Guest Lectures

January 14, 2010
Ron L. Seigneur
CPA /ABV / CFF, ASA, MBA, CVA
Partner in Seigneur Gustafson, LLP
Business Valuation - A Case Study Approach to Understanding Why You Should Care!

February 16, 2010
Laurie Taylor, President
FlashPoint!
Cracking the Code to Your Company’s Growth: How Business Owners Can Define Growth In a Down Economy

March 18, 2010
Ed Wekesser, President
Fulcrum Business
Solutions, Inc. &
Doug Hawkins, Presdient and Senior Consultant
The Carrington Group, Inc.
Frequently Overlooked, but ALWAYS Powerful -- The Need to Build Value for a Successful Exit

More...

Feb. 3, 2010
April 7, 2010
Sept. 1, 2010
Nov. 3, 2010

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Ronald L. Seigneur  
MBA, ASA, CPA/ABV/CFF, CVA
Partner in Seigneur Gustafson, LLP

Guest Lecturer
January 14, 2010

Click Here for Details

Business valuation is not an exact science as all involved in the discipline have always known. In fact, the classic IRS Revenue Ruling 59-60 promulgated in 1959 and still widely referenced today, is explicit in stating that the discipline is not and exact science and relies heavily on common sense, informed judgment and reasonableness. Most would also agree that the value proposition for a closely held enterprise is focused on the anticipation of future economic benefits and the risk associated with those benefits. Our firm has emphasized valuation services for over two decades and we continue to be reminded with every engagement we undertake, just how elusive it is to synthesize the dynamics of any particular fact set into a value conclusion for an intended application, be it for estate and gift, dissolution of a marriage, or for the purchase or sale of a closely held business.

We have been challenged more often recently with the goal of finding the investment value of a business or an interest therein versus the more traditional fair market or fair value where the premise is a hypothetical willing buyer and hypothetical willing seller.  Investment value is often viewed as finding a motivated buyer who will pay a synergistic premium, such as a competitor, a supplier or even a major customer of the service or product underlying the business opportunity being considered.

This goal has been further complicated by the sideways economy with all of the associated nuances of diminished demand, almost non-existent financing, and new sources of global competition.  Valuation of any closely held business interest starts with a consideration of the three commonly accepted valuation approaches, asset, market and income and which approach alone or in concert with another is best suited for the situation.  The asset and market approach to value often rely heavily on historical trends and activity to develop support for the underlying indications of value derived by use of the methodologies available within the asset and market approach to value.  Likewise, the income approach to value often starts with a thorough analysis of the historical income producing ability of the target.  The recent prolonged recession has dramatically changed the landscape for many closely held businesses and the overall economic environment they operate within.  Entire industries are being redefined and in some cases eliminated.   These changes require the owners and managers of most closely held businesses to focus first on what is required to simply sustain the enterprise and once this is assured, build justification for value based on more forward looking valuation models.

Our valuation practice has been called upon more often recently to assist ownership and management of closely held businesses to first determine a benchmark value for the enterprise and then to find ways to preserve, protect and enhance the value of the enterprise by undertaking tactical steps to increase anticipated future economic benefits, together with steps to reduce the perception of the risks associated with realizing the future benefit streams.

Our January 2010 eXits session will utilize 2 or more case study examples of closely held businesses where we were asked to assist ownership in optimizing the value of a business involved in a purchase and sale transaction.    It is our intent to explore how the identification of these attributes can greatly enhance the value proposition of any business enterprise.