Tap into KU's tools, advice and experience:
Business ValuationsWe assist clients from both strategic and compliance perspectives in providing competent and objective valuation services. We perform independent valuations for both private and public companies to assist in areas such as:
Our valuation reports and analyses are objective, supportable and transparent for the client, advisors, auditors, attorneys and other stakeholders. With deep and diverse valuation experience and expertise from years of work in large accounting and advisory firms, we are a competent choice for valuation services. Our deep knowledge of valuation techniques and their appropriate application in financial reporting, tax compliance and other matters such as buyouts and ownership transfers make us uniquely qualified to support an array of clients. Our valuation experts keep current on valuation trends, regulatory and compliance changes, and research tools to support our work. Our team has relevant credentials, including ongoing education to ensure that we stay on the cutting edge of valuation services. KU provides valuation services to business owners and management teams to help them understand and support the value of the company. A business valuation may provide insight to a business owner prior to a potential sale. Further examples of our valuation services are:
Purchase Price AllocationsValuations for U.S. financial reporting are governed by standards issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC). Company auditors follow audit standards that direct their testing of valuation methods, models, inputs and data. We understand these requirements and develop valuations for financial reporting standards such as ASC 805 (purchase price allocations). These valuations are highly complex, and we are often asked by our clients to lead the process to communicate directly with the auditor and their internal valuation specialist to ensure that we resolve any differences of opinion in an efficient manner to finalize the valuation process. Services include:
Buyouts and Ownership Transfers
Quality of EarningsObjective information is vital for good M&A decisions, and a quality of earnings report can go a long way in meeting this objective. A quality of earnings report is a due diligence project, but it is not an audit. With an audit, the emphasis is on the balance sheet rather than on the economic earnings power of the going concern. A quality of earnings report focuses on a detailed analysis of a company's revenue and expense components. The primary objective of a quality of earnings project is to assess the sustainability and accuracy of historical earnings, as well as the achievability of future projections.While a due diligence project should never be confused with an audit, a quality of earnings effort does have the following procedures in common with an audit:
Due diligence adjustments are likely byproducts of the quality of earnings project. These adjustments might include overlooked onetime expenses, accounting errors, effects of unrecorded or under recorded liabilities, or related party transactions not made at ‘arms-length’ terms. The types and numbers of these adjustments provide not only a better understanding of the economic earnings but also some insights into the quality of the company’s information and the strength of the management team. Another important consideration for these projects is the identification of concentrations and operational risks. This applies not only to customer concentrations, but also industry, product/service, distribution channel, supply chain, etc. These concentrations must be identified and understood to fully access the risks of operating revenue. Other risks to consider include cost structure, price strategy, key-man issues, and dependency on intellectual property. Call upon us to explore the KU advantage in delivering independent quality of earnings reports. Mergers and AcquisitionsSome of the most important corporate decisions involve mergers or acquisitions. Despite a high degree of complex risks, decisions are often made resulting in less than desirable results. A company's ability to pounce on opportunities, while aggressively mitigating risks, hinges to a large degree on the quality of information feeding into the decision and the decision-making process. Good information and well-defined decision rights are pillars of M&A success.Understanding the risks of poor information and decision making is a start, however bringing in the expertise to mitigate these risks through all M&A stages is where the big payoffs reside. We can help on multiple fronts and during various stages, including: Pre-M&A Decision Stage
Readiness Stage (Prior to Day 1)
Day 1 Operations This is usually a relatively long list of Day-1 activities, including items such as:
Post Day 1 Operations
Our experienced team can assist in conducting a robust due diligence assessment designed to ferret out potential risks and valuation considerations, assess their magnitude and the probability of the risks' occurrence, consider whether mitigation is possible and respond accordingly. |
