If your business has co-owners, you probably need a buy-sell agreement Image
If your business has co-owners, you probably need a buy-sell agreement

For most business co-owners, the value of their business shares comprises a big percentage of their estates. Having a...

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7/18/2024
It’s almost time for a midyear checkup on your company’s financial health Image
It’s almost time for a midyear checkup on your company’s financial health

Time flies when you’re busy running a business. It’s important to pause at midyear and assess interim fin...

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5/30/2024
Is your current bad debt allowance reasonable? Image
Is your current bad debt allowance reasonable?

A recent survey of audit partners found that 40% were uncertain about the outlook for their primary industries. In li...

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9/8/2022
The Tax Implications of Owning a Corporate Aircraft Image
The Tax Implications of Owning a Corporate Aircraft

Ever wonder how much of a tax break you’d get if you bought a private plane for your business? Here are the bas...

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12/9/2021
Small Businesses: There Still May Be Time to Cut Your 2021 Taxes Image
Small Businesses: There Still May Be Time to Cut Your 2021 Taxes

There may be ways your small business can save on 2021 taxes. But you must act before Dec. 31.

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12/3/2021
Infrastructure Law sunsets Employee Retention Credit early Image
Infrastructure Law sunsets Employee Retention Credit early

The sun has set on the valuable Employee Retention Credit. Here’s what happened.

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11/29/2021
Businesses Can Show Appreciation — and Gain Tax Breaks — With Holiday Gifts and Parties Image
Businesses Can Show Appreciation — and Gain Tax Breaks — With Holiday Gifts and Parties

Is your business giving holiday gifts to employees or customers this year? Or are you throwing a holiday party? Here ...

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11/18/2021
Many Factors Are Involved When Choosing a Business Entity Image
Many Factors Are Involved When Choosing a Business Entity

There are many factors to consider when choosing a business entity. Here are just a few.

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11/11/2021
Businesses Must Navigate Year-End Tax Planning With New Tax Laws Potentially on the Horizon Image
Businesses Must Navigate Year-End Tax Planning With New Tax Laws Potentially on the Horizon

Allocating year-end tax planning time now can prove beneficial come tax filing time next year.

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11/10/2021
Would You Like to Establish a Health Savings Account for Your Small Business? Image
Would You Like to Establish a Health Savings Account for Your Small Business?

Looking for a flexible, tax-advantaged option for providing health care coverage at your business? Consider a Health ...

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11/3/2021
How Time Can Affect Planning Success Image
How Time Can Affect Planning Success

When it comes to business planning, time plays a large part in long-term success. 

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11/3/2021
The Social Security Wage Base Is Increasing in 2022 Image
The Social Security Wage Base Is Increasing in 2022

Business owners and their employees don’t have to pay Social Security tax on all their wages. Amounts above a c...

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10/28/2021
Protecting Yourself Against Employee Risk Image
Protecting Yourself Against Employee Risk

Reducing employee risk plays a vital part in planning your business's future success and growth for the company....

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10/20/2021
Debate Continues in Congress Over Proposed Tax Changes Image
Debate Continues in Congress Over Proposed Tax Changes

The fate of the Build Back Better Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill remains uncertain as Congress continues ...

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10/14/2021
Why Communication Is Essential to Successful Planning Image
Why Communication Is Essential to Successful Planning

Let's talk about the importance of communicating your business plans to those who can help you achieve them.

...

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10/6/2021
M&A Transactions: Be Careful When Reporting to the IRS Image
M&A Transactions: Be Careful When Reporting to the IRS

Have you bought or sold business assets in an M&A deal in 2021 or are in the process of a transaction? If so, you...

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9/30/2021
Tax Depreciation Rules for Business Automobiles Image
Tax Depreciation Rules for Business Automobiles

Claiming depreciation deductions for a passenger automobile can involve complex calculations. Here are the basic rule...

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9/23/2021
What’s the Point of Asset Protection? Image
What’s the Point of Asset Protection?

As a successful business owner, it's essential to know the reason behind why you're protecting your business and...

