Business Valuation Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
Assessing Business Value in Pittsburgh
Have you ever wondered how much your business is actually worth? Finding that number can be a difficult process involving a whole slew of factors, from where you’re located to what “value” means to you. The value of a business means different things to different people, but there are some core principles of business valuation that can help you get the right valuation done for your Pittsburgh business. This might seem complicated, but we can help. The accountants and valuators at Redwood Valuation have the expertise and knowledge necessary to make a business valuation a smooth and seamless process for you.
409a Business Valuation Services in Pittsburgh
Call Redwood Valuation Partners for your next business valuation (206) 660-1295
Why Do Businesses Get Valuations?
If you want to know exactly how much your business may be worth if you sold it, you should seek a business valuation. If you are considering selling your business, it’s critical to get a valuation first so that you can go into negotiations with potential buyers armed with knowledge and data.
In addition to how much a business is worth, a valuation can show which parts of a business are valuable. The value of any one business could come from entirely different sources than a different business. It might be surprising to learn that a business with a very high value in Pittsburgh is perhaps not as highly valued in a different city. Likewise, a business that seems like a tiny startup could have a ton of hidden value for the right buyer. It comes down to the details.
It’s imperative, then, that your business valuation is handled by professionals. In addition to understanding your business, an accountant doing a valuation should know the ins and outs of finance, venture capital, tax law and other fields. The advantages of doing a business valuation correctly include understanding your selling price and stock compensation. However, any advantages of doing a valuation are up to you and your business. If you need help determining if a business valuation is right for your circumstances, get a free consultation from Redwood.
Approaches to Business Valuation
An accountant doing a business valuation will likely take one of three main approaches to assessing the value of a business. These three approaches are not the only possible ways of looking at a business’s value, however. These methods apply to an array of businesses, whether they’re in Pittsburgh or elsewhere. The right approach for you depends on you, your business and what you hope to get out of a valuation.
Determining Value Based on Assets
Finding the value of a business based on its assets isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. In this approach, a business’s investments are added up to determine value. One way to go about looking at a business’s assets is by figuring out how much it would cost to set up a brand new business that mimics the existing one. This exercise can reveal a lot of information about a business, including its liabilities and assets. Then, the valuator can simply subtract the liabilities from the assets to figure out the worth of the business.
Don’t be fooled by how simple this approach seems at first glance. This process gains complexity when the accountant has to decide which assets to include. Additionally, there are two different ways of going about this process: a going concern asset-based approach and a liquidation asset-based approach.
A going concern asset-based approach is a little more straightforward. The accountant looks at the company’s net balance sheet to find the value of its assets and then deducts the value of its liabilities. In a liquidiation focused approach to valuation, it is important to imagine the business is liquidated before determining its value. After a real liquidation, the business would receive cash; this now becomes the business’s value in a valuation.
The specifics of your business may reveal whether this sort of approach is right for you. It is possible that a different method is more suitable for your particular business. As one example, a business that is owned in the name of a single person ”a sole proprietorship” should be advised not to take this approach. A corporation, however, could find value in an assessment that is asset-based, as its assets are owned by the entire company and not one person.
Determining Value Based on the Market
A market-based approach looks at the market as a whole and not solely at your business. The value of other businesses in Pittsburgh could provide insight on your own. The goal is to see what your business would be worth by comparing it to other similar businesses.
The advantage to this approach is that it looks more comprehensively at the overall business climate for your particular field. In this approach, it is also very important to consider what a buyer in the market would currently pay for your business and what the fair market value would be.
Unfortunately, it is not always easy to get competitors with your business to reveal the sort of information needed for a market-based valuation. Private and protected information such as non-competition clauses can prove a barrier to obtaining some of the information needed to make a valuation.
Income- or Earning-Based Approach
This approach to business valuation looks at potential and future value in order to draw conclusions. However, this method starts in the present, looking at the earnings of the business today to try to predict its future earnings.
It is not an exact science to predict the future of a business and therefore an earning focused approach can invite an element of risk. However, they can use hard data to back up this prediction. The accountant doing the valuation can even “normalize” figures to remove unusual spikes or dips that could make the assessment less precise. Sometimes, these predictions are divided by capitalization factors that fluctuate based on the market.
There are, as with other methods, additional considerations here, such as the type of business you run. If a business is strongly linked with its owner and that owner sells or leaves the business, an evaluation based on past performance could lose its validity depending on how customers react to the change.
What Kinds of Valuations Exist?
A valuation has benefits beyond just figuring out what a business is worth and there is therefore a lot of variety in types of valuations. Business valuations are just one type of valuation that is possible. A different reason for a valuation could include something such as intellectual property.
409A Valuations
This type of valuation is concerned with the stocks connected to your business. Many businesses offer stock to their employees and contractors. When compensation comes in the form of stocks like this it is considered a special type of deferred payment that has to be reported.
This sounds complicated. What it comes down to is stock options. For one thing, this type of valuation can help a business find its fair market value. The fair market value determined by this valuation is a benchmark at or above which employees given stock must be able to sell. If your company issues other forms of deferred compensation, including things like bonus plans, then this type of valuation may be required by law.
