Our study of the most significant mistakes made while setting a business valuation concludes as a well-respected Philadelphia forensic accountant and Certified Valuation Analyst takes a closer look at three additional issues that often are encountered in this process.
Relying on outdated business transactions and industry growth rates: According to David Anderson, principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of business valuation services in the Delaware Valley, recent business cycles saw peak transactions prices paid around 2000 and 2006. However, due to more recent economic history, including the “great recession,” Anderson said prospective buyers would not expect to see comparable prices in the present. Similarly, economic growth rates around those same time periods were much higher than currently expected growth rates, said Anderson – a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia with experience conducting business valuation services in the Delaware Valley. Relying on this outdated transaction and growth rate information, he said, results in overstated business values.
Failing to add back in the value of non-operating assets: Many businesses have assets on their books that, said Anderson – a Certified Valuation Analyst in Philadelphia – are not used in current business operations. Examples include: Cash and/or marketable securities in excess of that needed to meet working capital requirements, vacant land, investments in outside businesses, artwork (unless the business is a gallery) and antique vehicles. Professional valuation standards as explained by Anderson, principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of business valuation services in the Delaware Valley, call for identifying such non-operating assets, valuing them separately and adding them back to the value of the business (the logic being that a prospective buyer could purchase the business, operate it without these assets, sell these non-operating assets and pocket the proceeds).
Ignoring the capital structure of the business: Equity investors typically require a greater rate of return in order to accommodate the risks they take investing in a business, Anderson explained. However, many businesses are able to borrow from banks and other lenders at considerably lower rates. The company being valued may already have long-term debt at such a rate or it may be the norm for companies in the same industry to have a capital structure that includes long-term debt. In such cases, said Anderson, principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of business valuation services in the Delaware Valley, the valuator must consider the overall capital structure of the company in order to determine the blended (or weighted average) expected rate of return (which will be lower than the equity rate of return alone). Considering such a lower overall rate of return is likely to result in a higher equity value for the business than would be determined if the capital structure of the business were ignored, Certified Valuation Analyst in Philadelphia Anderson noted.
If you require the services of a Certified Valuation Analyst in Philadelphia or any other forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, please contact the Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com.
About David Anderson & Associates
David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services. Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Valuation Analyst and a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia.