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9/22/2021
Disasters and Your Taxes: What You Need to Know Image
Disasters and Your Taxes: What You Need to Know

Have you been affected by one of the many natural disasters that have occurred this year? Tax relief may be available...

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9/20/2021
Claiming a Theft Loss Deduction if Your Business Is the Victim of Embezzlement Image
Claiming a Theft Loss Deduction if Your Business Is the Victim of Embezzlement

If your business is victimized by theft, embezzlement or internal fraud, you may be able to claim a tax deduction for...

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9/10/2021
How Your Employees’ Motivations Can Affect Your Business Planning Image
How Your Employees’ Motivations Can Affect Your Business Planning

Creating incentives for key employees to support your business long-term can be a great benefit to planning the futur...

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9/8/2021
Want to Find Out What IRS Auditors Know About Your Business Industry? Image
Want to Find Out What IRS Auditors Know About Your Business Industry?

If you own or operate a business, you may not know that the IRS has “Audit Techniques Guides” for certain...

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9/2/2021
Getting a Divorce? Be Aware of Tax Implications if You Own a Business Image
Getting a Divorce? Be Aware of Tax Implications if You Own a Business

Divorce may have tax implications for the spouses involved, especially if one or both of them owns a business. Here a...

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8/26/2021
Possible Tax Consequences of Guaranteeing a Loan to Your Corporation Image
Possible Tax Consequences of Guaranteeing a Loan to Your Corporation

If your corporation defaults on a loan that you guarantee, you don’t want to be blindsided by the tax implicati...

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8/19/2021
Strength From Within: How Preparing Employees for Ownership Can Strengthen Your Business Image
Strength From Within: How Preparing Employees for Ownership Can Strengthen Your Business

When determining the future of your business, preparing key employees for a potential stake in ownership can position...

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8/17/2021
Is an LLC the right choice for your small business? Image
Is an LLC the right choice for your small business?

There are several options for operating your small business. For example, a sole proprietorship, an S corporation or ...

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8/5/2021
Connecting Your Personal Financial Plan and Business Continuity Plan Image
Connecting Your Personal Financial Plan and Business Continuity Plan

Most business owners have a personal financial plan, but let's talk about why connecting that with a business continu...

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8/4/2021
Getting a New Business off the Ground: How Start-up Expenses Are Handled on Your Tax Return Image
Getting a New Business off the Ground: How Start-up Expenses Are Handled on Your Tax Return

Business applications have increased over the past year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. If you’re launchi...

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7/22/2021
Are You Protecting Your Most Valuable Assets? Image
Are You Protecting Your Most Valuable Assets?

With a successful business comes the constant threat of competitors. Let's evaluate what your company's assets are an...

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7/21/2021
Who In Small Business Can Be Hit With The “Trust Fund Recovery Penalty?” Image
Who In Small Business Can Be Hit With The “Trust Fund Recovery Penalty?”

The IRS will impose the “Trust Fund Recovery Penalty” on certain business owners and managers personally ...

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7/15/2021
10 Facts About the Pass-through Deduction for Qualified Business Income Image
10 Facts About the Pass-through Deduction for Qualified Business Income

Owners of “pass-through” businesses can claim a valuable tax deduction that was created by a 2017 law. He...

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7/8/2021
How Agility Can Affect Your Company’s Future Image
How Agility Can Affect Your Company’s Future

Let's take a look at just why agility is such an important skill for business owners to acquire and apply to their bu...

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7/7/2021
Eligible Businesses: Claim the Employee Retention Tax Credit Image
Eligible Businesses: Claim the Employee Retention Tax Credit

If your business hasn’t already claimed the Employee Retention Tax Credit, you should check out if you’re...

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7/1/2021
Traveling For Business Again? What Can You Deduct? Image
Traveling For Business Again? What Can You Deduct?

On the road again for business? Here’s a rundown of costs you can deduct for business travel.

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6/24/2021
Retaining Key Employees: One Size Doesn’t Fit All Image
Retaining Key Employees: One Size Doesn’t Fit All

A company's key employees play an essential role in maintaining business success. So, what can you do in order to kee...

