If you are looking for what it will take to thrive in today’s economy, this is a can't miss program. Mel Abraham has come from a relative unknown to building a national presence and reputation. In this dynamic (as always) presentation, “Influence, Impact, and Income—Your Recipe to Thrive in Today’s Economy,” Mel will reveal his strategies, tactics, and tools for success in this business as well as the psychology/mindset to implement them consistently to assure your success.

Spectacular failures of corporate governance at Enron/WorldCom lead to the enactment of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. However, the unprecedented 2008 Wall Street financial crisis requires a serious re-thinking of governance structures and processes inspired by stakeholder theory and stewardship, and by the triple bottom line consisting of economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Dr. Sridhar Ramamoorti, ACA, CPA, CITP, CIA, CFE, CFSA, CRP, CGAP, CGFM, CICA, FCPA, a core member of the Grant Thornton authoring team for the newly released COSO Guidance on Monitoring Internal Control Systems, will combine insights from business and behavioral science disciplines to cover the themes of governance, ethics, and accountability. He will propose practical solutions to address the eroding trust in capital markets globally and sound a clarion call for thought leaders and practitioners to usher in a new era of enlightened governance.

Industry Standards Update
A panel discussion led by two of the industry's leading people, Hanson and Kucik both have represented NACVA on the North American Business Valuation Standards Council, compares and contrast Industry Standards and its latest developments.

Mark A. Hanson, CPA/ABV, CVA
Mark Hanson is a shareholder of Schenck & Associates SC, located in Appleton, WI.. He has over 30 years of experience, including acting as trustee in bankruptcy in the investment, real estate, insurance, and construction industries. He has also served as an expert witness, conducted valuations on subjects ranging from shareholder disputes and divorce to wrongful discharge and business interruption claims.

Mark G. Kucik, CPA, CVA, CM&AA
Mark Kucik is founder of The Kucik Valuation Group, LLC, of Chicago, IL, specializing in business valuations of family owned and closely held securities for use in estate tax planning, financial statement reporting, estate tax returns, gift tax returns, buy/sell agreements, purchase/sale transactions, ESOPs, economic damages, and matrimonial and shareholder disputes.

Case Law Update
Federal Tax Valuation can be a complex process for professionals as well as their clients. Numerous court cases have given the industry guidance on tax valuation issues and assistance with navigating the numerous minefields. This practical review of court cases and valuation issues deals with various types of clients and situations, providing guidance in resolving valuation issues and maintaining compliance with tax code, regulations, and court decisions. Valuators, CPA’s, Financial Planners, Tax Planners, Attorneys, etc. dealing with wealth preservation strategies either personally or on behalf of others will benefit from attending this session.

Brandi L. Ruffalo, MBA, AVA, CMC
Brandi Ruffalo is president of The Business Development Company, a valuation practice she has successfully built from the ground up, and her work at BDC includes business valuations for estate, divorce, investment, and M&A purposes. Her clients range from small family owned businesses to large privately held entities.

ValuSource: Medical Practice Benchmarking for Valuators: Understanding an Using the MGMA Survey Data and Benchmarking Tools to Determine Fair Compensation and Perform Financial Statement Benchmarks
To accurately value or consult with a medical practice, a medical practice’s unique financial and operational dynamics must to be understood. Medical Group Management Association’s (MGMA) interactive survey CD products provide excellent information both valuators and consultants rely on to benchmark these unique dynamics including physician compensation and production and practice financial performance.

David Fein
David Fein is the CEO and president of ValuSource, which for over 20 years has been the leading provider of business valuation software, data and report writers for CPA, M&A professionals and business owners. For over 10 years, Mr. Fein has partnered with the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) to develop the MGMA interactive survey CD’s which provide data and benchmarking tools on physicians’ compensation and production and practice costs. ValuSource has the data, tools and training for anyone who needs to benchmark or value a medical practice. Mr. Fein’s mission is to create state-of-the-art technology to automate and standardize complex financial analysis and reporting tasks. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and an MBA.

ValuSource: IBA Market Data Understanding and Using the Largest Transaction Database for Privately Held Business Sales
An exceptional opportunity for business appraisers to learn more about the market approach, transaction appraisal analysis, and the direct market data method of valuing small to mid-size businesses—this series of five one-hour presentations on the Direct Market Data Method includes: (1) An introductory presentation is followed by presentations on (2) summary and applications of the DMDM, (3) choosing the applicable performance measure and analyzing the transaction data, and (4) calculating and revising the preliminary indication of value and testing the final value estimate. The fifth presentation presents a simple example of use of the Direct Market Data Method.

J. Richard Claywell, CPA/ABV, CVA, CM&AA, CFFA
J. Richard Claywell, is the chief architect of Business Valuation ProO (BVMPro) and its report writer, Business Valuation Quality Control Editor (BVQ)O. BVMPro is a business valuation software program marketed through the software division of ValuSource. Richard has written for many publications, including Business Today and The Texas Law Reporter, has coauthored two books, Business Valuation Strategies and Capitalization and Discount Rates: The Value of Risk. Richard’s special areas of focus are in determining the value for closely held companies and assisting business owners in successfully exiting from their businesses. Richard has valued companies for determining a sales price for exit/succession planning, adequacy of life insurance, buy/sell agreements, employee stock ownership plans, estate and gift, family limited partnerships, determining goodwill, disruption of business, dissenting shareholder actions, divorce, economic loss and intellectual property.

Howard Lewis, ABAR, AVA
Howard A. Lewis is the Executive Director of the Institute of Business Appraisers, the nation’s pioneer of business valuation. In August of this year, Howard retired from the IRS where he was the National Program Manager of the Engineering and Valuation Program. At the IRS, Howard implemented the first business valuation standards, focused on developing an experienced professional cadre of accredited business appraisers and modernized the Service’s training, accreditation and peer review processes. At the IBA, Howard is working with the Institute’s governors and leaders to improve member services, and enhance IBA’s credentials.

ValuSource: Public Company Data Plus the Guideline Analyzer: Solving the Challenges of a Public Company Comparable Search
Get the public company data you need, faster and more cost effectively than before. When you employ the Guideline Public Company Method, you face two expensive challenges: First, finding a source of public data that is complete and provided in a standard financial statement format, and second, selecting appropriate comparable companies (i.e., subject company). To meet these challenges ValuSource’s web based Public Company Data allows you to enter simple selection criteria to quickly and easily obtain potential public company matches.

Dave Miles
Dave Miles has been the Business Valuation Manager at ValuSource for over seven years. His duties include creating software that utilizes the standards and common theory of business valuation. The software has been available in different incarnations since 1984 and Dave was personally involved with, among others, the release of BVM Pro 1.0, BVM Pro 2.0 and BVM Pro 4.0. He was also integral to the report writers that interact with these programs. Prior to joining ValuSource, Dave was the CFO of an 80 million dollar financial institution.

Discount for Lack of Marketability (Liquidity) Models: A Comparative Analysis
Discounts for lack of liquidity/marketability models are emerging from being bench mark driven to empirically testable and defensible estimators backed by data based computations. In this process, new models are being introduced and a clearer understanding of the underlying assumptions and limiting conditions is emerging. This session is designed to place the DLOM/DLOL debate in its evolving context and introduce newer techniques in usable format.

Ashok Abbott, MBA, PhD
Ashok Abbott is an Associate Professor of Finance at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. Professor Abbott received his MBA in Finance at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VPI&SU) in 1984, followed by a Ph.D. in finance also at VPI&SU, in 1987. He has published extensively in scholarly research journals and made presentations at national and international conferences. He is currently pursuing research in the areas of anticipated valuation discounts related to market illiquidity, and apportioning of active and passive appreciation in marital estates. His training is in quantitative measures, hypothesis testing, and event studies.

New Formulas for Terminal Value That Overcome the WACC Problem
After using WACC as a discount rate, if you split firm’s cash flows to debt and equity and compute respective IRR, you will find that the equity IRR is less than the one used in WACC. This means WACC causes overvaluation. This is a mathematical problem. It arises because debt re-payment has priority; thus invalidating the conventional constant WACC assumption. Is this overvaluation an appraiser liability? For correct valuation one should not use WACC, the Gordon Growth Model and the capitalization method. What is the solution? This session will explain the WACC problem in detail and will provide new formulas for calculating the Terminal Value.

