Business Valuation

Business Valuation is a process and a set of procedures that require particular expertise and analytical techniques to determine the economic value of a business. It establishes the price for which a business may be bought or sold. It can also be used to establish the value of a partner’s ownership interest, and resolve issues pertaining to estate and gift taxes, business disputes, and divorce litigation.

Business valuation can support tax planning to take full advantage of provisions in the increasingly-complex tax codes:

  • Estate and gift tax planning
  • Discounts for illiquidity and lack of control
  • S-Corporation election
  • Valuing blocks of shares

Succession planning aids businesses that are in leadership transition, effectively merging new talent into the existing successful corporate structure:

  • Ownership transition
  • Business risk analysis
  • Stock option plans
  • Buy/sell valuation formulas
  • Employee Stock Ownership Plans

Corporate planning with valuation provides the roadmap for continued profitability and success:

  • Financial forecasting and discounted cash flow
  • Strategies for increasing value per share
  • Establishing a pre-acquisition range of proposed transaction prices
  • Adequacy of life insurance for key person stock redemption
  • Intangible asset valuation
  • Allocation of purchase price to intangible assets

Business Valuation issues often arise in litigation - for example:

  • Buy-sell agreements
  • Contract breaches
  • Partner/shareholder disagreements
  • Dissenting/oppressed shareholder actions
  • Corporation, LLC, or partnership dissolution
  • Divorce
  • Dealer or franchise termination