Improving Organizational Well-Being Why have an employee hotline? What are the benefits, if any, of an employee hotline? In this article, Ray Dunkle shares his views and the results of implementation. While many forward-thinking organizations are increasingly implementing hotlines, the best practice of such a hotline is so new to most, that few know how to successfully do so. The remainder of this article provides practical insights, including how to gain support from those who are resistant to change.
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The Present Value of Future Lost Profits, and the Time Value of Money Experts estimating the present value of a business’ future lost profits have much less direction from the courts than their counterparts estimating the present value of a person’s lost earning capacity. Professional literature has attempted to fill this gap providing many articles discussing the differing methods for analyzing lost profits (e.g., yardstick, before-and-after, but for) or how to determine the discount rate by applying a weighted cost of average capital, equity rates of return, or some form of risk premium build-up. This article moves away from these…
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This article covers recent developments in employee benefits, examining, among other things, the Affordable Care Act’s complicated reporting requirements, the proposed fiduciary responsibility rules, and updated procedures to correct employee plan failures. Terry Richardson, principal, and Bryce Tholen, manager, both with PwC LLP in Dallas, take an in depth look at what’s involved.. To find out more on The Tax Adviser article, click: Current Developments in Employee Benefits and Compensation.
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Financial Abuse of Seniors Could Grow as the Population Ages As more people enter their golden years, they become increasingly susceptible to financial fraud and financial elder abuse, especially if their mental faculties start to decline. This article looks at the case of an 86 year old Seattle widow bilked out of much of her savings and how easily it can happen. To find out more about The New York Times article, click: Financial Abuse of the Elderly: Sometimes Unnoticed, Always Predatory.
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The International Private Equity and Venture Capital Valuation (IPEV) Guidelines were developed in 2005 to set out recommendations on best practices in the valuation of private equity investments. Karolina Calhoun, senior financial analyst with Mercer Capital, looks at the draft amendments to the existing guidelines published in October 2015. To read more about the results of this report in the Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog, click: Updated: Valuation Best Practices for Venture Capital and Private Equity Funds. This article is republished from Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog. It is reprinted with permission. To subscribe to the blog, visit: http://mercercapital.com/category/financialreportingblog/.
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on Business Valuations in Litigation In this article, Paul Fullerman, CPA, CVA, discusses techniques which can assist the accredited valuation professionals performing a business valuation.
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You and Stress Is work stress inevitable? Something that professionals need to embrace and live with, like it, or not? How does an organization or management know if stress is affecting the well-being of its employees? In this article, Nancy Yeend shares a process management can employ to answer these and other questions.
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SPARC the Analysis and Shine Have you ever asked your clients what drives the value of their businesses? If they feel comfortable that they know what drives their business’ value, have you ever asked them why it does? In this article, first of a two part series, Sarah von Helfenstein shares her thoughts on the kinds of things that we, as business analysts and appraisers, should consider when assessing business value.
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IRS will Provide Tax ID Victims Copies of Fraudulent Returns The Internal Revenue Service announced procedures for victims of tax ID theft or their authorized representative to request copies of bogus returns filed by identity thieves. This change of policy will allow identity theft victims to better assess what personal information was compromised and how it was used. Paul Bonner, JofA senior editor, discusses the IRS posting instructions for requesting the returns and explaining the circumstances under which they will be disclosed. To find out more on this Journal of Accountancy article, click: Tax ID Theft Victims may Obtain Copies…
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Get Top Value When Selling an Accounting Firm Avoiding these seven key misconceptions can help you avoid getting less than your firm is worth. Harry L. Olson, president of Accounting Broker Acquisition Group Inc., discusses the misconceptions and what pitfalls to look out for. To find out more about this Journal of Accountancy article, click: Maximize Proceeds in Accounting Firm Sales.
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Being on the rise, dissenting actions are catching the eye of investors, attorneys, and other deal makers. Jay D. Wilson, Jr., senior member of Mercer Capital’s Depository Institutions practice, takes a look at why it is important an appraiser preparing a valuation of a bank in an appraisal action understand both valuation techniques and the banking industry. To read more about the results of this report in the Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog, click: Dissenting Shareholders and Bank Appraisals: Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace This article is republished from Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog. It is reprinted with…
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Grow and Retain Your Referral Base Today’s valuation firms rely heavily on referrals to produce new leads and revenues. According to a new study by NACVA and Hinge Marketing, most firms could be getting far more referrals if they made a few changes to their marketing. This article shares the findings.
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Guidance from Bross Trucking v. Commissioner (2014) Valuation analysts often have to separate company-owned entity goodwill from shareholder-owned personal goodwill in the valuation of closely held companies. These valuations may be performed for family law, shareholder dispute, breach of contract, or other litigation purposes; for transaction structuring and sale consideration allocation purposes; and for gift tax, estate tax, or income tax purposes.
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Healthcare Costs for Large Companies Rose Slowly in 2015 Healthcare costs for large companies rose 3.2% in 2015, research by Aon Hewitt has found. It is the smallest increase since 1996, when Aon began tracking the data. However, the company predicts a 4.1% increase in 2016. David McCann discusses the findings. To find out more on this CFO article, click: Hike in Healthcare Costs Sinks to 20-Year Low.
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How to Turn Business Cards into Meaningful Connections A conference or industry event can be a great networking opportunity, provided you stay in touch with your new contacts. Alexandra Samuel, author of Work Smarter with Social Media, gives step-by-step instructions for keeping track of the business cards you receive and building stronger relationships. To find out more about this Harvard Business Review article, click: What to do with all the Business Cards from Your Last Conference.
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There seems to be an imbalance between the public and private markets. Holding private capital markets more desirable than public markets expresses and illiquidity preference. Madeleine L. Harrigan, financial analyst with Mercer Capital, notes this is at odds with basic investment logic and the requirements of portfolio management and why it cannot continue. To read more about the results of this report in the Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog, click: Are IPOs the New Down Round? This article is republished from Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog. It is reprinted with permission. To subscribe to the blog, visit: http://mercercapital.com/category/financialreportingblog/.
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Your Next Engagement Currency has played a central role in most business valuation and financial forensic engagements since the origination of the two terms. What has not been so clear lately is the changing nature of currency and for that matter, the very definition of money itself. This article explores how digital currencies originated, their attributes, and how they should be considered for your next valuation or forensic engagement.
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Meet Your Advisory Team Selling a business is a one-time process for most owners. It is also a harrowing process involving professionals in many disciplines. Here is a description of the primary people assisting in the process.
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Economists Predict an Interest-Rate Hike in December Ninety-two percent of the private economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal believe the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates at the policy meeting to be held on December 15-16. In recent comments, Federal Reserve officials have suggested they were ready to act and have discussed the pace of future increases. Binyamin Appelbaum, of The New York Times, looks at what held up this decision and what the impact of this change will be. To find out more on this The New York Times article, click: Several Fed Officials Say They are…
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Startups interested in taking advantage of the final crowdfunding regulations under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act passed by the Securities and Exchange Commission a couple weeks ago should be aware of nuances to the rules that may prove challenging. Among other things, companies will have to decide whether to offer investors debt or equity. David M. Katz discusses the new rules and the impact this will have. To find out more on this CFO article, click: JOBS Act Rules Could Spawn Headaches as Well as Capital.