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| Bridging the Valuation Perception Gap: Key Personnel Dependence in Sell-Side Business Valuation (2274Q) |
Course CPE: 1 hour
Field(s) of Study: Finance–1 hr
Program Level: Intermediate
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.
Advanced Preparation: None
Delivery Method: QAS Self-Study |
Item
Number: 26BV0406BVP
Shipping Weight: 0lbs. 0oz. |
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$99.00 |
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Recording Date: April 6, 2026
Presenter: John Shipp
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.
Takeaways
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.
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Identify key personnel in a closely held business
- Recognize the risks with individual employees
- Identify which firms are susceptible to key personnel risk
- Determine the importance of functional expertise
- Determine key personnel risk in valuation
- Recognize AI's impact on key personnel risk
For more information regarding refund or concerns, please contact our offices at (800) 677-2009.
The Consultants’ Training Institute (CTI) is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org. |
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