Mike Adhikari, MBA, CM&AA
Mike Adhikari has been an M&A advisor for over 20 years, serving the lower middle market. His firm, Illinois Corporate Investments, Inc., specializes in M&A, recaps, management buyouts and turnarounds in variety of industries. He is the developer of Business ValueXpress (BVX) valuation software, which provides market-realistic valuation by correcting discounting errors, eliminating the use of WACC and the Gordon Growth Model, and by simultaneously satisfying multiple requirements of buyer, seller, and capital markets.

Square Pegs in Round Holes: Adjusting Multiples From Public Guidelines for Private Firms
Participants will learn the connections between the Income Approach and the Market Approach, and how those connections can be used with the Capital Asset Pricing Model to adjust valuation multiples derived from public guidelines. Such adjustments can be made for differences in size, growth, and other items to make the multiples more applicable to the private firm.

Don Drysdale, CPA/ABV
Don Drysdale is the managing member of Drysdale Valuation, PLLC, with offices in Tucson, AZ and Centerville, UT. His professional experience spans more than 20 years, with more than 13 years conducting business valuations.

New Tools at Morningstar and New Research Studies
Peer Group Picker Tool - A web-based valuation tool that identifies "comps" (companies with similar characteristics); creates custom peer groups/industries; and calculates custom cost of equity, multiples, betas, and other financial ratios for these custom peer groups/industries.

Ibbotson ® Custom Peer Group Builder – This is a web-based valuation tool that identifies companies with similar characteristics; creates custom peer groups/industries; and calculates custom cost of equity, multiples, betas, and other financial ratios for these custom peer groups.

Ibbotson ® Supply Side Equity Risk Premium Report: An online PDF report offered as a supplement to the Ibbotson SBBI Valuation Yearbook featuring size premia and industry premia calculated using the "supply side" equity risk premium.

SBBI Valuation Yearbook: We have added alternative measures of size including Roger Ibbotson’s liquidity based methodology study.

Classic Yearbook: We have added a section on REITS, commodities and alternative investment data. Roger Ibbotson’s liquidity based methodology study is also included.

Distressed Companies: Using Morningstar's distance to default calculation we have identified distressed companies and will use that to remove them from portfolios. Then we will have a custom set of return indexes based on market cap deciles.

James P. Harrington, MBA
James Harrington is the director of Business Valuation Research in Morningstar's Individual Investor Unit. He heads up the team that produces the widely used and cited Ibbotson SBBI Classic and Valuation Yearbooks, Ibbotson Cost of Capital Yearbook, the Ibbotson Beta Book, and various international and domestic cost of capital reports.

Determining the Cost of Capital—Practical Application and Reconciliation of Ibbotson and Duff & Phelps Data
You have heard the competing theories and views on Ibbotson and D&P data. Are you still confused on which one to use? Come hear Hitchner present his practical and easily understandable suggestion on how to apply both sets of data and reconcile the results. He will discuss use of the data for both the Build Up Model and the Modified CAPM.

James R. Hitchner, CPA/ABV, ASA
Jim is Managing Director of Financial Valuation Advisors, President of The Financial Consulting Group and CEO of Valuation Products & Services, which presents monthly webinars and publishes the Financial Valuation and Litigation Expert journal and the VPS Q&A www.valuationproducts.com . He is editor/coauthor of the books Financial Valuation: Applications and Models, 2nd edition, Financial Valuation Workbook, 2nd edition, Valuation for Financial Reporting, Fair Value Measurements and Reporting: Intangible Assets, Goodwill, and Impairment, 2nd edition and the PPC Guide To Business Valuations, 19th edition.

Who Says That Appraisers Agree on Everything?: Burning Issues Within the Appraisal Industry
The vast majority of estate planners believe that there exists a set of generally accepted appraisal principles and to which all appraisers adhere. Unbeknownst to those estate planners, the appraisal industry literature is replete with disagreements on how to handle certain valuation issues. This presentation will highlight a list of valuation issues of disagreement between appraisers that affect tax valuations.

Paul Hood, JD, LLM
Paul Hood received a JD from Louisiana State University Law Center in 1986 and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center in 1988. He is a Fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and his articles have appeared in a number of national publications.

Positive and Negative Indicators: Quantifying Your Ratio Analysis and its Effect on Compliance Valuations
The ratio analysis section of your compliance valuation report provides key indicators that can (and should) affect the outcome of your selected valuation methodology. The impact of this analysis needs to be documented and relayed to the user of the report, similar to the tie in of your economic and industry analysis to the Subject Interest. The effect that the positive and negative indicators, noted in your ratio calculations and comparison to industry/peer averages for financial performance, will have is different for each approach – Income, Asset, and Market. This effect, by the very nature of the approach, is different, because the approaches may or may not account for variances from a benchmark or the market to the Subject Interest.

The following seven major measurements in your ratio and comparative analysis should be carefully to determine other adjustments you will make in the valuation process:

Asset Utilization
Operating Performance
Cash Flow
Liquidity
Capital Structure and Solvency
Return on Investment
Market Performance

This presentation will address how the analyst can quantitatively tie their ratio analysis and peer comparison section of the compliance valuation report directly to their final opinion of value under each approach.

Lari B. Masten, CPA, CVA, ABV
Lari Masten has provided business valuation, purchase price allocation, goodwill impairment testing, and economic damage calculations for companies operating in a variety of industries, including real estate development and management, manufacturing and distribution processes, exploration and production of natural resources, agriculture and related service sectors, wholesale and retail sales, life sciences, and personal/professional services. She has been qualified as an expert witness, and her valuations and expert witness testimony have been for purposes of lost profits, damages, marital dissolution, buy-sell agreements, purchase/sale transactions, goodwill impairment, estate and gift tax planning, and related matters.

The Butler Pinkerton Model^TM: Beyond the Basics
In nearly 3 years since the introduction of the Butler Pinkerton Model^TM, the technique has been vetted to more than 1,500 appraisers. An unanticipated benefit has been to help focus substantial attention on the relationship between cost of capital models and the drivers of company specific risk. This course examines which risk factors should be analyzed under various circumstances to help appraisers avoid either ignoring or double-counting risks—fatal flaws in contested appraisals.

Keith Pinkerton, CFA, ASA
Keith Pinkerton is director of Valuation Services at Hooper Cornell. He has more than 14 years of financial management, business valuation, and litigation support experience. A substantial component of his experience has been related to healthcare enterprises, working on projects related to hospital-physician joint ventures, professional practice mergers and acquisitions, Stark compliance, and healthcare litigation.

5 Mistakes Your Auditor Made– How Valuation Professionals Can Overcome Inaccurate Warrant and Option Proceed Allocations as Determine by Auditors or other Parties Reviewing Their Work
Calculating whether derivatives are in or out of the money, across a range of enterprise value estimates, is a highly complex undertaking when more than one series of equity is outstanding, such as Common and Series A. The expiration rights to purchase, such as warrants, the manner in which those rights can be executed, such as cashless versus cash exercise, and literally thousands of other interrelated variables impact how an enterprise value is properly allocated with respect to proceeds from a hypothetical sale. This presentation describes common pitfalls auditors fall into when trying to manually calculate these outcomes, thereby falsely asserting that a valuators breakpoints or options values are incorrect.

Lorenzo Carver, MS, MBA, CPA
Lorenzo Carver is the inventor of bpCentral's Carver Import Algorithm, which enables importing financial reports in seconds, without data tagging or manual data entry, and converting them into interactive models anyone can use immediately. He has developed over 200 strategic plans for information technology and life sciences companies and participated in over $1 billion in financing rounds as an advisor and planner.

Cost of Capital for Distressed Companies
In the current economic environment the valuator’s task of measuring risk and matching with appropriate rates of return have become increasing difficult. We will discuss problems with commonly used risk measurement tools (such as commonly used sources for estimated betas). Given the rapidly changing economic environment, this presentation will provide both a recent historic perspective and up to date statistics. The discussion will be based on a mini-case study.

Roger J. Grabowski, ASA
Roger J. Grabowski is a managing director of Duff & Phelps, LLC. He was formerly a managing director of Standard & Poor's Corporate Value Consulting practice, and he has directed valuations of businesses, interests in businesses, intellectual property, intangible assets, real property, and machinery and equipment.