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6/16/2021
Recordkeeping DOs and DON’Ts for Business Meal and Vehicle Expenses Image
Recordkeeping DOs and DON’Ts for Business Meal and Vehicle Expenses

"Recordkeeping DOs and DON’Ts for Business Meal and Vehicle Expenses" | Keeping meticulous business record...

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6/10/2021
Hiring Your Minor Children This Summer? Reap Tax and Nontax Benefits Image
Hiring Your Minor Children This Summer? Reap Tax and Nontax Benefits

Are you a business owner with teenage or college-age children who constantly need cash? You may want to hire them to ...

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6/3/2021
Guiding Your Wealth to Where You Want It to Go Image
Guiding Your Wealth to Where You Want It to Go

You may know where you want your money to go when you die, but let's take a look at how to plan and strategize your w...

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6/2/2021
The IRS has Announced 2022 Amounts for Health Savings Accounts Image
The IRS has Announced 2022 Amounts for Health Savings Accounts

Businesses that provide Health Savings Accounts to employees know they have a variety of benefits. Here are a few of ...

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5/27/2021
5 Ways to Address Deal Killers Before They Kill Your Deal Image
5 Ways to Address Deal Killers Before They Kill Your Deal

When setting your business up for success, it's important to be able to identify deals that may hurt your company's f...

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5/25/2021
Help Ensure the IRS Doesn’t Reclassify Independent Contractors as Employees Image
Help Ensure the IRS Doesn’t Reclassify Independent Contractors as Employees

Employee or independent contractor? That’s the question businesses ask when they bring on certain workers. Here...

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5/13/2021
Providing Education Assistance to Employees? Follow These Rules Image
Providing Education Assistance to Employees? Follow These Rules

Some employers offer educational assistance plans as a recruitment and retention tool. Here are the rules to help ens...

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5/6/2021
Claiming the Business Energy Credit for Using Alternative Energy Image
Claiming the Business Energy Credit for Using Alternative Energy

There’s a great deal of interest in alternative energy technologies today. If your business invests in certain ...

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4/29/2021
5 Aspects of Strong Goals and the Consequences of Missing Them Image
5 Aspects of Strong Goals and the Consequences of Missing Them

Setting goals is an important part of business planning. In order to set strong goals for your business, let's take a...

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4/21/2021
Tax Advantages of Hiring Your Child at Your Small Business Image
Tax Advantages of Hiring Your Child at Your Small Business

Thinking about hiring your teenager to work in your business? There can be significant tax benefits.

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4/8/2021
There’s More to Business Than Money: Values-Based Goals Image
There’s More to Business Than Money: Values-Based Goals

Money is only one part of what makes a business owner successful. Value-based goals are just as vital to running a bu...

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4/7/2021
The Magic Behind Writing Your Plans Down Image
The Magic Behind Writing Your Plans Down

Business owners put years, if not decades, into planning the success of their business. However, rarely do they have ...

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3/17/2021
Assessing and Mitigating Key Person Risks Image
Assessing and Mitigating Key Person Risks

Is the success of your business tied to certain “key” people? Many startups, professional service firms a...

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3/16/2021
If You Run a Business From Home, You Could Qualify for Home Office Deductions Image
If You Run a Business From Home, You Could Qualify for Home Office Deductions

Business owners may be able to save tax with home office deductions. If you’re working from home (like lots of ...

Read More »
3/11/2021
What Are the Tax Implications of Buying or Selling a Business? Image
What Are the Tax Implications of Buying or Selling a Business?

Buying or selling a business may be the largest transaction you’ll ever make. Pay attention to taxes. After a d...

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3/4/2021
Walk Before You Run: Phased Planning Image
Walk Before You Run: Phased Planning

It's important for business owners to plan for a successful future without their business. Here's the story...

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3/3/2021
Don’t Make Decisions Without Data Analytics Image
Don’t Make Decisions Without Data Analytics

Data analytics can help your nonprofit validate trends, uncover root causes and improve transparency. But before you ...

