s invisible balance sheet. Constantly focusing on doing rather than learning, creativity, innovation, and knowledge sharing is the equivalent of eating the firm’s seed corn. In this article, Ron Baker discusses the value of AAR and how it has been used to create capacity, protect the firm’s intellectual capital, and transform company culture.

  • Healthcare - QuickRead Featured

    Physician Practice Acquisitions

    Deal Structuring and Workforce in Place Considerations Under IRC and Stark Law What complications arise when two separate transactions are used to structure an asset sale of a physician practice? The key to compliance is to hit a reasonable middle ground under somewhat competing frameworks, and carefully drafting, documenting, and reporting accordingly. Valuators play a key role not only in establishing and documenting the fair market value of the purchase price, but also the corresponding allocation of corporate versus personal goodwill, including how it relates to the intangible value of workforce in place (WIP).