Charitable Contribution Deductions (Part II 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 second part of this two-part article provides an overview of the limits placed on conservation easements. (Read Part I here.) In this second of a two-part article, the limits on the value and legality of conservation ...

Relating to a Business Interruption Claim (Part II of II) It remains unclear whether business interruptions caused by the current novel Coronavirus pandemic will be covered under business interruption insurance policies because insureds and insurance companies are still arguing whether the pandemic and/or related state and/or local government shutdown orders qualify as “physical damage.” While litigation on ...

Relating to a Business Interruption Claim (Part I of II) It remains unclear whether business interruptions caused by the current novel Coronavirus pandemic will be covered under business interruption insurance policies because insureds and insurance companies are still arguing whether the pandemic and/or related state and/or local government shutdown orders qualify as “physical damage.” While litigation on ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and its Impact on Lost Profits Calculations These are challenging times. Financial experts are faced with economic uncertainty and differing projections from various sources as to what the “new normal” will look like. Regardless of the economic circumstances, financial experts are hired to estimate lost profits. These calculations must be made with reasonable certainty. But to be reasonably certain, proxima ...

Personal Damages Calculations and Exposure to COVID-19 Financial experts who, in the past, have been reluctant to take on personal injury economic damages as part of their practice should reconsider that decision today. Not only is the field growing and on the verge of a potentially huge boom driven by the COVID-19 crisis, there are plenty of resources to help you quickly get up to speed performing these ty ...

Their Potential Impact on Valuing a Construction Contractor Construction claims may impact the value of a construction company. In this article, the author discusses the issues that arise and the methodologies that may impact the valuation. A construction claim is a demand made by the contractor to the owner for additional revenue for construction work performed on a construction project which is beyond the ...

Skillsets Needed to Excel as an Expert During Cross-Examination For those financial experts awaiting their first opportunity to testify, as well as for those not certain of their skillsets, the author shares his tips on how to be impressive on the witness stand. As an attorney-CPA credentialed in business valuation, I have had the opportunity both to be the “expert” sitting in the witness chair and to be th ...

Valuing Liabilities Differs from Valuing Assets Valuing contingent/unliquidated liabilities raises some interesting questions. Do contingent/unliquidated liabilities have liability-specific risk? If yes, does liability-specific risk result in lower or higher obligations? Why do contingent/unliquidated liabilities related to lawsuits tend to settle as opposed to go through verdict and appeals? This article a ...

Lost Profits and Loss of Business Value—Differences and Correlation in Terms of the Harmful Impact to Plaintiff’s Claims When a plaintiff suffers, or believes to have suffered, economic damages as a result of a defendant’s actions in a civil matter he/she and their attorney are faced with determining the amount of economic damage suffered. A damages remedy is provided to restore the plaintiff to the same ec ...

What Do the Courts Want? Finding the methodology for determining the appropriate discount rate in a lost profits case can be a convoluted journey. The numerator (the lost profits) may be adjusted through modeling. The denominator (the discount rate) may be a risk-free rate, a rate of return on investments, or the rate of return commensurate with generating the lost profits had no wrongful act occurred. And, ...

Without An Elephant One question: Would you like to learn a technique that might make the problem-solving process work more efficiently and perhaps, just perhaps, produce better results? In this article, Nancy Yeend presents the W-I-N method. Of course, you know how to solve problems—that is what you do for a living. One question: Would you like to learn a technique that might make the problem-solving proce ...

Theory into Practice In our literature and at professional conferences, we often discuss the theoretical aspects of our work. For lost profits this includes discussions on the best method for valuing lost profits (before and after, yard stick, but for) or the optimal discount method (ex ante, ex post, or hybrid). Occasionally, these become academic debates with little impact on our “real life” work. This ye ...

What Forensic Accountants Need to Avoid Doing What do forensic accountants need to know when performing a business interruption loss engagement? What are some of the common errors and pitfalls that forensic accountants need to avoid? In this article, the author will answer these questions as well as walk through the process of performing a business interruption loss engagement. [su_pullquote align="right"]R ...

Denny Construction, Inc. v. City and County of Denver, Colorado, acting by and through its Board of Water Commissioners This article presents a case analysis wherein a general contractor sued for breach of contract and litigated the owner for breach of co bid due to its impaired bonding capacity, which resulted from defendant’s declaration of default and claim against the contractor’s performance bond. This ...

An Appraiser in Court This is a review of Henry J. Wise’s, MAI, CBA, BVAL, CRE (Retired) recently released book, It’s Only an Opinion: An Appraiser in Court. In this book, comprised of 23 chapters, Mr. Wise is not only humorous but also insightful. He shares several nuggets from his 35-years of experience testifying in court on real estate controversies. He offers valuable information to business appraisers ...