Dear Colleague,
Welcome to the third issue of our free bimonthly e-zine, BVWire—Australia. We are committed to bringing you the latest news and insight from the Australian business valuation profession.
Continuing our coverage leading up to the much anticipated 2014 Business Valuation and Forensic Accounting Conference, 27-29 October, we bring you an interview with SME valuation expert Andy Gilmour. Bringing a wealth of experience based on 30 years in the profession, Gilmour shares tips and warns of traps for the growing valuation sector for small and medium-size enterprises. Key conference organiser Richard Stewart also sheds light on his hopes for the event and his wider aspirations for the industry.
Did you know you can receive a discount off your Business Valuation Australia subscription by participating in our first and second surveys? If you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for? See more below for details to participate.
Thank you for subscribing to our news service. The next e-zine will be in your Inbox on 15 September. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with feedback. We look forward to hearing from you!
Business valuation conference lowdown from Richard Stewart
Richard Stewart, PricewaterhouseCoopers partner and distinguished affiliate of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, tells BVWire—Australia that this year’s Business Valuation and Forensic Accounting Conference will be significant because it is the first held since the creation of the business valuation specialisation.
“Our profession has focused on local standards for a long time. As the business valuation industry becomes more intimately entwined with international accounting standards, practitioners need to become familiar with them,” says Stewart.
Stewart advises that business practitioners attending the conference make a point to listen to keynote speaker Mel Abraham’s address. The California-based Abraham is “a CPA by education but an entrepreneur by exhilaration.”
“Abraham has developed a reputation for his opinions on how the industry will develop over time and how individual businesses within the industry will develop. The session will focus on practical means to help conference participants look forward,” Stewart says.
To find out what else Stewart has to say - including advice for professionals entering the field of business valuation today - and for more on what Abraham has in store for conference attendees, subscribe to the full issue of the upcoming October Business Valuation Australia to read our feature on these two business valuation experts.
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Inside scoop on Andy Gilmour’s conference talk on SME valuation
BVWire—Australia interviewed RSM Bird Cameron partner Andy Gilmour about his upcoming presentation on SME valuation at the Business Valuation and Forensic Accounting Conference.
The idea for this presentation came in response to requests from Gilmour’s clients at RSM Bird Cameron, since the bulk of many valuation practitioners’ business comes from SME valuations. The problem is that misinformation persists in the industry, with many practitioners finding themselves without the necessary tools and support to adequately perform their jobs.
“The quality of financial information isn’t there; the supporting documentation and sourced data aren’t readily available. There is a lack of publicly available information, and the information on the company or enterprise you have to value can be questionable,” Gilmour says.
Gilmour adds that anyone who has been conducting SME valuations will recognise the practical issues he will raise in his talk. “I hope people will be able to relate the presentation back to issues they face,” he says.
Gilmour will present “Valuing SMEs” on Day 1 of the conference—27 October—from 11.50 am to 1.05 pm. To find out more, click here.
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BV leaders forecast the major areas of focus for 2014
In our last issue of BVWire—Australia, we heard from Business Valuation Australia's advisory board members Brendan Halligan and John-Henry Eversgerd on how the rest of 2014 was shaping up in the business valuation industry. This time, we asked KPMG partner Ian Jedlin and owner of Leadenhall Corporate Advisory Simon Dalgarno for their opinions.
Jedlin predicts that the following five issues will significantly influence the business valuation arena in months to come:
- The question of whether certain parts of the business valuation market are overpriced and whether this will lead to a fall;
- Industries where structural change is rampant and the subsequent impact on business models in these industries;
- The impact of regulatory resets across regulated assets;
- The increased focus of regulators such as the Australian Tax Office (ATO) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC); and
- Pricing pressure and commoditisation in an environment where increased quality is being demanded.
Dalgarno’s concerns are quite different from Jedlin’s. They include:
- Getting the valuation sector recognised as a separate profession;
- Increasing the competency of all valuation practitioners as it is of the utmost importance that valuers be consistent and technically correct in the way they apply minority and marketability discounts; and
- More Australian research to support some of the key variables such as size adjustments.
We want to know what you think are the most important issues facing the business valuation profession. Please email us your comments!
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Find out the answers to your common business valuation problems
Bob Morrison, ASA, of Morrison Valuation and Forensic Services in Orlando, Florida, taught the last International Institute of Business Valuators (IIBV) course in Australia. In a new Q&A column that will launch in the upcoming October issue of Business Valuation Australia, Morrison shares his answers to common difficulties encountered by his business valuation students.
Subscribe to the full issue of the upcoming October Business Valuation Australia to read Morrison’s advice.
For more on the upcoming IIBV courses in Sydney this November and December, click here.
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Don’t forget to air your views in the BVA reader surveys
As we carry on the conversation about issues facing business valuers in Australia and New Zealand, we invite you to take part in our reader surveys. To participate in the first survey on the highly anticipated company tax rate cut, click here. For the second survey, on discount rate adjustments, click here. Participation in these surveys gives you the opportunity for a discount to a Business Valuation Australia subscription. Remember, BVWire—Australia will report on the outcomes of both surveys shortly! Watch this space.
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