International Financial Reporting Standards – Here They Come!
The FASB and IASB have agreed to a plan to reduce the differences between U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Our presentation will provide a brief overview of IFRS principles, its current reach throughout the world and the reasons for a move toward these standards. We will also address key elements of the convergence process, from the Norwalk Agreement to the recent SEC roadmap and other items of interest. Currently, there are a number of U.S. GAAP and IFRS standards that require fair value measurement. Our discussion will address these standards, how they differ, and how they are used by companies today.

William Menchero, CFE, CPA
William Menchero is the IFRS reporting manager for Equity One, Inc., responsible for the preparation of financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). His responsibilities also include researching the impact of new accounting standards and drafting technical accounting memos in response to inquiries from US and International audit engagement teams.

Deborah A. Jackson, CRE, FRICS
Deborah A. Jackson, CRE, FRICS, currently serves as Executive Managing Director of Weiser Realty Advisors LLC. An often requested speaker on the topic, Ms. Jackson has assumed a position as industry leader in fair value analyses by assisting clients with compliance for international reporting standards and managing the entire fair value appraisal process.

Remi Forgeas, CPA
Remi Forgeas, CPA, possesses more than fifteen years of experience providing audit and transaction services in the U.S. and in Europe to large international firms, both public and private. Mr. Forgeas focuses his expertise on cross border issues, including differences between US GAAP and IFRS. His industry experience in servicing multi-national companies includes manufacturing, advertising, oil and gas, and construction. He is the editor-in-chief of the Mazars’ newsletter on IFRS for the USA and writes articles for various accounting publications.

David B. Elsbree, Jr, CPA
David joined the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) as a Practice Fellow in August 2007. He currently serves as the project manager on the Disclosure of Certain Loss Contingencies project and the Accounting for Emissions Trading Schemes project. Before joining the FASB, David was a senior manager at KPMG LLP. During his audit career, David primarily served global manufacturers of industrial and consumer products.

Marketability Discounts: We Can Now Reconcile Differing Approaches/Methods
Appraisers are missing the point in the DLOM debate. Instead of arguing over the various methods for estimating DLOMs, we should be attempting to reconcile the various approaches and methods in order to help our clients and judges (some form of reconciliation was requested by Judge David Laro in the 2008 DLOM Summit in San Diego). Reconciliation is possible and lies in something few talk about – in the reasonableness of expected returns to be achieved by the hypothetical or real investor. Chris Mercer will present an intuitive, straightforward and, yes, simple method to reconcile different marketability discounts for the same investment – regardless of the approach (market vs. income) used. This presentation is important because it provides real-life examples of the method in use relating one marketability discount to another and a common vocabulary to explain the method to clients and judges an understandable way.

Christopher Mercer, CFA, ASA
Christopher Mercer is the founder and CEO of Mercer Capital, one of the leading business appraisal and investment banking firms in the nation. He has written eight books and more than 100 articles, and his two latest books, Business Valuation: An Integrated Theory, 2nd Edition (with Travis W. Harms, CFA, CPA/ABV) and Buy-Sell Agreements: Ticking Time Bombs or Reasonable Resolutions? highlight the breadth of his knowledge and experience.

The Private Cost of Capital Model
Professional business appraisal relies on public return data to derive discount rates for use in private business valuation. The presenter believes this methodology is flawed because return expectations of public investors are quite different than returns expectations from private investors. Thus, the return expectations from the two markets are not substitutable. This presentation describes a new, empirically-driven model for determining private discount rates.

Robert Slee, CBA
Robert Slee is managing director of Robertson & Foley, a middle market investment banking firm. He has authored more than 150 articles on private finance topics in a variety of legal and business journals and his book, Private Capital Markets, was published in mid-2004 by John Wiley & Sons and is now considered the seminal work in finance for private companies.

The Legal Mandate for Fair Market Value: How the Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Act, and Intermediate Sanctions Impact Provider Financial Arrangements
The presentation will focus on the legal requirements for fair market value documentation or financial arrangements under the Anti-Kickback Statute, the Stark Law, and Intermediate Sanctions. The presentation will generally describe recent cases and why fair market value documentation was an important aspect of each case. The presenter will also provide practical documentation strategies that physicians and providers can use to document their financial arrangements as being fair market value and commercially reasonable. Examples with real estate equipment leasing, employment arrangements, medical directorships and on-call arrangements will be described.

Robert Wade
Robert Wade concentrates his practice in representing healthcare clients, including large health systems, hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, physician groups, physicians, and other medical providers. His specialization includes representing clients with respect to the Stark Act, Anti-Kickback Statute, False Claims Act, and Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act.

Fraud in the Financials: How and Why Auditors Fail to Find Fraud
Financial fraud by corporate executives is nothing new. Yet even though it has been occurring with frequency, auditors are no better at detecting fraud than they were decades ago. Discover the inherent flaws in the auditing process that allows fraud to go undetected. Learn why audits don’t find more fraud, and what could be done to increase the chances of uncovering white collar crime.

Tracy Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE
Tracy Coenen is a forensic accountant and fraud investigator with Sequence Inc. in Milwaukee and Chicago. Her anti-fraud work includes investigation of embezzlement, financial statement fraud, and insurance fraud, and she is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

The “Big 3” Forensic Accounting Methodologies
A forensic accounting methodology is essential to insure that your work meets at least minimum standards in civil and/or criminal matters. Three of the most prominent and versatile methodologies are profiled to provide basic, intermediate and advanced guidelines for practitioners. The methodologies include ICE©/SCORE© (used in financial crimes investigation & prosecution), the IRS’ “FSAT”(applied outside taxation) and FA/IM(c) (Forensic Accounting/Investigation Methodology©) used in complex civil, criminal and combat matters.

Darrell D. Dorrell, MBA, CVA, ASA, CMA, DABFA, CPA/ABV
Darrell Dorrell is a founding partner of financialforensics®, a boutique forensic accounting practice in Lake Oswego, OR. He practices in civil and criminal matters throughout the US and has served as an expert witness/consultant in over 500 matters; additional assignments exceed 1,000. They include alter ego, anti-trust, bankruptcy, breach of contract, estate/gift taxes, family law, fraud, fraudulent conveyance/transfer intellectual property, lost profits, patent, solvency/insolvency, trademark, trade dress, and trade secrets.

Complex Financial Issues in Divorce
This session is for intermediate/advanced practitioners. Financial issues relating to distressed companies, income available for support relating to “s” corporation income including actual cash flow vs. “earned” income. Discussion of many different methodologies and approaches to income available for support calculations. Advanced apportionment issues for separate and marital/community property. Discussion of the double dip problem in dissolutions.

Karen Kaseno, CPA/ABV, CVA, CFE, CFFA
Karen Kaseno’s practice specializes in family law, business valuations, economic damage cases, and fraud investigations. Her family law practice involves engagements relating to business valuations, analysis of income available for support, apportionment of separate and community property, complex calculations in high net worth cases, and tracings of separate and community property. She has been named as an expert witness on hundreds of commercial litigation matters involving loss of earnings on a variety of legal matters.

Office Embezzlement: Key Operational Indicators
Office Embezzlement: Key Operational Indicators focuses on the practitioner’s role related to fraud in small businesses. The focus of this presentation is to assist practitioners working with small businesses in identifying, deterring, and investigating fraud. The presentation discusses current problems of fraud and white collar crime, forms of occupational fraud, professional responsibilities related to fraud, governance and controls, risk assessment, and fraud assessment and monitoring practices practitioners can help implement at their clients, or attendees can implement at their own business.

R. Austin Marks, CPA, CFF, CFE, CFFA
Austin Marks, CPA, CFF, CFE, CFFA, is a senior associate with Cendrowski Corporate Advisors. He has performed forensic examinations and fraud investigations at many organizations, including those with multi-million dollar misstatements, and has worked extensively providing litigation support for partnership, divorce, and bankruptcy proceedings as well as performing valuation services.

Identity theft – Risk Assessment in a Business Environment
These past few years are going to be remembered for a long time as the time when it became stunningly obvious that customer data is anything but secure. This raises the question: just how much of an effect on customer trust have these security breaches had? How do we as consultants become proactive and assist our clients?

