John R. Markel, ASA, CPA, ABV, CFF, has been Managing Director of Markel Valuation, P.C. in Greenville, South Carolina since 2003. From 1995 to 2003, he was shareholder-in-charge of the Valuation and Forensic Accounting Division of Elliott Davis, LLC, a large Southeastern CPA firm. In September 2003, Elliott Davis sold the Valuation and Forensic Division to Mr. Markel, primarily to comply with newly-enacted auditor independence requirements imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Mr. Markel is a 1969 graduate of DukeUniversity with an A.B. degree, majoring in Economics. After military service, he received his Master of Accountancy degree in 1974 from the University of South Carolina. He began his career with an international accounting firm, where he became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in 1975. He subsequently joined Elliott Davis in 1977 and became a shareholder in 1985. Up to 1995, he supervised complex financial audits of that firm’s largest commercial clients. Since 1995, his practice has been limited to business valuation, along with the closely-related financial analytics used in forensic (investigative) accounting. Historically, his assignments have fallen into three broad categories: (1) forensic accounting procedures and financial analysis arising in the context of business dispute resolution or litigation, including commercial damages and economic valuation; (2) valuation for financial reporting or for income, gift, or estate tax purposes; and (3) valuation, due diligence, and succession planning issues in the purchase, sale, or transfer of ownership interests in closely-held enterprises. In addition, he has testified on over 50 occasions as an expert witness in federal and state courts, and in private arbitration proceedings on valuation and forensic accounting issues. He has been the supervising analyst on over 600 business valuation engagements. Mr. Markel is currently licensed as a CPA in the states of South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the American Society of Appraisers. In addition, he is on the editorial board of the monthly National Litigation Consultants Review, a national publication in which he has published over 40 articles. He holds the Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) designation in business valuation from the American Society of Appraisers. To earn the ASA designation, he was required to (1) pass four rigorous written examinations (totaling 17 hours) in business valuation principles, (2) attain five years (10,000 hours) of full-time business valuation experience, and (3) pass a rigorous peer review of his valuation reports and report-writing skills. He is one of only five ASAs designated in business valuation in South Carolina, and one of only 170 ASAs designated in business valuation in the eleven Southeastern states. He has also earned the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) designation from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. This designation can be earned only by CPAs. Successful candidates must satisfy a business valuation experience requirement, and must pass a rigorous eight-hour examination on business valuation principles. Mr. Markel was among the group of 520 CPAs nationwide who passed the first-ever ABV Examination in 1997. Mr. Markel has also earned the Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF) designation from the AICPA. He can be reached by telephone at (864) 277-9921.
Marie B. Edmonds, ASA, has been Vice-President and Senior Analyst with Markel Valuation, P.C. since 2003. From 1995 to 2003, she was Senior Analyst in the Valuation and Forensic Division of Elliott Davis, LLC, a large Southeastern CPA firm. She was graduated in 1977 from ClemsonUniversity with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Administrative Management. Since graduation, her business experience has been diverse. This diversity of experience has given her exceptional insight into the everyday operations of closely-held and family-owned businesses. Ms. Edmonds began as a tax auditor for the South Carolina Tax Commission. Later, she sold residential real estate. After that, she was office manager for a large construction contractor, where she was responsible for uncovering a major fraud scheme perpetrated against the company. After that, Ms. Edmonds was intellectual property administrator of a large textile manufacturer. Duties included patent and trademark searches as well as administration of intellectual property applications and renewals. Since 1995, she has been exclusively engaged in the business valuation and forensic accounting disciplines. Ms. Edmonds has been the principal analyst on over 300 business valuation engagements. These engagements were done for the purposes of estate and gift tax planning, ESOP requirements, divorce settlements, shareholder disputes, stock redemptions, and business termination and interruption. Ms. Edmonds has recently participated in a supervisory role on a number of large and complex forensic accounting engagements. These included investigations for breach of trust, for breach of fiduciary duty, and for economic damage computation. Ms. Edmonds is a member of the American Society of Appraisers. She holds the Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) designation in business valuation from the American Society of Appraisers. To earn the ASA designation, she had to (1) pass four rigorous written examinations (totaling 17 hours) in business valuation principles, (2) attain five years (10,000 hours) of full-time business valuation experience, and (3) pass a rigorous peer review of her valuation reports and report-writing skills. She is one of only five ASAs designated in business valuation in South Carolina,and one of only 170 ASAs designated in business valuation in the eleven Southeastern states.