business

Dangerous Valuation Myths and the Real Truth

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myths

I come across some myths in my line of work and I’d like to throw some cold water on a few of them. Find out what to watch for and what’s really important. Secure link here or YouTube here:

Thanks,
Josh

Sign up for this blog here if you want tools to increase the value of your business or want a refreshing view on business valuation from a recovering CPA. I’m Josh Horn, CPA, CVA of Horn Valuation. I value businesses for owner exits with a focus on HVAC and trade contractors. I also assist litigation and divorce attorneys as a business valuation consulting or testifying expert. My clients are business owners and attorneys. If you’d like more information, email me at [email protected], or call me at 217-649-8794.

I’m a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and credentialed in business valuation (CVA). I’ve been a tax and business consultant in a top 100 CPA firm and a controller in a large international company. I’ve also valued and advised small family-owned and multimillion-dollar companies. You can connect with me here on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

“Once-in-a-lifetime events demand an expert.”
 Josh Horn, CPA and Certified Valuation Analyst

You Must Understand Accounting to Value a Business

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accounting

There are few absolutes in business valuation. This is one of them. You must understand accounting to value a private business correctly. Why?

Recognize Issues
Issues in the accounting records can have a huge impact on value. If issues aren’t identified, the whole foundation starts to wobble. Knowing what to ask and how to ask it are keys to finding issues. Here are two real stories:

Me: “What about this truck on the depreciation schedule?”
Client: “Oh, that’s a personal truck (insert name) bought. I won’t be buying personal vehicles through the business.” 

That was a $20,000 change to my capital expenditures estimate. 

Me: “Can I see the Accounts Receivable aging schedule?”
Client: “Here’s our over 90 days past due list.”

It was over $40,000. A hit to book value and possibly future cash flows. Once you find issues, you must…

Handle Issues Correctly
Knowing where to look and finding it won’t get you home. You must know how to handle it using accounting. That inventory balance needs to go up. Every entry needs a debit and a credit. Where do you book the other side? Cost of goods sold or accounts payable? It depends. So, you dig a little further. You find the answer and make the adjustment. Maybe that changes the value $10,000…or maybe $100,000? Maybe not at all. 

The Bottom Line
I rarely get a perfect set of accounting records. Even when I’m lucky enough to get CPA-prepared financials, it doesn’t guarantee there won’t be issues. Sometimes it’s as simple as reclassifying money from one account to another. Other times, I have to turn everything inside out. If you’re valuing a business, I hope you’ll learn the language of accounting or find someone who knows it. Otherwise, you could miss something big. I’m here if you need me.  

Thanks,
Josh

Sign up for this blog here if you want tools to increase the value of your business or want a refreshing view on business valuation from a recovering CPA. I’m Josh Horn, CPA, CVA of Horn Valuation. I value businesses for owner exits with a focus on HVAC and trade contractors. I also assist litigation and divorce attorneys as a business valuation consulting or testifying expert. My clients are business owners and attorneys. If you’d like more information, email me at [email protected], or call me at 217-649-8794.

I’m a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and credentialed in business valuation (CVA). I’ve been a tax and business consultant in a top 100 CPA firm and a controller in a large international company. I’ve also valued and advised small family-owned and multimillion-dollar companies. You can connect with me here on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

“Once-in-a-lifetime events demand an expert.”
 Josh Horn, CPA and Certified Valuation Analyst

Imagine Value as a Journey instead of a Destination

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imagine

Imagine if everyone woke up tomorrow and decided business value was something to be achieved over time instead of ordered like fast food. What would this mean?