Patricia A. Perzel, CPA, CVA, CFFA, CFD
Patricia Perzel is the founder of Perzel & Lara Forensic CPA’s, P.A, and co-chairs the firm’s litigation support department. She has provided a broad spectrum of professional services, including forensic accounting, auditing, tax, pension, and estate planning. She has rendered business valuation services in the areas of divorce, mergers and acquisitions, buy-sell agreements, partner and stockholder agreements, damage losses, and succession and estate planning.

The Forensic Accountant’s Role in Criminal Cases
Participants will appreciate the power of the federal government and have an understanding of the pitfalls involved in these type of cases, the value of the forensic accountant to the client and defense counsel and what to expect after engagement. Actual case examples ranging from income tax evasion, mortgage fraud and money laundering will be presented for review and discussion.

James A. Schaffner, CPA/ABV, CFF, CVA
James Schaffner is a founding partner of Schaffner, Knight, Minnaugh & Company, P.C. With over 39 years of experience, his practice is almost exclusively focused on litigation and business valuation. He has been involved in civil cases related to lost profits, breach of contract, shareholder disputes, income tax, and domestic disputes, and he has worked on criminal cases that have included income tax evasion, mortgage fraud, and embezzlement.

Interviewing Skills for the Forensic Accountant
Interviewing is a forensic tool available to forensic accountants and fraud examiners. When conducted effectively, the interviewer can successfully uncover indicators of deceptive behavior. This course is designed to improve the effectiveness of evaluating and interpreting both verbal and non-verbal behavior to uncover signs of deception. Developing strong interviewing skills leads to acquiring more information, obtaining more admissions of guilt, higher success rate, and improved confidence.

Paul E. Zikmund, CFD, CFE, CFFA
Paul Zikmund serves as principal, Amper, Politziner and Mattia. He is responsible for providing fraud investigation, detection, and prevention services to both public and privately held businesses. He has over 20 years of experience in the field and has lead global fraud and forensic teams at various Fortune 500 companies investigating complex financial frauds.

The Critical Interplay Between CVAs, Clients and Other Professionals in the Collaborative Divorce Process
Two nationally recognized collaborative practitioners will explain, compare and contrast different models of collaborative practice. They will demonstrate the importance of a CVA in the divorce process. The presentation will illustrate the deeper intrinsic value of having a CVA which goes beyond the financial expertise they bring to the table. The presenters will cover the various ways that CVAs can be involved in the collaborative process and highlight how their expertise impacts both the clients and the professionals and leads to a better result for all involved.

Lauren G. Alexander, Attorney
Lauren G. Alexander has practiced law since 1979, and has practiced collaborative divorce exclusively since 2002. Since 2001, she has served as a judicial officer in the Superior Court of Georgia, Fulton County Family Division.

Linda L. Piff, Attorney
Linda Piff is an attorney and founding partner of Linda L. Piff, Esq., P.C. Her firm’s practice is devoted to collaborative divorce, economic mediation, and private mediation. She has been instrumental in bringing collaborative law to New Jersey.

Tricks and Traps in the Valuation of Medical Practices
The two most common reasons for litigation involving physicians are the violation of noncompete agreements and loss of “goodwill” when leaving a practice. Goodwill can be personal/professional or enterprise. The presence and state-level enforceability of noncompete agreements is a key factor as it may determine who owns goodwill and the extent of any value. Virtually all private practice physicians are compensated based on production and this also drives “who owns what” in terms of goodwill. Local market factors have a major impact on the underlying assumptions used in a valuation or damages model. Among others factors, the analyst needs to assess the impact of the general shortage of physicians while recognizing there are dramatic localized differences in supply. Finally, the practice’s mix of insurers or payors, including Medicare and Medicaid, is another key factor that drives value.

Mark O. Dietrich, CPA/ABV
Mark Dietrich has performed nearly 200 valuation engagements in the healthcare industry, and his expertise includes reasonable compensation, healthcare markets, medical practices, imaging and surgery centers, whistleblower defense, regulatory planning, personal goodwill, and non-compete agreements.

Calculating and Proving Damages for Patent Claims- Understanding Panduit, Georgia Pacific, Grain Processing and Other Key Cases
The presentation will provide an in-depth analysis of Panduit, Georgia Pacific, Grain Processing and other landmark court cases in conjunction with a case study in which the principles of the cases will be applied to calculating damage claims for patent infringement. The course will utilize a case study to examine the various principles from these cases and provide a practical framework from which to learn.

Bruce G. Dubinsky, MST, CPA, CFE, CVA
Bruce Dubinsky is a managing director of the Washington, DC Metro office of Duff & Phelps, and is part of the Dispute and Legal Management Consulting Practice. His practice places special emphasis on providing dispute consulting services to clients such as law firms litigating commercial cases for their clients, corporations, governmental agencies, law enforcement bodies, and individuals in a variety of situations.

Lost Profits Damages—Keeping the Expert in the Case
Lost profits damages calculations are increasingly coming under fire in Federal and State Courts. Financial experts are being excluded more than any other type of expert witness, with relevance and reliability being called into question. In addition, the electronic discovery rules have upped the ante, leading to extensive discovery and protracted and costly battles. Lack of understanding regarding legal claims, relevant data and information, and methodology that the court considers reliable under the circumstances can render a costly expert report useless, potentially eliminating your client’s case. Among other issues, this session will cover: Causation and the need to tie it to address it, Foresee ability, Reasonable Certainty—what it means and what it doesn’t mean, Evidence for lost profits damages—what’s getting in, what’s not, Methods for proving damages, including period of recovery and discounting damages, Lost profits v. lost business, including when to claim one versus the other (and does it matter who the claimant is?), and Collateral damages.

Jonathan M. Dunitz
Jonathan Dunitz is senior counsel with the Portland law firm of Friedman Gaythwaite Wolf & Leavitt and has 15 years of litigation experience. He practices in the areas of commercial and business litigation, insurance coverage, complex family law and appellate advocacy.

Nancy J. Fannon, ASA, CPA, ABV, MCBA
Nancy J. Fannon is the owner of Fannon Valuation Group, a business valuation and litigation support services firm located in Portland, Maine. She is a nationally known expert on lost profits damages, pass-through entity valuation, and the transaction databases, and has presented dozens of speeches and authored numerous papers on these and other areas of business valuation.

An Expert’s Guide to Avoiding Disasters in Litigation
Financial experts often expect that their technical abilities and report writing capabilities will enable them to be effective witnesses in the courtroom. On the witness stand, however, many are surprised at the nature and severity of the challenges. In this session we will explore ten of the most critical challenges facing financial experts – during pretrial preparation and in court - and how to respond to the challenges appropriately.

Stephen J. Erigero, JD
Stephen Erigero advises architects, engineers, and contractors on business and litigation matters. He specializes in commercial litigation, including defense of professional liability claims, insurance bad faith and coverage litigation, complex construction litigation involving design professionals, and environmental and toxic torts.

Michael G. Kaplan, CPA, CVA, CFFA
Michael Kaplan has more than 32 years of experience in the areas of forensic accounting, business valuation and litigation consulting. He has rendered services in numerous litigation matters, including business litigation, professional malpractice matters, fraud and embezzlement, intellectual property, marital dissolution, loss of earnings, employment matters, and partner and shareholder disputes. He has qualified to testify in federal and state courts as an expert witness in approximately 250 matters and has also served as a court appointed expert and accounting referee.

Mock Deposition for a Business Valuation Engagement
Experienced experts Robert Vance and Brent McDade are mock deponents defending a fictional business valuation report in a divorce case. Each will answer questions either the “right” or “wrong” way throughout six vignettes, illustrating pitfalls less prepared experts can create. Family law attorney Miles Mason, Sr. deposes. At times, the mock deposition reaches high-conflict, but with humor laced throughout.
• Basic deposition procedures
• Questions every expert must be prepared to answer
• Techniques to handle mischaracterizations and absolutes
• Staying cool under fire
• Comments from Mason on what lawyers are really thinking and trying to accomplish

Miles Mason, Sr, JD, CPA (Retired)
Miles Mason is an attorney with CRONE & MASON, PLC of Memphis, TN. He is a prolific author and speaker on divorce topics related to complex financial issues in divorce such as forensic accounting and business valuation for attorneys, CPAs, and business valuation experts.

