This Valuation Video recounts two recent disputes over gift/estate tax appraisals with the Internal Revenue Service. In one case, Mercer prepared the original appraisal, which was challenged. In the second matter, Mercer was called to prepare an appraisal for Tax Court because of the unavailability of the original appraiser. You won’t read about either of them anywhere else because they settled quietly and favorably for the taxpayers.
There is a great deal of discussion about the benefits of walking 10,000 steps per day. This post focuses on my recent experience of reaching that level of movement for 50 consecutive days. It discusses a few lessons learned from the process, and talks about what to do if life gets in your way of that specific objective. It is still critical for all of us to MOVE!
In this post, I discuss a very important breakfast I had some time ago with a client and friend of many years who is second generation chairman, CEO, and lead family member of a very successful, third-generation family business. That breakfast served as a turning point for him and his business and the family.
I have used a Fitbit or other step-tracking device regularly for more than eight years. I can say, without a doubt, that this regular use has had a significant impact on my health, my weight, and my outlook towards life. In this post, I talk about nine ways that using a Fitbit can help improve the quality of our lives.
I have long used the term of “words on the pages” of buy-sell agreements to relate to those usually too few words that describe the valuation processes called for by the agreements. A typical agreement will devote 150-200 words to attempt to describe a multiple appraiser valuation process. It is not possible to do so. There are too many things that have to be described or defined. In this video, I talk about the defining elements of any buy-sell agreement valuation process and the need for clarity in the “words on the pages” to assure reasonable processes when agreements are triggered. I also state that I have a new book in the process of finishing that will provide draft “words on the pages” that have a good chance of working. Attorneys, business appraisers, and other advisers to business owners will want this book!
I spoke earlier this week at the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants in King of Prussia, PA. After getting somewhat lost in the King of Prussia Mall, the largest mall by number of stores in America, I talked about simplifying complex valuation concepts for judges and juries and also about buy-sell agreements. This Valuation Video tackles one of my topics, the adage about a picture being worth a lot of words when talking about Fair Market Value.
How can you use bank valuation concepts to influence how you think and how you lead? That’s the question that I asked in a recent session at the Best Banks in America Super Conference put on by the Emmerich Group in Minneapolis. In this video, I discuss how basic concepts of valuation can help us think about how we look at banks and how we lead when we manage those banks.
As the ASA International and Business Valuation Conference wraps up at the Marriott Marquis at Times Square in New York City, I took a couple of minutes to talk about the conference on this Valuation Video. I spoke on building strong referral networks with Jay Fishman and summarize seven key points he made and eight key points I made in the video. I also discuss a bit about the conference and folks I spent time with while there. If you weren’t there, you missed a good conference.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt, if you own stock in a closely held or family business today, there will come a time in the future when you do not own or control it. This Valuation Video examines the Business Ownership Transfer Matrix that dictates that you will sell or transfer your shares, either partially or totally, and either voluntarily or involuntary. If you don’t plan ahead, the Law of Unintended Consequences may come into play. When you transfer stock involuntarily, you lose control over what happens, and things can happen that you didn’t intend. Promises may not be kept, estate taxes may be maximized, control may shift unexpectedly, and on. So plan ahead!
Kashmiry v. Ellis is a recent Ohio appellate case regarding the buy-sell agreement portion of a shareholders’ agreement. The case reinforces a number of things I have been “preaching” about for years. If a buy-sell agreement has provided for an annual valuation by agreement of the parties, then the parties must reach agreement annually. If the agreement then provides for a valuation mechanism to determine the price following a trigger event, then the valuation process should be clearly defined and workable.
