HomeArticlesIntroduction to Business Valuation Concepts for Attorneys
Introduction to Business Valuation Concepts for Attorneys
By Thomas Kalajian: Business valuation is a broad and technically challenging discipline. This article presents several key concepts, with the perspective of attorneys in mind, to provide a conceptual introduction of business valuation.
One of the most important aspect of the divorce relates to property division, and business valuation. Some key Business valuation concepts for attorneys.
By Thomas Kalajian, Valuation Analyst
Business valuation is a broad and technically challenging discipline. This article presents several key concepts, with the perspective of attorneys in mind, to provide a conceptual introduction of business valuation.
Thomas Kalajian is a registered tax accountant and Accredited Valuation Analyst, and holds the advanced designation of Accredited in Business Appraisal Review. He was awarded the distinction of Best Accredited in Business Appraisal Review Qualifying Report of 2010. Mr. Kalajian is the principal appraiser with Provident Valuation Professionals, Inc. which provides business valuation and legal consulting services throughout Southern California from its Orange County administrative center.
Expert opinion from fact testimony is distinguished by the observance of professional standards. Performing a business valuation involves special knowledge, skill and experience. Different organizations have different standards. Not all standards are applicable to every appraiser, yet quite often two or more sets are applicable to an individual expert who is multi-credentialed or publicizes membership (even candidacy for a designation) in several organizations.
n my 21 years as a business valuator in family law cases, an issue frequently arises related to the interplay between the business valuation methodologies applied and the business owner’s salary resulting in associated support obligations (I will use the term “support” to include both maintenance and child support payments in this article). Lovingly been termed the “double dip,” the short definition of this issue is counting the same income stream twice: once for division of property and the other for determination of support.
In divorce, you cannot determine how big a slice your client should get until you know the size of the marital pie. For business owners, self-employed spouses, and high-net-worth individuals, we can trace and calculate a party’s true income and assets, the tax liabilities that may follow those assets, and suggest a plan for equitable distribution. If the other side fails to produce documents, we can impute income for alimony and child support calculations. We prepare requests for production of financial statements and documents, and also prepare responses to opposing counsel’s requests for productions.
Diana Shepherd has over 30 years of experience as a marketing, branding, SEO, copywriting, editing, and publishing expert. As Content Director for Family Lawyer Magazine, Divorce Magazine, and Divorce Marketing Group, she oversees all corporate content development and frequently creates SEO-friendly videos, podcasts, and copy for family law and financial firms.
The Co-Founder of Divorce Magazine and Divorce Marketing Group, Diana is an award-winning editor, published author, and a nationally recognized expert on divorce, remarriage, finance, and stepfamily issues. She has written hundreds of articles geared towards both family law professionals and divorcing people, and she has both performed and taught on-page SEO for 20+ years.
Diana spent eight years as the Marketing Director for the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts® (IDFA®), and she has been a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® since 2006. While at IDFA, she wrote, designed, and published The IDFA Marketing Guide, and she also created seminars for CDFA professionals to present to family lawyers (approved for CLE), as well as to separated and divorcing individuals.
She has represented both DMG and IDFA at industry conferences and events across North America, and she has given marketing as well as divorce financial seminars at many of those conferences.