Brent McDade, ASA, CBA, BVAL
Brent McDade, ASA, CBA, BVAL is managing director of Decosimo Advisory Services, providing business valuation, litigation support, and transaction advisory services. His experience includes the appraisal of equity securities, debt instruments, and derivatives. He has provided valuation services related to mergers and acquisitions, buy-sell agreements, fairness opinions, Employee Stock Ownership Plans, estate and gift tax matters, shareholder disputes, and marital dissolutions.

Robert Vance, CPA, CVA, CFP, CFF
Robert Vance is a partner with Lattimore Black Morgan & Cain of Nashville, TN, where he practices exclusively in business valuation, the financial aspects of divorce, economic damages, and forensic accounting. He is a frequent speaker and author on these topics and has testified as an expert witness over 43 times in federal and state courts.

How to Determine Reasonable Certainty and Confidence Levels for the Damage Expert
This will teach the damage expert how to accomplish reasonable certainty and statistical confidence levels with the use of Excel damage model worksheets and how to improve the certainty of the use of the discounted cash flow method.

C.P “Salty” Schumann, CPA, CVA, CFFA
C. P. “Salty” Schumann is the managing director and founder of his firm, which offers both traditional accounting services and the non-traditional services of business valuation, litigation, and fraud in San Antonio, Texas. He 20 years of experience with commercial business damages and has performed previous valuation and litigation engagements to include insurance defense.

Standards of Value: Taking a Closer Look at Fair Market Value & When Should Fair Value Replace Fair Market Value?
Often appraisers use fair market value as a default. This forum will explore recent court decisions and the effect on the appropriate standard of value. The forum will look at the history and application under a fair market value standard and examine the circumstance when fair value may be more appropriate for engagements. The forum will evaluate how certain facts and circumstances dictate the standard of value.

Marc Bello, CPA/ABV, CVA, MST
Marc Bello is a partner at Edelstein & Company LLP, where he specializes in performing business valuations in the context of marital dissolution, gift and estate taxation, dissenting shareholder actions, and stock options and he also works extensively providing litigation support services.

Ethics and Standards Workshop
This interactive session will examine the IBA’s Standards, focusing on non-traditional engagements and situations (i.e., matters NOT covered by Standard Five – Formal Written Appraisal Reports). We will consider generally applicable professional and ethical guidelines, then look at specific examples of how these apply in various settings, including oral reports, letter form reports, and expert testimony. We will also tackle the issue of advocacy v. non-advocacy, and briefly consider the nebulous realm of “non-appraisal assignments”.

Daniel Browning, JD, BVAL
Daniel Browning is a founding partner of Morrell & Browning, LLC, a business valuation and consulting firm in Atlanta, GA. He has over 15 years of experience in the field of business appraisal.

Leo J. DeLisi, Jr., ASA, MCBA
Leo Delisi is president of DeLisi & Ghee, Inc., a full-service business valuation firm with offices in Rhode Island and Florida. He has been accepted as an expert witness and has testified in such venues as Family Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Superior Court, IRS Administrative Appeals, and at municipal Boards of Assessment Review. His litigation experience includes divorce, bankruptcy, estate and gift tax, business damages, and shareholder disputes.

Daubert Challenge: What Every Appraiser Needs to Know
The U.S. Supreme Court, in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, provided guidance to federal trial court judges as to the admissibility of expert testimony. Recent studies have shown that financial experts have experienced increasing challenges because diligent, skilled attorneys (or at least those who have adequate time and funding) will take the time and care needed to exclude an expert’s report. Mike will lead a discussion of the Daubert decision and its impact on financial experts, recent cases involving Daubert challenges for financial experts, recent trends in the number of Daubert filings, and best practices for avoiding or contesting a Daubert challenge. Motions in limine as part of a Daubert challenge will be discussed, as well as other challenges which can come up during cross examination or deposition. Gain insight into court cases and the experience of a seasoned expert.

D. Michael Costello, CPA/ABV, CFF, CFE
Michael Costello is a principal with Decosimo Advisory Services, responsible for business valuation, litigation support, and transaction advisory services. He has over 27 years of experience business valuations, business acquisitions and divestitures, and related fields, and his appraisals have been used in various courts.

Trends in Valuation: An Experts Panel Discussion
This innovative session will start with presentations by four leading experts ranging on topics such as: compensation normalization issues, including how to use compensation surveys and a discussion of the latest reasonable compensation court decisions ; emerging valuation adjustments trends, including latest tools available to the BV practitioner; how to set up a simple but effective internal review process for your appraisal practice; governmental regulations affecting your BV practice, and much more. Experts will highlight the heart of each issue.

Randall Curtiss, MBA, MCBA, ASA, ASA, FIBA
Randall Curtiss is a sole practitioner in Cleveland whose practice focuses on estate and gift taxation, transactional, and compliance valuation work. He publishes a nationally recognized newsletter on business appraisal practice.

Jeffrey D. Jones, ASA, CBA, CBI
Jeffrey Jones is president of Certified Appraisers, Inc. where he manages the firm's multidiscipline appraisal practice that includes valuation of businesses, machinery and equipment, and real estate. He is also president of Advanced Business Brokers, Inc.; he and his staff have been involved in the sale of over 1,000 small and midsize businesses since 1976.

Frank Rosillo, CPA/ABV, CBA, CVA, CFE, BVAL, ABAR
Frank Rosillo is the managing director of The Valuations and Forensics Advisory, LLC, located in Miami, FL. His expert witness experiences include cases in federal and state courts, and he is a frequent lecturer and trainer in valuation and forensics topics.

Robert C. Schlegel, MCBA, ASA, CDP, CISA, CSP, CCP
Robert Schlegel is a principal with Houlihan Valuation Advisors, a national firm of valuation and capital consultants. His professional background includes extensive work in business appraisal, marital and partnership dissolutions, estate planning, market studies, statistical analysis, and forensic accounting; he has testified as an expert in federal and Indiana courts and has directed numerous studies of business value, economic damages and lost profits, and intellectual property matters for clients in a wide variety of industries.

Tax Valuations in a Changing Environment – Featuring US Tax Court Judge David Laro
The global financial environment is undergoing unprecedented upheaval, having vast ramifications for business appraisers across the profession. One major impact will be in the tax arena. United States Tax Court Judge David Laro will lead a discussion of the current Tax Court environment affecting business appraisers and will contemplate future impacts that all business appraisers must consider now. In addition, today’s changes present significant issues regarding ethics and standards and these will be discussed as well.

Michael Eggers, CBA, ASA
Michael Eggers is a principal of American Business Appraisers, LLP. He specializes in business valuations, having participated in over 500 engagements, and litigation support services. He has been appointed as a Special Master in three Bay Area County Superior Courts and by special appointment has provided consultation services to the court judiciary.

The Honorable David Laro, Judge, United States Tax Court
Judge David Laro was appointed by President Bush to the U.S. Tax Court in November, 1992. He formerly practiced tax law in Flint and Ann Arbor Michigan for 24 years. He is a frequent speaker for legal and accounting organizations and has had numerous articles published. Among the noteworthy cases which Judge Laro has decided are Simon (depreciation of antique musical instrument), Mandelbaum (lack of marketability discount), Wal-Mart (inventory shrinkage), ACM Partnership (corporate tax shelters), Bank One (derivatives.)

Howard A. Lewis, ABAR, AVA
Howard Lewis is the executive director of the Institute of Business Appraisers. Prior to his retirement, he was the national program manager of the Engineering and Valuation Program of the IRS, where he implemented the first business valuation standards, focused on developing an experienced professional cadre of accredited business appraisers, and modernized the Service’s training, accreditation, and peer review processes.

Real Estate Issues and the Business Appraiser
Real Estate and the Business Appraiser: Most businesses have real estate issues that need to be addressed in the valuation process. Whether it is a leasehold interest or a fee simple interest in real estate, the business appraiser needs to understand and consider the impact of real estate on business value. A leading expert in both real estate appraisal and business valuation will address how to consider real estate issues that affect the value of a business. This presentation will discuss in depth many of these issues along with proposed solutions. Issues include lease assignments, related party leases, company owned real estate, and real estate held in family limited partnership entities.

Paul R. Hyde, EA, MCBA, BVAL, ASA, MAI
Paul Hyde is the president of Hyde Valuations, Inc., a business and real estate appraisal firm with offices in Parma and Boise, Idaho. He is an MAI/Certified General Appraiser in real estate valuation who appraises all sizes of businesses and all types of real estate.