It is important to know whether or not your business is legally required to get this form of valuation. And if you’ve already gotten a 409A valuation, ensure you are getting re-evaluated once a year and/or any time your company closes a new funding round, in accordance with the law.
While you can do a 409a valuation yourself, a skilled accountant can guide you through the process with expertise to make sure you don’t hit any bumps along the way. A Redwood valuator will know the ins and outs of this type of valuation, as well as the best approach for you and your business as you undergo this process.
Business Valuations/Looking at Business Valuations
A business valuation is a general term and can be suitable for a myriad of situations, including during negotiations, while planning a business or during entity conversations. Perhaps you are interested in finding the likely selling price of your business on the market. Or you might be hoping to assess your tax liability by looking at your business’ value.
A practiced accountant can help navigate enterprise and equity valuations for businesses. Redwood’s expert team has grown to keep pace with our increasing client needs. We years of experience and a comprehensive team, we are prepared to take on a host of business valuations needs. Whether you want to find your fair market value or do tax or financial reporting on your business, we are prepared to help you through the process.
It takes an experienced team to understand the intricacies of business and finance, as well as IRS regulations. A valuation is an added complexity on top of keeping your business running, so allow our accountants to handle valuations for you.
IP and Patent Valuations
Intellectual property and patents have separate valuation concerns. However, this type of valuation can impact a wide range of businesses. Taxes are complex when it comes to IP and patents, but it is also important to make sure trade secrets and trademarks can be protected. Litigation, mergers, acquisitions and business planning provide additional cause for an IP and patent valuation.
Make sure your patent or intellectual property is protected by understanding what it’s worth on the market. These assets can be difficult to appraise as they are often intangible and difficult to define. Yet for many businesses, understanding those assets and their precise worth can add value and keep the company in compliance with all applicable laws.
Purchase Price Allocations (ASC 805)
You may be required to do a purchase price allocation. In the course of negotiations for a business acquisition, things such as liabilities, assets and fair market value need to be assessed objectively. This is particularly important for assessing purchase prices in an acquisition.
The goal of a purchase price allocation is to tease apart the pieces of a business, such as liabilities and assets, to find its fair market value. It is not always the case that a business is sold as one whole entity; it may be sold in smaller pieces.
What’s the Bottom Line?
Here at Redwood Valuation Partners you will find the expertise you need for your valuation. Whether your business is in Pittsburgh or somewhere else entirely, we can help you find the value of your business or intellectual property and stay in compliance with the tax code and other laws and regulations.
Knowing the fair market value of your business can help your future. Whether you are looking to assess your value for the sake of selling or have yearly tax considerations, a business valuation will help. You also could seek a business valuation in order to protect a patent. The intricacies can seem overwhelming. That’s where experienced accountants come in to help inform and guide you. Whether it’s finance, tax issues or business, our accountants are prepared to navigate the technicalities with you.
We understand the ins and outs of venture capital and auditing and take a teamwork-focused approach. Our valuation associates and analysts have worked in their field for years, becoming respected experts. We understand that many of our clients come from high-pressure startups and growth-focused companies with tight deadlines. That’s why we won’t waste your time; we’ll handle the details while you keep running your business.
Whether you want a valuation for selling, taxes or any other reason, we can promise client focus and years of experience when working alongside you. Along with audit defense, we will give you a free consultation before beginning your valuation, which comes with customized report. We can assist you from the very beginning if you don’t know where to start. Take a deeper look at your business with the customized report we provide as part of our valuations. The comprehensive valuation report will include subjective and objective factors relevant to your particular business. Plus, you can take one less burden off your plate with audit defense that guarantees audit defense at any time without high additional costs.
In the end, if you need a business valuation, you will likely need help with that valuation. Get Redwood’s experienced team to assist you as you work through a business valuation for any reason. Begin your process with a free consultation.
Our clients have direct access to Redwood’s managing partners and directors. You know your business better than anyone, and the valuation process includes subjective assessments that require your input. We guide you through this process, save your time, and allow you to focus on what matters – growing your business. Get a quality company appraisal in Pittsburgh, PA.
The Redwood team has performed many IRC 409A Valuation Seattle engagements, and we offer a wide variety of business appraisals to Seattle. Other services include ASC 805 valuation (purchase price allocations), IP valuation, patent valuation, impairment valuation, carried interest valuation, portfolio valuations, IRC 382 valuations, and many other types of stock valuations and business valuations.
With over 50 years of combined valuation experience, we provide top-tier expertise and client service at a reasonable price. Our experience as CFOs and Controllers of venture firms and startups separates us from our competitors who lack the boots-on-the-ground experience that our clients have, which we also share.
If you plan to issue stock options in the next twelve months or have any questions about potential valuations, give us a call for a free consultation and we will give you candid advice about whether a valuation may be needed and how we might help. Our goal is to help our clients achieve their desired goals with minimal burden.
409A Valuation Pittsburgh
Redwood Valuation Partners was formed behind an idea of service positioning us as one of the most well-respected companies in the industry. Our expert knowledge of finance, tax, venture capital, and the audit process helps us understand the difficulties of start-ups. We speak your language! Give us a call and learn how we can help. For information on Business Valuations follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook and find us on Google+ too! (206) 660-1295
