Litigation Advisory Services

This month's issue of Valuation & Litigation Advisory Insights includes the following articles:

• Intangible Assets – If I cannot See Them, What Are They?
• What is the value of intellectual property
• The perfect exit strategy: Don’t leave it to chance

Intangible Assets – If I Cannot See Them, What Are They?

“All arguments concerning existence are founded on the relation of cause and effect.” - David Hume

In the quote above, David Hume, a famous philosopher, says that the basis of existence is founded in...

This month's issue of Valuation & Litigation Advisory Insights includes the following articles:

• Smooth Sailing How to Make Sure Your Business Valuation Engagement Runs Smoothly
• Valuing a Business With Significant Real Estate Assets
• Marketability Discounts for Controlling Interests?

Smooth Sailing: How to Make Sure Your Business Valuation Engagement Runs Smoothly

We have all had to tackle tasks that just seem to grind and clunk along without much direction or urgency, which can be frustrating for all...

When your identity has been stolen, you will need to contact your credit card companies, your banks, the three major credit bureaus, and local, state, or federal law enforcement authorities. Click here to read part one of this article which looks at the involvement of your credit card companies and banks.

The three major credit bureaus

If your credit cards have been lost or stolen, call the fraud number of any one of the three national credit reporting agencies:

1. Equifax (888) 766-0008
2. Experian...

You've read about it, and you thought it would never happen to you. But suddenly your bank account is empty, your credit card bills are through the roof, and you're getting late notices for accounts you don't own. Your identity has been stolen. What now?

Time is money

To minimize your losses, act fast. Contact, in this order:

• Your credit card companies
• Your bank
• The three major credit bureaus
• Local, state, or federal law enforcement authorities

Your credit card companies

Credit card companies are...

Whether they're snatching your purse, diving into your dumpster, stealing your mail, or hacking into your computer, they're out to get you. Who are they? Identity thieves. Click here to read part one of this article which looks at four additional preventative measures.

When you toss it, shred it

Before you throw out any financial records such as credit or debit card receipts and statements, cancelled checks, or even offers for credit you receive in the mail, shred the documents, preferably with a...

Whether they're snatching your purse, diving into your dumpster, stealing your mail, or hacking into your computer, they're out to get you. Who are they? Identity thieves.

Identity thieves can empty your bank account, max out your credit cards, open new accounts in your name, and purchase furniture, cars, and even homes on the basis of your credit history. If they give your personal information to the police during an arrest and then don't show up for a court date, you may be...

If this has ever happened to you then you know first hand how traumatic the loss can be.  The loss of cash. No credit cards. I can’t make debit card purchases.  Not my driver’s license!  Oh no, and the social security card??  Not my child’s baby pictures??? My paycheck? And the list goes on and on.   Think for a minute what you think is in your wallet.  Here one minute, gone the next.

I know first hand as I’ve been carjacked and lost my wallet and recently a family member had her wallet fall into...

Corporate downsizing compromises internal controls. 9% unemployment. Record residential foreclosures. 50% of marriages are failing.  Employees are facing increased pressure of addressing increased healthcare costs and the costs associated with taking care of aging parents. And yet, there are still many others that fantasize about what it would be like to live the life of the “rich and famous.” For business owners, today’s work environment is a challenging one.

As a result of many pressures, at...

This month's issue of Valuation & Litigation Advisory Insights includes the following articles:

• Management Involvement in Purchase Price Allocations
• How Do You Value a Startup Company
• Business Contingencies – What Are They and Why Should You Care?

Management Involvement in Purchase Price Allocations

It is common for companies to bring in a third-party valuation expert to value the intangible assets acquired in a business combination for financial reporting purposes.  It is important to note that even...

Residents should be on the lookout for anyone soliciting them that “there is a little known loophole that allows them to release their own residential mortgage.”  Residents may be duped in person or know of someone that has paid for such mortgage relief assistance. This is not a telephone scam. 

An individual has shared with me just how he can save people from foreclosure and further advised that he will be filing such documents in the future as he has several clients waiting for his services....

