Bridging the Valuation Perception Gap: Key Personnel Dependence in Sell-Side Business Valuation

Co-Sponsored by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts®  (NACVA®) 

	Program Description		Who Should Attend
	How You Will Benefit		Schedule

Program Description
This course is designed to review and expand on Mr. Shipp's Top Story featured in the August 2025 issue of QuickRead entitled "Bridging the Valuation Perception Gap: Key Personnel Dependence in Sell-Side Business Valuation." His article includes technical analysis and practical insights to identify key personnel risks when valuing private, closely held businesses.

As Mr. Shipp wrote, business owners seeking to sell often do not recognize and underestimate the risks that prospective buyers perceive in their companies. This misalignment stems from two opposing forces. An owner is extremely familiar with his/her own business' operations. In contrast, a prospective buyer has no direct involvement with that firm or institutional knowledge. These differing perspectives and experience levels prompt both parties to exercise caution when approaching more serious discussions. This caution causes a gap in valuation expectations between parties. This gap often drives wedges in negotiations, breeds distrust, and stalls productive discussions in the purchase/sale process.

Because of their limited transaction experience, sellers often have little awareness of how buyers will identify and scrutinize operational weaknesses like key personnel dependence. It is a valuator’s role to identify weaknesses like these and explain their implications before the marketing process and negotiations begin.

In discussing the value of key personnel, this course will focus on a primary issue that CVAs encounter during sell-side valuation support. By identifying key personnel early in the valuation process, CVAs can close a perceived valuation gap between sellers and buyers during negotiations.

This course will also consider the impact of key personnel retention as businesses rapidly integrate artificial intelligence (AI) in to operations.

Mr. Shipp’s course is a perfect fit for CVAs and other valuation professionals looking to increase their knowledge of sell-side valuations and preparing sellers for transition events. 

How You Will Benefit
After completing this course, attendees will be able to:

• Identify key personnel in a closely held business
• Explain to clients the risks with individual employees
• Identify which firms are susceptible to key personnel risk
• Determine the importance of functional expertise
• Demonstrate key personnel risk in valuation
• Specify AI's impact on key personnel risk

Take Aways
This course will help CVAs advise clients who are preparing to sell their firms. Attendees will be able to identify individual key personnel in businesses and educate clients about the risks of individual employees within their firms. By identifying these key personnel, CVAs can better educate sellers on weaknesses in their organizational structures. These key personnel/organizational structures often lead to gaps in valuation expectations between buyers and sellers.

Who Should Attend

Delivery Method Group Internet-Based Program Level Intermediate Advanced Preparation None Prerequisites Previous training or research on subject matter being taught. Such persons are often at a mid-level within the organization, with operational and/or supervisory responsibilities.   Finance 1 Total CPE Hours   1

For NASBA sponsorship information, including refund, complaint, and/or program cancelation policies, click here.