Business Valuations: Important Credentials

Credentials to look for when considering a Business Valuation Expert

Hey there, Dan Branch back with another episode of behind the numbers. Today I wanted to go a little bit into depth about the Business Valuations Important Credentials so that you’re a little more familiar with the nomenclature that you may hear when you’re looking for an expert.

One of the certifying bodies is the association of international certified professional accountants, or the AICPA which used to be known as the American institute of certified public accountants. That is the governing body behind CPA’s in the United States but also globally for the CPA brand.

The certification for business valuation that is under offered by the AICPA is called the accredited and business valuation certification also known as the abv credential.

The American society of appraisers offers a certification that’s called the accredited senior appraiser in business valuation credential. I know it’s a bit of a word soup for everybody but this will help you recognize some of the letters that you may see after somebody’s name when you’re talking to or interviewing business valuation experts.

A third certifying body is the national association of certified valuators and analysts also called NACVA and that provides a certification specific to business valuations, which is called the certified valuation analyst certification or CVA so these three credentials are the most typical valuation business valuation specific credentials that you will see when you’re talking with business valuation experts. So now that you have a little better idea of some of the credentials that are in the marketplace for business valuation experts there are some questions that you should certainly ask when you’re talking with experts in that field.

So first is how many times have they testified in business valuation issues also how reliable is the underlying information that they would be considering and what would they do if that information is not very reliable another question is what are some of the potential differences between the opposing valuations that could come up in a litigation matter and how would they address those or how have they addressed those in the past.

One of the last things to think about when talking with a business valuation expert is can that expert help you when you’re directing the direct or cross-examination questions if you’re actually going to court now not every case or every situation involving a business valuation may go to court but you want to know if your business valuation expert can help you prepare and succeed in court if you do in fact have to go there.

It’s good talking to you today again, Dan Branch with IAG Forensics & Valuation with another episode of behind the numbers look forward to you in the future