The Sale of a Business: Strategies and Techniques Used by Business Intermediaries
Business Appraisers are sometimes guilty of developing opinions of value in a vacuum, utilizing textbook valuation methodologies without fully understanding the dynamics that drive the sale of closely-held companies. This street smart seminar has been developed to help business appraisers better understand the reality of the market place and the dynamics that drive the sale of small to midsize businesses. Many transactions are not done at fair market value, but rather strategic or synergistic value. Only a small percentage of the businesses for sale actually sell, because they are improperly packaged to go to market, over priced, and/or not adequately marketed.

Jeffrey D. Jones, ASA, CBA, CBI
Jeffrey Jones is president of Certified Appraisers, Inc. where he manages the firm's multidiscipline appraisal practice that includes valuation of businesses, machinery and equipment, and real estate. He is also president of Advanced Business Brokers, Inc.; he and his staff have been involved in the sale of over 1,000 small and midsize businesses since 1976.

Impact of Guaranteed Debt
Privately held businesses commonly have debt that is guaranteed personally by some or all of their shareholders, and these loan guarantees can be a significant factor in shareholder disputes and in our financial analyses. Given a recent court decision in which the size of the body of knowledge regarding loan guarantees in business valuation was questioned, Brent McDade will lead a discussion of best practices in dealing with guaranteed debt in small businesses.

Brent McDade, CBA, BVAL, ASA
Brent McDade, ASA, CBA, BVAL is managing director of Decosimo Advisory Services, providing business valuation, litigation support, and transaction advisory services. His experience includes the appraisal of equity securities, debt instruments, and derivatives. He has provided valuation services related to mergers and acquisitions, buy-sell agreements, fairness opinions, Employee Stock Ownership Plans, estate and gift tax matters, shareholder disputes, and marital dissolutions.

Intellectual Property Economic Damages Analysis
Intellectual Property Economic Damages Analysis - An in depth presentation by a leading valuation expert on how to identify an IP damages event, select appropriate damages methods, collect necessary IP-specific data, perform economic damages analyses, and reach an IP lost profits/economic damages conclusion.

Robert Reilly, MBA, CPA, CBA
Robert Reilly is a managing director of Willamette Management Associates, a valuation consulting, economic analysis, and financial advisory services firm. His practice includes the valuation of businesses, securities, and intangible assets for transaction, taxation, accounting, management information, and litigation purposes.

Forensic Business Appraisals: Overcoming Hurdles in Seeking Critical Documents and Information and Reconstructing Business Income in Financial Litigation
This session will provide attendees with the strategies and methods for the forensic valuation expert to access essential information and supporting documentation in shareholder litigation, damages quantification, matrimonial and other conflicts. This presentation will further discuss cases where the opposing side throws up hurdles and attempts to employ various evasional tactics to prevent the forensic business valuator from obtaining data necessary for the expert to formulate his or her professional opinion.

Richard M. Wise, MCBA, CVA, FASA, FCBV, FCA, CA•IFA, CFE
Richard Wise is partner of Wise, Blackman LLP, Montreal, serving clients across Canada and the United States. He is accredited in Investigative and Forensic Accounting by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, has testified before the courts as an expert witness in over 170 cases across Canada and in the U.S., and has been appointed by the courts as their valuation expert.

Quantifying Company Specific Risk Using the Finison/Dailey Model™
The Finison/Dailey Model™ appeals to the valuator looking for a systematic way of providing consistency to the subjective part of the build-up method. It creates a direct correlation between all of the elements and analyses required in the valuation process and the final determination of value. The Finison/Dailey Model™ employs all parts of the valuation process to draw analytical conclusions. Specifically, the model uses the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) approach to bring relevance to the industry, economic, and company operations analyses of the valuation process.

Michael Dailey, CPA, CVA
Michael Dailey is the vice president/relationship manager at National City Bank in Cincinnati, OH. He has a broad range of experience that incorporates financial and estate planning, business valuation, M&A, transition and succession planning. He specializes in private equity risk and return analyses and valuation and transition issues for privately held middle market companies.

E. Bryan Finison, MBA, AVA
Bryan Finison is a Founding Principal at Covenant Consulting Group LLC where he manages the Consulting Division of the firm and private equity acquisitions through a related company, JDL Equity Partners LLC. He has a broad base of experience in business strategy, management information systems, and business valuations.

A Compensation Based Method of Valuing Small Closely Held Businesses
This presentation describes a valuation technique applicable to small businesses that require the full time participation of an owner manager. The model is based upon the concepts of differential compensation and shared risk. The intangible value of the business is determined by taking the present value of the difference between current owner manger compensation and the compensation required by a competent buyer over a five-year period.

Michael Sack Elmaleh, CPA, CVA
Michael Elmaleh is a CPA and CVA from Maryland who was a principal in accounting practices in Madison, WI for 17 years. He has taught courses in mathematics, statistics, economics, accounting, and finance at the college level; he is also the author of an accounting text and maintains an educational website.

Goodwill Impairment Testing Under SFAS No 142: An Examination of Management Reporting Decisions
My presentation will focus on the current accounting requirements for goodwill impairment testing and reporting, the economic and industry patterns of goodwill impairment, the key trends in management reporting choices concerning goodwill impairment, and the implications for financial executives and accountants involved goodwill impairment decisions. In particular, I will present research results on how firms implement the fair value accounting required for goodwill reporting, and I will provide economic analysis for management choices in the implementation of fair value accounting. My presentation will also highlight the roles of auditors and valuation specialists in assisting firms in the implementation of fair value accounting. Given the increasing use of fair value accounting, the information included in my research presentation should be useful to valuation specialists, accountants, and financial executives.

Feng Gu, PhD
Feng Gu is an assistant professor of Accounting and Law at the State University of New York at Buffalo. His research interests include the valuation and reporting issues of intangible assets. His research results on accounting issues of intangible assets were quoted in Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Business Week, Harvard Business Review, Compliance Week, Wall Street Transcript, and other business media outlets.

Firm Specific Risk Adjustment of Public Companies Multiples
The standard, market-based valuation approach uses pricing multiples from guideline public companies with industry, size and growth characteristics similar to the subject private company. These multiples must be adjusted for the fact that diversified investors’ Cost of Equity Capital (“COEC”) for a given firm is lower than the COEC of an undiversified investor in the same firm who has all his financial and human capital invested in one firm. In this article, we suggest a practical method determine the Discount for Lack of Diversification (“DLOD”) to apply to guideline public companies’ multiples. The adjustment is based on the fact that the owners of private companies are undiversified investors facing the total risk of the business unlike the owners of public companies that diversify their risks by holding a large number of securities. This article provides a model to determine DLOD and an illustrative case study that shows the reader how one might apply the model for firm specific risk.

Daniel L. McConaughy, PhD, ASA
Daniel McConaughy is an associate professor at California State University Northridge. He performs valuations of private companies and valuations for financial reporting at Crowe Horwath.

Vincent Covrig, PhD, CFA
Vincent Covrig is an associate professor at California State University Northridge. He performs valuations of private companies and valuations for financial reporting at Crowe Horwath.

DLOM: Use of Bizcomps Transactional Data to Empirically Support The Existence and Level of Your Discounts Without the Influence of Minority Interest Overlap
In the context of examining earlier DLOM studies, the holding periods (reported listing duration) of 5000+ entity level transactions were examined to identify the existence of an optimal “bid-ask” price spread occurrence and subsequently the greatest concessions made by seller. All cash and financed transactions as well as other variables, such as level of the Seller’s Discretionary Earnings were examined. Research found suggests strong relationships to the investor perceived holding period and the size of sellers’ concessions; especially, when transactions are all cash. Generally, the longer the holding period, the greater the sellers’ concessions, the higher the buyers’ economic benefit and the lower the final sales price paid. Interestingly, revenue size, profitability and financing terms did not appear to have a dramatic impact on seller concessions and holding period. The Bizcomps data moves BV analysts one step closer to judicial comparability issues that most existing studies often fall short of achieving by offering a large sample size of often more “comparable” closely held entity-level transactions that may have fewer distortions.