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3/2/2021
Many Tax Amounts Affecting Businesses Have Increased for 2021 Image
Many Tax Amounts Affecting Businesses Have Increased for 2021

How much do your employees have to earn in 2021 before they can stop paying Social Security tax? How much can they co...

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2/25/2021
Poor Planning, Big Problems: The Tale of Tom Poor Image
Poor Planning, Big Problems: The Tale of Tom Poor

Business owners put years of planning and preparation into making their businesses successful. However, have you...

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2/17/2021
Don't Let Your Key Employees Jump Ship Image
Don't Let Your Key Employees Jump Ship

Next-level management teams are the drivers behind building business value, but how can you and your advisors attract...

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11/18/2020
The Process of Selling Your Business Has Already Begun Image
The Process of Selling Your Business Has Already Begun

Every action you take during the life of your business has an impact on your departure down the road. Learn more ...

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10/7/2020
Not All Strategies Are Created Equal Image
Not All Strategies Are Created Equal

Know the difference between Succession Planning, Exit Planning and Business Planning and how to best execute each.

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9/16/2020
5 Key Points About Bonus Depreciation Image
5 Key Points About Bonus Depreciation

Depreciating assets involves a complex area of tax law; here’s a rundown:

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9/9/2020
Funding a Sale to “Insiders” Image
Funding a Sale to “Insiders”

Business owners often consider “insiders” as viable successors. Can this be a fatal flaw in planning...

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8/19/2020
Forecasting Financial Results for a Start-Up Business Image
Forecasting Financial Results for a Start-Up Business

Today’s markets are unpredictable, but changing conditions can open new business opportunities.

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8/13/2020
Rethinking Cash Flow Image
Rethinking Cash Flow

Since you can’t escape the impact of cash flow, you might as well take it head on, right?

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8/6/2020
Where Transferable Value Comes From

One of the most important elements of a successful business transition is transferable value. No matter what an owner...

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6/18/2020
Winston Churchill and the Tax Affecting of Pass-Through Entities

This article is as close as it gets in the valuation world to the “Extra, Extra… Read all about it&...

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8/29/2019
Which Door to Take?

Monty Hall and the Discount for Lack of Marketability…

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7/25/2019
“What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?”

Monty Python and the Discount for Lack of Marketability

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5/30/2019
United States District Court Strikes Blow Against the Undead!

OK – the subject line of this article is a naked attempt to attract your attention but if you read on you ...

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4/18/2019
Go Forth and Multiply!

A brief explanation of EBITDA v. SDE in calculating the value of a business

Concrete Data to help with “The Art of the Deal”

Do you have the information you need to negotiate for your business?

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2/8/2019
"Can’t You See This is The Land of Confusion": Uncertainty and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

While it remains the case that the lower corporate tax rates for C corporations increase cash flows and therefore pot...

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2/3/2018
Did Singing Auld Lang Syne Increase Company Valuations?

The Impact of New Tax Law on Valuations

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1/13/2018
"Caught between the Scylla and Charybdis": What Sting Knows About Valuing Small Businesses

Sting is one of the more cerebral pop musicians and he clearly is wise to the ways of business valuation practice. So...

EBITDA and Fair Market Value

One of the main differences between the world of real life transactions and the fair market value world is the way th...

Almost as Riveting as Game of Thrones...

Well, maybe that's a bit of an oversell, but certainly having a greater impact on the pocket book, the battle over ho...

When Goodwill has No Value

Recently, I have dealt with a number of issues relating to the valuation of goodwill. One particular case involved a ...

The Rule of Thump

An article in the Atlantic Monthly refers to the emergence of a new term - the "rule of thump" - based on confusion w...

"It was a Very Good Year" - 1959 Ruling Stands the Test of Time

Channeling Frank Sinatra this month, I turn my attention to Revenue Ruling 59-60. This key valuation document issued ...

Valuation Factors for a Franchise

On the southeast corner of a major, urban intersection is an established privately-held "fast food" hamburger restaur...

Earning Capacity: The Critical Piece of the Puzzle

Where does the value of a business come from? First and foremost, it comes from the ability to generate earnings, its...