Better relationships with co-owners and employees
We’d recognize that our failure to empathize with others is holding us back. Without empathy, we’ll never get the cooperation we must have. With everyone rowing in the same direction, there’s no limit to what can be achieved. And this would mean…

Better documentation of processes
Once our hearts and minds are opened to the pain of others, we would be sure to document core processes. We wouldn’t do it to put it on the shelf. We’d do it intentionally and adjust it along the way, cross-training others to help. And this would mean…

No “single point of failure”
Nearly every private business in America is one lost person away from oblivion. It’s our nature to procrastinate. “That only happens to those types of businesses” we say. And then it happens to us when we’re least ready. We’d start to become keenly aware this means…

People are the most important asset
We’d stop looking for the latest marketing or tax gimmick and realize no one “shiny object” will save our business let alone drive its value to unimaginable heights. We’ve all seen what one good person can do for our business. We’ve also seen what one bad person can do too. And this would mean…

Culture above everything
Culture is the hardest thing to change in a business. It’s also the most powerful force a business has when it’s working. It’s like a secret weapon. We know what good culture looks like. Southwest Airlines. Disney. What about yours? Does it make you burst with pride or cringe? You can change it starting now. It will take time. The first step is to decide what you want your culture to look like and being unwavering in your resolve to get there. 

Value is a journey not a destination. Are you ready to start the trip? 

Thanks,
Josh

Sign up for this blog here if you want tools to increase the value of your business or want a refreshing view on business valuation from a recovering CPA. I’m Josh Horn, CPA, CVA of Horn Valuation. I value businesses for owner exits with a focus on HVAC and trade contractors. I also assist litigation and divorce attorneys as a business valuation consulting or testifying expert. My clients are business owners and attorneys. If you’d like more information, email me at [email protected], or call me at 217-649-8794.

I’m a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and credentialed in business valuation (CVA). I’ve been a tax and business consultant in a top 100 CPA firm and a controller in a large international company. I’ve also valued and advised small family-owned and multimillion-dollar companies. You can connect with me here on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

“Once-in-a-lifetime events demand an expert.”
 Josh Horn, CPA and Certified Valuation Analyst

Not Knowing This Will Cost You Big Time

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big time

Recently, I’ve run into some situations where someone was trying to value a business by cobbling the assets together as the only method.  This is Part 1 of a series addressing goodwill in a business.  

Picture a business as a plain old plastic bucket.  And into that bucket, we’re going to pour things like industry expertise, a talented workforce, and maybe some patents or trade secrets.  Then, we’re going to take our “business bucket” and go out into the world and start “watering seeds” and watching the business grow.  Can you see the stuff we put in our bucket?  No, you can’t see it.  Is the bucket much more valuable than the empty piece of plastic we started with?  You bet.  And that’s what goodwill is.  It’s that “invisible stuff” that is not recorded on the business’ books and records but drives a good portion of the business’ value.

Why is this important when valuing a business?

  • A business can easily represent over 90% of a family’s net worth.
  • Unless the business is worth more “dead than alive”, if you value it using only the visible assets, you’ve valued the empty bucket.  You’ve massively undervalued the business and forgot about goodwill.  (Identify)

Why is this important in a family law (divorce) setting when a business is an asset?

  • If the business has goodwill, you may be required to determine how much there is to meet the standards of your jurisdiction. (Quantify)
  • You may then need to split the goodwill into enterprise and personal pieces. Why?  Because enterprise goodwill is marital property and personal goodwill is not marital property in states such as Illinois where I live.  (Allocate)

Business valuation skills and judgement are essential to identify, quantify, and allocate goodwill.  Not knowing how to handle goodwill will cost you big time.

If you’d like to see this concept above on video:  https://goo.gl/y2Q6qA
If you’d like to see a video of how to quantify goodwill:  https://goo.gl/aUds5k
If you’d like to see a video of personal goodwill factors:  https://goo.gl/VhRKVz

Or email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you all 3 video links in secure and downloadable format.  Let me know if you want to talk about goodwill in business valuation or family law.

Call me if you would like to discuss valuing a business in divorce or litigation.

Thanks,
Joshua L. Horn, CPA, CVA
Horn Valuation
Phone: 217-649-8794
Email: [email protected]
Website: hornvaluation.com
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Horn Valuation is for attorneys,  judges, and business owners who believe there’s an easier way to settle business disputes and want to work with a valuation expert using fixed fees. I’ve been a CPA since 1999, a certified valuation analyst since 2008, and valued mom and pops to multi-million-dollar businesses. Call me today if you’re interested in working together on a valuation solution.