Carl L. Sheeler, PhD, CBA, AVA
Carl Sheeler has conducted 700+ business valuation engagements since 1992. Retained as expert 300+ times having testified 125 times. Have been retained to value FLPs/LLCs/QPRTs on 200+ occasions defending DLOM before IRS on a dozen. Instructor of Great Distinction (NACVA ~ FT&T). Published several dozen valuation articles to include the proposed topic and the valuation of business interests in AICPA’s “Team Approach to Estate Planning” (2003). Guest lecturer to People’s Republic of China on two occasions on intangible assets. Doctoral Dissertation is “Assessing the Empirical Support for Illiquidity Discounts by Examining Closely Held Business Transfers.” Adjunct Professor of Finance, Business and Entrepreneurship – Bryant University. Adjunct Professor of Finance and Business Research - Point Loma Nazarene University.

James A. DiGabriele, DPS, CPA/ABV, CFE, CFSA, FACFEI, Cr.FA, CVA
Dr. DiGabriele is managing partner of DiGabriele, McNulty, Campanella & Co., LLC, Certified Public Accountants and Consultants. He has been actively engaged in the practice of public accounting for over 10 years; before founding the firm in 1990, Dr. DiGabriele acquired valuable insight as an IRS agent and State Auditor. He has practiced in the areas of accounting consulting, taxation, litigation support, forensic accounting, claims support for insurance companies, matrimonial accounting, business valuations, economic damage calculations, lost profits and lost wages and other advisory services.

Michael S. Long, PhD, CFP
Dr. Michael Long has been a finance professor for over 30 years, after receiving his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1973. He has pursued a wide range of topics, more recently focusing on valuation. He developed the concept of an option against value that results from Schumpeter’s destructive competition, and his more recent research focuses the effect of firm size and capital marketability on value.

Comparative Valuation Standards
The accounting standards for fair value have been evolving both in the United States as well as abroad. However, many U.S.-centric valuation practitioners have not been exposed to the new international accounting standards proliferating throughout the rest of the world. There was recent agreement among the SEC, the FASB and the IASB that the U.S. would adopt IFRS beginning in 2011 for large filers and 2013 for smaller filers. However, the new SEC head has signaled that adoption may or may not occur as previously thought. What is causing all the furor? Are the fair value standards in the U.S. that different from our foreign counterparts? Mr. Beaton will provide a high level overview of IFRS with a special emphasis on the differences between specific fair value provisions. This primer will put you on the path to a better understanding of the differences between these two accounting bodies.

Neil J. Beaton, ASA, CPA/ABV
Neil Beaton is partner in charge of Grant Thornton's valuation services practice. He specializes in Securities and Exchange Commission compliance valuations, including stock options and Financial Accounting Standards 141 and 142 engagements.

Fraud Deterrence, Detection and Investigation
Utilizing content established for the new The International Association of Consultants, Valuators & Analysts (IACVA) Certified Fraud Deterrence Analyst designation program, Cendrowski Corporate Advisors have developed original materials for comprehensive fraud deterrence training. This training is based on the premise that deterrence of fraud is best achieved by minimizing causal factors of fraud in an organization through strong internal controls. Internal controls reduce fraud risk, promote efficiency, help achieve organizational objectives, and aid in compliance with laws and regulations. Cendrowski Corporate Advisors designed this program as a result of its extensive experience in deterrence and investigation, including “writing the book” on fraud deterrence.

Harry Cendrowski, CPA, CFE, CVA, ABV, CFFA
Harry Cendrowski is the co-founder and president of Cendrowski Selecky PC, a CPA firm established in 1983 that specializes in business and tax consulting. He has over 25 years of extensive experience in entrepreneurial, personal and corporate tax matters, including engagements in real estate, business valuations, mergers, due diligence, complex commercial and divorce litigation support, forensic accounting, and fraud auditing.

Valuing Intellectual Property

Yea-Mow Chen, Ph.D.
Yea-Mow Chen, Ph.D. in Economics, the Ohio State University and B.A. in Economics, National Taiwan University, is a professor in Finance at San Francisco State University. His teaching areas include Risk Management of Financial Institutions, Bank Management, Corporate and Private Equity Finance, Derivative Assets and Financial Markets, and Asian Pacific Financial Markets. For his professional practices, he specializes in providing services relating to SFAS 123R: Share-base Compensation, SFAS 133: Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities, SFAS 141: Business Combination, and SFAS 142: Goodwill Impairments. The firm he is leading, China Intangible Asset Appraisal Corp. Inc., has performed more than 500 cases of corporate firms and intangible assets appraisals and is one of the largest independent business and intangible asset valuation companies in Taiwan.

Stock Market Analysis and Risk Premium Estimation
Is an analysis of the Romanian capital market and a resulting recommendation for the risk premium estimation in case of emerging capital markets. The study’s research question is: What are the adjustments of risk premium estimation models to be applied in case of emerging capital markets – the case of Romania? The risk premium adjustments are debated from the perspective of challenges the valuators can have to estimate the cost of capital for investments on emerging capital markets.

Anamaria Ciobanu, PhD
Anamaria Ciobanu, PH.D. is Professor of Finance at Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania and member of The National Association of Romanian Valuers (ANEVAR). Her Ph.D. Thesis is “Study of performance measure indicators used in companies’ value management, with examples on Romanian enterprises”. Areas of research: cost of capital estimation, corporate governance, minority shareholders protection, value creation management, companies’ sustainable development. She is a director or member in 10 research projects in these areas, author and co-author of 6 books, 45 articles in the field of corporate finance and business valuation.

Update on “Fair Value”
As GAAP and IFRS converge, it is vital that valuation analysts understand the differing requirements for Fair Value. IFRS has a significant number of major differences which we will discuss. While the actual valuation principles and approaches are similar, the requirements for and the definitions of Fair Value are sufficiently different that one cannot assume that what is done under U. S. GAAP will also work for IFRS.

Alfred M. King, MBA, CMA, CFM
Now vice chairman and a director of Marshall & Stevens since 2005, Alfred King was previously chairman of Valuation Research Corporation, another major international professional firm. His areas of expertise include litigation support, valuation of intangible/intellectual assets, business valuations, solvency and reasonable equivalent value issues, valuation issues relating to domestic and international taxes and financial reporting, and complex allocation-of-purchase-cost assignments, including retrospective studies.

Critical Factors on the Valuation of Technology
Valuation of technology needs more understanding about technology and the industry of technology than business valuation. This presentation will show the critical factors of the valuation of technology as follows: 1) What is technology and technology business; 2) What are the critical value sources within the technology business; 3) What are the basic differences in valuation; 4) How we should keep the standard of valuation.

Sung Soo Seol, CVA / PhD
Sung Soo Seol obtained his PhD. on the Economics of Technology from Korea University (1989). Held the position of Founder and President (2004-2006) of The Korea Valuation Association, and also served as a Chairman of the first Technology and Business Valuation Standards Committee (2000). At academic society served as Editor-In-Chief (1999-2001) and President (2005-2006) of the Korea Technology Innovation Society. Also served as Chairman and member of several Government committees. Now Professor of Economics at Hannam University, Korea as well as Visiting professor at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, with 13 books and 115 papers.

Financial Triage for Troubled Time©
Businesses of all sizes are encountering distress due to economic conditions. Three (3) Excel®-based, one-page tools enable practitioners to perform “financial triage” to improve their clients’ business condition. The three tools are the Rolling Cash Flow©, Daily Revenue Chart© and Business Plan Matrix©. They are very simple and practical and have been implemented in dozens of businesses – both distressed and healthy.

Darrell Dorrell, MBA, CVA, ASA, CMA, DABFA, CPA/ABV
Darrell Dorrell is a founding partner of financialforensics®, a boutique forensic accounting practice in Lake Oswego, OR. He practices in civil and criminal matters throughout the US and has served as an expert witness/consultant in 500+ matters; additional assignments exceed 1,000. They include alter ego, anti-trust, bankruptcy, breach of contract, estate/gift taxes, family law, fraud, fraudulent conveyance/transfer intellectual property, lost profits, patent, solvency/insolvency, trademark, trade dress, and trade secrets.

Business Valuation Research: More, Better, Faster
There is more information available to the business valuation appraiser than ever before. How do you cut through all this clutter to find the information you need for your valuation or litigation engagement? This session will give you the tools, tips, and techniques to supercharge your business valuation research.