Champagne Wishes and the Valuation Issues of the Rich and Famous

The opportunity to gawp at the lifestyles of the rich and famous was a side benefit to taking a look at a dispute ove...

Why Financial Statement Adjustments Are Made in Valuation Process

Clients are often mystified by the adjustments business valuation analysts make to financial statements when we start...

"I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK!" - Cash Flows from Timber Apparently Trump the Value of Land

What a great start to 2015 - when a recent case allows me to include a reference to the halcyon days of Monty Python ...

Who Needs to Go to Vegas? Small Business Owners can Gamble for High Stakes from the Comfort of Their Offices!

Many entrepreneurs start a business with other like-minded business people and don’t want to think about what h...

The Season of Personal Goodwill

The case of Bross Trucking v Commissioner (Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 109) was not strictly a valuation case but did address ...

"It All Depends Upon Your Appetite" - Or More Accurately the Judge's Appetite!

This month's commentary does not feature bottles of red or white (with apologies to Billy Joel) - though other bevera...

"Losing My Religion" - An IRS Lament?

A recent tax court case allows me to dig up a reference to an R.E.M. hit single (never my favorite, but, hey, any por...

"All You're Ever Gonna be is Mean - But Which One?"

In an effort to be down with the kids, this month's title comes from a Taylor Swift hit single - a big step from my n...

"There Are Three Kinds of Lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics"

I recalled this bon mot from Mark Twain as I reviewed a recent article from Business Valuation Resources that focused...

"Let's Start at the Very Beginning" - Do-Re-Me and the Cost of Capital

Sometimes it's just good to channel Maria in the Sound of Music and go back to basics. I recently had a good opportun...

"If You Know What I Mean" - Estate of Richmond v. Commissioner, Part the Third

A Neil Diamond song title as this month's hook? What? Who? How? Calm down - all will be revealed at the end of this e...

"Bang Bang" - The Tax Court Shot Him Down...

I never thought I would be minng Cher's back catalog for inspiration for an even more tenuous link for the title to t...

A Giant LEAP for Mankind? Maybe Not, but Some Helpful Data for Valutions

This month we're going to do some finance stuff - be warned, there may even be a formula... As valuation analysts, we...

Waiting in Vain? How Long Does it Take to Sell a Company?

We know that Bob Marley didn't want to wait in vain (in fact he said so repeatedly in the song) - and neither does th...

Free as a Bird Now! Eagle Dilemma Resolved

You may recall that I sent out an e-mail last year highlighting the dispute between the Estate of Ileanna Sonnenband ...

Fly Like an Eagle? The IRS Will Bring You Back Down to Earth

I struggled with the title of this item......the story itself has been a godsend to headline writers and I don't feel...

"Doctor, Doctor - Give Me The News..." - Is the Medical Profession More Prone to Litigating Divorces Than Other Professions?

Please file the following under the "I'm just sayin'..." category - far be it from me to draw any conclusions!  ...

"I Have Only Come Here Seeking Knowledge..." But What Knowledge is Allowed to Affect a Valuation?

I have always cringed when Sting followed up the title line with "Things they would not teach me of in college". On t...

"A Man Hears What He Wants to Hear...and Disregards the Rest": S Corp Valuation Revisited

Paul Simon's lyrics seem to sum up the approach the Tax Court took in the case of Estate of Louise Paxton Gallagher v...

You Can Check Out Anytime You Like.. but you're better off if you figure out what a business is worth before you start!

Don Henley, the sage that he is, goes on to state that: "You can never leave" ... yet that isjust what every business...

"Even if We're Just Dancing in the Dark" Or on the head of a pin?

Oh yes, just squeezing in a Springsteen reference again - it's been a while. So how do I justify this random referenc...

"Clowns to the Left of Me... Jokers to the Right" What's the Value When You're Stuck in the Middle?

So we're trying to value a 50% interest in a company. We've determined the value of 100% to be $10 million ...

Set A Fair Price To Sell Your Share Of The Business

If, emulating Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, you hope to climb the Pyramids and hit the tables in Monte Carlo whe...