David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services including fraud investigation and fraud deterrence programs in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. 

When determining the value of a business is at the heart of divorce settlement calculations, coming to an agreement that is equitable for both parties can be a challenging task. One of the best ways to help the parties reach a fair valuation number is to consult a forensic accounting expert who also has served as a marital dissolution accountant and is a business valuation expert.

“It’s a rare case when the parties in a divorce fully understand the issues that must be considered by a forensic accountant in these matters,” said David Anderson, principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides marital dissolution and business valuation services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.  “The process often begins as an educational one in which a forensic accountant must explain to the spouses and their attorneys how a forensic accounting expert addresses valuation issues in a divorce.”

Anderson, a Certified Valuation Analyst who has served for many years as a marital dissolution accountant in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, said there are four key business valuation issues that repeatedly arise in marital dissolutions:

• – The cost of the in-spouse’s services to the business being valued (the in-spouse is the spouse who owns the business interest being valued as opposed to the out-spouse who does not have ownership in the business);
• – Personal goodwill and its impact on the business being valued;
• – The presence and impact of unreported cash sales; and
• – Personal expenses charged to the business.

This article, the beginning of a four-part series, will explore the first of these issues — the cost of the in-spouse’s services to the business being valued.

Anderson, whose company offers a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, said he once was asked to value a one-person ophthalmology practice in which the in-spouse earned about $200,000 a year.  The out-spouse and his attorney believed the business would be valued at more than $1 million, but Anderson assigned a value of less than $150,000.

“The out-spouse and his attorney did not consider the cost of the in-spouse’s services to the practice,” said Anderson, a divorce accountant and business valuation expert whose full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley includes marital dissolution and business valuation services in Philadelphia.  “If a hypothetical buyer of the practice was not an ophthalmologist, the buyer would have to hire an ophthalmologist at a cost of $180,000 a year for a person with the same level of education and experience as the in-spouse.  Hence, the annual net income of the business available to the buyer would be only about $20,000, not $200,000.

“If another ophthalmologist purchased the practice, that person would know he or she could earn $180,000 working for another practice without having to invest money in a practice.  Why would anyone spend more than $1 million to earn only an extra $20,000 per year?  They wouldn’t,” said Anderson, a business valuation expert and marital dissolution accountant in Philadelphia.  “The practice simply was not worth as much as the out-spouse thought.”

Of course, a valuation can go either way.  Anderson, who also is a Certified Valuation Analyst, once was asked to value a retail furniture business whose CEO (the in-spouse) had an annual salary of more than $1 million and whose business had annual net income of less than $50,000.  The in-spouse expected the business to be valued at about $300,000 and was shocked when Anderson valued it at approximately $3 million.

“At the time, a hypothetical buyer could hire a CEO for about $350,000 per year, not the $1 million-plus salary the in-spouse was taking,” said Anderson, a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.  “The $650,000-per-year salary differential had to be added to the business’s bottom line, thereby resulting in a higher-than expected valuation.  These are the types of issues a divorce accountant has to consider when determining the fair value.”

Part Two in this four-part series will explore the valuation issues a forensic accountant must consider in divorce cases where an examination of personal goodwill and its impact on the business being valued is necessary.

If you need of a marital dissolution accountant in Philadelphia, or if you require any other services of a forensic accounting expert 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 with more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions. He is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Valuation Analyst.  Anderson also has served as a divorce accountant or marital dissolution accountant in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.