Eva M. Lang, CPA/ABV, ASA
Ms. Lang is a nationally recognized expert on internet research. She is an active leader in the valuation profession currently serving on the ASA Business Valuation Committee and is a past member of the Business Valuation Committee of the AICPA. She has served on the ASA Business Valuation Standards Committee and was named to the AICPA Business Valuation Hall of Fame for her contributions to the advancement of the profession. She is the co-author of “The Best Websites for Financial Professionals” and has written for numerous financial publications. Eva is the President of Valuation Products & Services and serves as Executive Director of the Financial Consulting Group.

If You Change the Way You Look at Your Business, Your Business will Change the Way You Look
Machen will speak about the three ingredients to understanding and running a successful professional service business Purpose, Passion and Profit. Machen will define and provide the basic tools to create a Vison, Mission, Key Performance Indicators, Strategies and Action Plans. Machen will also outline key components to successfully growing a professional service practice: Business Plan, Marketing Strategy, Branding, Marketing Essentials and Implementation.

Machen MacDonald, CPCC, CCSC
Machen MacDonald is a world-class personal development coach and speaker who is the author of Provoking Your Brilliance. He has more than a decade of experience training and developing individuals and teams in a number of settings, ranging from sole proprietors to executives in large corporations.

Roundtable Discussions: The Effects of the Current Economy on Valuations
This peer to peer discussion seeks contributions from all in attendance. How do we incorporate current economic events into our valuations? Can we still rely on Ibbotson and Duff & Phelps data to determine equity risk premiums? Implementing the income approach, asset approach and market approach amidst economic turmoil. Come prepared to listen and talk.

Edward Giardina, MSA, CPA/ABV, CVA
Ed Giardina is chairman of the program committee for the Massachusetts Chapter of the NACVA, and Les Gosule, Dave Humphrey and Dave Goodman are members of the committee. The Massachusetts Chapter recently sponsored this program locally. The Massachusetts Chapter sponsors quarterly full day and half day seminars attended by NACVA members from all over New England. Presenters and discussion leaders may be nationally acclaimed or local professionals. Our meetings qualify for CPE credit with NACVA and state boards of accountancy.

Leslie Gosule, CPA, CVA
Leslie Gosule, CPA, CVA, is involved in business valuations, estate and succession planning, litigation support and all other aspects of business consulting for closely held business entities. In addition, he has been an instructor at Northeastern University for over 25 years and has presented many seminars in estate and succession planning.

David Humphrey, CPA, CVA
David A. Humphrey, President Beacon Capital Group, brings more than a decade of business merger, acquisition, and valuation experience to the firm’s clients. During his tenure he has successfully managed the sale of a wide range of manufacturing, distribution, and service businesses across New England. Prior to Beacon Capital Group, Mr. Humphrey assisted hundreds of businesses achieve their goal of growing into successful, thriving companies, as owner and operator of a full service accounting firm.

David Goodman, CPA/ABV, CVA
David Goodman, CPA/ABV, CVA, has provided services on numerous engagements, including business valuations for divorce and estate and gift tax, forensic accounting in divorce and employee fraud, determining damages in breach of contract, and determining value in shareholder actions. Industries Mr. Goodman has worked in include manufacturing, construction, software development, service companies, trucking, and small businesses such as a video stores and restaurants. Mr. Goodman has served as a Court appointed expert for the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court.

Wednesday, May 27th (early arrivals)
Soon after the sun first hits Boston Light, pre-conference opportunities begin to unfold in the Recertification Track with Case Analysis in Person (CAP) from 6:30 to 8:15am, followed by Current Update in Valuations (CUV) from 8:30am to 5:15pm. The International Valuation Track will feature “Conclusions from the Stock Market,” by AnaMaria Ciobanu, “Update on ‘Fair Value’,” by Al King, “Fraud Deterrence, Detection, and Investigation,” by Harry Cendrowski, and “Comparative Valuation Standards,” by Neil Beaton. Kicking off the Practice Management Track will be Eva Lang with “Business Valuation Research: More, Better, Faster,” followed by Machen MacDonald’s “If You Change the Way You Look at Your Business, Your Business Will Change the Way You Look.” After lunch, there will be a roundtable discussion with Ed Giardina, David Goodman, Les Gosule, and David Humphrey: “The Effects of the Current Economy on Valuations,” followed by Darrell Dorrell’s “Financial Triage for Troubled Times©.” First up in the IBA Symposium Track is “No Excuses: CBA and AIBA Mentoring.” Jeff Jones picks up the ball right after lunch with “The Sale of a Business: Strategies and Techniques Used by Business Intermediaries,” followed by Daniel Browning and Leo Delisi with the “Ethics and Standards Workshop.”

Case Analysis in Person (CAP)
(Requires pre-registration by May 11, 2009)
Wednesday, May 27th, 6:30–8:15am; sponsored by NACVA
(Additional registration fee: $195 for members and non-members)
Credentialed members are required to periodically comply with NACVA’s Recertification requirements, one of which is called Knowledge of Quality Issues (KQI). One option for fulfilling this requirement is the Case Analysis in Person (CAP) program. CAP allows six to ten participants to review, discuss, and analyze in a roundtable format a sanitized business valuation report sent to participants two to three weeks prior to the session. The session includes two hours of CPE, and pre-read is required.

Current Update in Valuations (CUV)
Wednesday, May 27th, 8:30am–5:15pm; sponsored by NACVA
(Additional registration fee: $450 for NACVA or IBA members, $500 for non-members)
This one-of-a-kind course is one you will always look forward to and depend on for ongoing development in valuation theory and practice. Undoubtedly two of the more difficult and time-consuming challenges in business valuation are report writing and keeping up to date on current developments. Therefore, the latest business valuation theories and their applications to specific fundamental valuation principles have been “wrapped” into an actual detailed and complete valuation report prepared under the fair market value standard of value. Discussions will also incorporate the most recent court case decisions as well as new developments in our industry standards.

The instructors will incorporate a “nominal group technique” which will focus on the questions and concerns of the participants. In addressing your concerns and interests, increasing your awareness of the latest developments in valuation, and taking your report writing skills to a higher level, the goal is to increase your knowledge, strengthen the effectiveness of your communication with clients, and allow you to produce an impressive solid work product capable of withstanding the rigors of the courtroom.

Note that the course is paperless: you will receive a CD-ROM of a valuation report hyperlinked with material that will be covered during the class. You will, therefore, need a laptop, and Microsoft Word will be used. NACVA will provide electric power but will not provide laptops. (NACVA’s CVA/AVA recertification requirement, Knowledge of Current Developments [KCD] is generally obtained by taking this course.) The session includes eight hours of CPE.

The Sale of a Business: Strategies and Techniques Used by Business Intermediaries
Wednesday, May 27th, 1:30–3:15pm: sponsored by the IBA
(Included in conference registration fee)
Business appraisers are sometimes guilty of developing opinions of value in a vacuum, utilizing textbook valuation methodologies without fully understanding the dynamics that drive the sale of closely held companies. This street-smart seminar has been developed to help business appraisers better understand the reality of the marketplace and the dynamics that drive the sale of small to midsize businesses. Many transactions are not done at fair market value, but rather strategic or synergistic value. Only a small percentage of the businesses for sale actually sell, because they are improperly packaged to go to market, over priced, and/or not adequately marketed.

Ethics and Standards Workshop
Wednesday, May 27th, 3:30–5:15pm; sponsored by the IBA
(Included in conference registration fee)
This interactive session will examine the IBA’s Standards, focusing on non-traditional engagements and situations (i.e., matters not covered by Standard Five—Formal Written Appraisal Reports). We will consider generally applicable professional and ethical guidelines, then look at specific examples of how these apply in various settings, including oral reports, letter form reports, and expert testimony. We will also tackle the issue of advocacy v. non-advocacy, and briefly consider the nebulous realm of “non-appraisal assignments.”

Certification Exams
Saturday, May 30th, 8:00am
NACVA will proctor the five-hour Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA)/Accredited Valuation Analyst (AVA) exam, the four-hour Certified Merger and Acquisition Professional (CMAP) exam, and the two, four, or six hour Certified Forensic Financial Analyst (CFFA) exam, including specialties. The IBA will proctor the Certified Business Appraiser (CBA), Accredited by IBA (AIBA), and Accredited in Business Valuation Review (ABAR) exams.

For more information click here or contact Brett Losee, Meeting Planner for NACVA at BrettL1@nacva.com or call (800) 677-2009.