As public company auditors prepare to deliver new information in auditors’ reports, firms need to develop consistent processes for determining what should be disclosed. As auditors prepare for a new auditing standard requiring the disclosure of critical audit matters (CAMs) in their reports, they are traveling in uncharted territory and contemplating new information that they will be providing to investors. ...

Ascertaining the Financial Status of a Business in a Few Quick Glances The 60-Second Method is a system of ascertaining the financial status of a business or other entity in a few quick glances. It is a training tool that can be used to demonstrate how financial analysis works, or instruct decision-makers beginning to read and understand financial statement content. ...

Earnout Variables Often Account for 15 to 25 percent of Purchase Price in many Middle Market Acquisitions. Here are Tips for Structuring Them Carefully Earnouts typically appear in a large number of middle-market deals, usually accounting for 15 to 25 percent of the total purchase price.  While an earnout can to be an elegant solution to “close the gap” between seller and buyer, the fact is earnouts are com ...

Past Performance is No Longer a Viable Valuation Tactic: Learn to Anticipate Future Prospects with Data Mining, Proprietary Benchmark Techniques, and a Close Look at Both Cash Flow and Capital Expenditures.    Caleb Slabbert, writing at VentureCapital.org, which bills itself as a non-profit organization that has been "a premier resource for both entrepreneurs seeking funding and for investors who want to he ...

Physicians Practices are Undergoing Consolidation. Most Often, Practices are Acquired by Hospitals—and a Prerequisite to Acquisition by a Hospital is Having a Practice Valuation Performed. Here’s Why. Physician practices are increasingly undergoing consolidation, and any acquisition requires a valuation performed by an independent third-party valuator. Here’s the low down on what valuators need and why they ...

Appeals Courts in Iowa and Mississippi Settle Divorce Disputes The Mississippi Court of Appeals reverses a trial court’s ruling in Marter v. Marter because of a valuation without sufficient evidence, and the Iowa Court of Appeals affirms the value of a wife’s intangible contributions to a business in re Marriage of Kinser.  ...

Few Companies with Under 100 Employees Have Fraud Controls in Place Small businesses are significantly more likely than their larger counterparts to neglect instituting basic antifraud controls that could save them from costly losses, a recent worldwide survey shows. The Journal of Accountancy reports in the August issue:  ...