This month's issue of Valuation & Litigation Advisory Insights includes the following articles:

• Why the Valuation Date is so Important
• How Calculation Engagements Can Provide an Indication of Value
• Chemtura Addresses Business Appraisals in a Volatile Economy

Why the valuation date is so important

When one considers how the value of an asset will be determined in a matter, it’s common to think about what method the appraiser will use or whether discounts may apply. But a critical factor that may not...

This month's issue of Valuation & Litigation Advisory Insights includes the following articles:

• When it's time to calculate damages: How to ensure a reasonable discount rate
• Patent infringement damages: Federal Circuit gives thumbs down to "25% rule"
• Start early, end strong: Tax planning in litigation

When it's time to calculate damages: How to ensure a reasonable discount rate

Consider this scenario: A company goes to court to recover the lost profits it likely would have earned in the future had an...

This month's issue of Valuation & Litigation Advisory Insights includes the following articles:

• International Business Valuation Standards: A Forecast for U.S.-Based Business Valuation Experts
• Is the Price Right? Ask an Expert.
• How Contingencies Affect a Business's Value

International Business Valuation Standards: A Forecast for U.S.-Based Business Valuation Experts

I feel completely surrounded—like the Spartans in the Battle of Thermopylae, chronicled in the movie 300 and elsewhere. Rather than...

This month's issue of Valuation & Litigation Advisory Insights includes the following articles:

• Goodwill Impairment Analysis - Is Your Goodwill Impaired?
• Emerging from Bankruptcy: Business Valuation is Critical to a Successful Fresh Start
• Buy-Sell Agreements: 4 Business Valuation-Related Pitfalls to Avoid

 Goodwill Impairment Analysis - Is Your Goodwill Impaired?

In the current weakened economic environment, companies are learning that the goodwill that they carry on the balance sheet is impaired...

This month's issue of Valuation & Litigation Advisory Insights includes the following articles:

• Owners Compensation: Why Valuation Experts are Nosy about This Number
• Looking Ahead and Behind to Determine Lost Earnings
• The Role of Forensic Skepticism in Lost Profits Calculations
• Valuation Interviews Help Tell the Whole Story

Owners Compensation: Why Valuation Experts are Nosy about This Number

Some business owners feel that when a valuation expert asks them how much they make (and how much they would...

This month's issue of Valuation & Litigation Advisory Insights includes the following articles:

• Tiered Valuation Discounts: The Tax Court's Position on the Russian Doll
• Guidance Issued on Valuation of Partial Interests
• Quantifying Economic Losses When Mitigating Circumstances Come Into Play

Tiered Valuation Discounts: The Tax Court's Position on the Russian Doll
By Sean R. Saari, CPA/ABV, CVA, MBA

As little boys or girls, many of us had an opportunity to play with a "matryoshka" doll - also known as...

Fraud and embezzlement cost local organizations millions of dollars annually. Consistent with national trends, organizations with fewer than 100 employees are the primary targets.

And, nationally and locally, there is an increase in financial crimes in which people are colluding with internal or external partners.

Cooperation increases their chances of success, because collusion cases are more difficult to detect, as the perpetrators tend to be more creative than those who work solo. But, they...

The recently enacted 2010 Small Business Jobs Act includes an assortment of changes for small businesses. Listed below are several, but not all, of the tax breaks and incentives, as well as the offsets (revenues and raisers) of the new law.

Tax Breaks and Incentives

• Enhanced small business expensing
• General business credits of eligible small businesses for 2010 allowed to be carried back five years
• General business credits of eligible small businesses in 2010 aren't subject to AMT
• S corporation...

This month's issue of Valuation & Litigation Advisory Insights includes the following articles:

• FAQs About Business Valuations
• Measuring the Intangible: Valuation Issues in Health Care Transactions
• Single Price Quote Supports $10 Million Lost Profits Award
• Skoda Minotti Employee Recognized For Outstanding Report Writing

FAQs About Business Valuations

From business acquisitions to estate planning to shareholder transactions, executives often run into situations in which performing a business valuation...