A Practice Guide for Practitioners What are the proper questions and approaches that enable valuation professionals to value non-fungible tokens (NFTs)? The author describes the questions and methods used to value NFTs. With the recent IRS proposal, the focus on fair market value is repeated as the preferred method for cryptocurrency transactions that do not involve cash.[1] The IRS redefines fair market va ...

Rosenthal v. Erber illustrates the pressure and perils of dueling experts. The expert is charged with assisting the court ascertain the facts, rather than furthering the client’s ambition. The case is a reminder to business valuation professionals that ethical considerations are paramount and that doing the contrary leads to courts’ suspecting the role of experts in the process. In the main, valuation exper ...

Theory to Practice VPS StraightTalk Webinar, June 15, 2023 This article summarizes key takeaways from the June 15, 2023, VPS StraightTalk Webinar presentation co-led by R. James Alerding, CPA, ABV and Carli D. Lehr, CPA, CVA, CSEP. The speakers discussed how to differentiate between a projection and forecast, the importance of developing a reliable cash flow or projection evaluation of specific risk to the ...

Theory to Practice VPS StraightTalk Webinar, June 15, 2023 This article summarizes key takeaways from the June 15, 2023, VPS StraightTalk Webinar presentation co-led by R. James Alerding, CPA, ABV and Carli D. Lehr, CPA, CVA, CSEP. The speakers discussed how to differentiate between a projection and forecast, the importance of developing a reliable cash flow or projection evaluation of specific risk to the ...

A Review of the Basics for Lost Profits (Part I) Those who have worked in the forensic field for many years begin to take for granted how we approach and handle certain situations. We have a level of knowledge and experience that lets us move forward without much research. But, with this level of experience and understanding comes a level of forgetfulness. Not that we forget how to perform the analysis, but ...

The Court Opens to Tax-Affecting In Estate of Jones, the court addressed the tax affecting issue along with several other issues discussed in the valuation world today, including the proper approach for valuing an operating timber business (income vs. asset-based), the reliability of management projections, and the appropriate discount for lack of marketability. For the first time in 20 years, a valuation e ...

What Do We Do Moving Forward in Time? The coronavirus and the events unleashed by the outbreak were unforeseeable to professionals preparing reports as of the end of 2019. What do we, as valuation and litigation support professionals, do moving forward in time when we are engaged to value a business? Here, the author, Ron Rudich, answers these questions. Gary R. Trugman wrote in his tome, Understanding Busi ...

And Runaway Valuations In a discounted cash flow analysis, a large portion of a firm’s value is typically attributed to the terminal value, i.e., the value beyond the projection period. Valuation presentations often show or discuss what happens to the firm’s value if the perpetuity growth rate (PGR) is changed. In this sensitivity analysis, it is common to see wild swings in valuations because the terminal ...

The Problem with Exit Multiples Most of an Income Approach-based valuation is frequently in the terminal value. Thus, an Income Approach-based valuation that relies on an exit multiple to arrive at a terminal value is essentially a Market Approach-based valuation in disguise. Many practitioners do not use an exit multiple to arrive at a terminal value for this reason. Nevertheless, numerous practitioners pr ...

April 2019 In the first quarter of 2019, there were no reported U.S. Tax Court cases involving either business, estate, or FLP valuation issues. Notwithstanding the above, there were several cases that valuation and litigation support professionals will want to consider. In this article, five recent cases are discussed. One of the leading cases circulating amongst the business valuation community is Kress v ...

and an Expert Witness While there are hundreds of Daubert decisions issued every week, only a few go a long way in shaping the way experts are screened by judges in the future. And even fewer times, a multimillion-dollar verdict is hinged solely on the expert witness testimony! In this article, the author discusses the district and appellate court decision in Alaska Rent-A-Car v. Avis Budget Group. ...

Bargain Purchase Transactions This article summarizes the fair value measurement guidance and financial accounting considerations in business combinations—and specifically, in bargain purchase transactions. This discussion also describes the principles of acquisition accounting as they relate to fair value measurement. And, this discussion describes many of the valuation analyst considerations regarding the ...

Highlighting Recent Delaware Court Cases In this Case Law Update, three recent Delaware Court cases are reviewed. Two cases focus on whether the deal value is fair value and the third focuses on matters discovered following approval of a merger and who has standing to sue and what remedy, if any, is available to the disgruntled plaintiffs. The first two cases also delve into the role of experts, inputs that ...

On Business Valuations The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changes many aspects of how business analysts perform valuations. Upon passing of the TCJA, Jim Hitchner moved quickly to gather and disseminate information about the TCJA and its effect on business valuation. He has written two comprehensive articles in Issues 72 and 73 of Financial Valuation and Litigation Expert. The information in this article summ ...

A Study of the Experts’ Inputs and Court Opinion How does a court go about deciding a valuation case when two experts oppose each other? The author examines the DFC Global Corporation decision to see what that reveals and how that may impact an expert’s future engagement. The author finds three takeaways for readers. ...

Valuation of Intangible Assets Valuation practitioners may want to spend a few hours reading a recent U.S. Tax Court case where the valuation of intangible assets was squarely addressed. This QuickRead article highlights the facts and three issues addressed in the decision. ...

Moving Forward when Valuing Asset-Intensive Operating Companies In this article, Heidi Walker, the author, revisits the Tax Court and Ninth Circuit’s unpublished decision in Estate of Giustina and the Supplemental Memorandum Opinion issued by the U.S. Tax Court this past year. ...

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 calcul ...

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 a ...

Once a petition for Chapter 11 is filed with the bankruptcy court, the company usually undertakes a strategic review of its operations, including opportunities to shed assets or even lines of businesses.  The Chapter 11 reorganization process concludes when the bankruptcy court confirms a reorganization plan which specifies a reorganization value and which reflects the agreed upon strategic direction and ca ...