Business Valuation Raleigh North Carolina
Assessing Business Value in Raleigh
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 Raleigh business. If this sounds technical, don’t worry. Our experts at Redwood Valuation Partners have years of experience in business valuation and are eager to help you through the process from start to finish.
409A Valuation, IRC 409A Valuation, Purchase Price Allocation in Raleigh, NC
Call Redwood Valuation Partners for your next business valuation (206) 660-1295
Why Get Your Raleigh Business Valued?
A business valuation could be conducted for several reasons, but often it is done because a business’s owner wants to know how much the company is worth. 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.
A business valuation shows not just overall worth, but also where that value originates from. Teasing out all the reasons a business is valuable is complicated, though. A business that is important for a particular city, such as Raleigh, may have high value there, but not elsewhere. Likewise, a business that seems like a tiny startup could have a ton of hidden value for the right buyer. The particulars of a business will determine the outcome.
That’s why expertise is crucial in a business valuation. An accountant doing a valuation needs to know tax law, the audit process and finance, as well as information about your business. If you are interested in stock compensation, expenses or selling price, you will see a lot of benefits from a well-done business valuation. Ultimately, the reason for a business valuation depends on your particular circumstances. We at Redwood offer a free consultation for clients who need advice getting started with a business valuation.
Different Ways of Approaching Business Valuation
There are three main approaches to business valuation that an accountant or business valuator will use. There could be other approaches to business valuation, but the three described here encompass the most common methods. No matter where your business is located, these methods can help you find your business’s value. The best approach for your business depends on your reason for getting a valuation and your long-term goals for your company.
Asset-Based Approach
There are several asset-based approaches possible for business valuation. The overall goal is to add together all the investments in the business. An accountant going forward with an asset-based mindset is theoretically attempting to imagine what it would cost to set up another, identical business. This exercise can reveal a lot of information about a business, including its liabilities and assets. The difference between the assets and the liabilities of the company is the business’ value.
It sounds straightforward, but there are hidden complexities. The difficulty lies in the details, where figuring out the worth of a business and sorting through assets and liabilities becomes more complicated. Additionally, there are two different ways of going about this process: a going concern asset-based approach and a liquidation asset-based approach.
The first option is a going concern asset-based approach. 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 the other approach, a liquidation asset-based approach, the accountant first imagines that all the assets and liabilities were paid off, as though the business was liquidated. After a real liquidation, the business would receive cash; this now becomes the business’s value in a valuation.
Choosing an asset focused method of business valuation maybe right for your business. It is possible that a different method is more suitable for your particular business. There are certainly some businesses, such as those that are in a sole proprietorship, that would be well-advised to take a different approach. By contrast, corporations spread out the ownership of assets throughout the company and could benefit more greatly from a valuation based on assets.
Determining Value Based on the Market
It can be useful in a valuation to look at the bigger picture and see what a business is worth compared to the rest of the market. For example, you could compare your business to others located in Raleigh. Viewing your business side-by-side with other, similar ventures can provide crucial information for figuring out the value of a business.
The advantage to this approach is that it looks more comprehensively at the overall business climate for your particular field. An accountant using this approach will try to determine the fair market value of your business and what a buyer is likely to pay for it in the current climate.
Unfortunately, it is not always easy to get competitors with your business to reveal the sort of information needed for a market-based valuation. Some of the difficulty with a market-focused approach arises when you encounter non-competition clauses and other information a business has decided to make private.
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.
Obviously, this invites an element of risk in that the accountant or valuator is attempting to determine value based on a predication. Some of this uncertainty is offset by the ability to use concrete data to calculate this valuation. Often, a valuator will “normalize” current earnings, removing abnormal costs and windfalls, to try to get a reliable set of figures to work with. The market itself can produce spikes and dips that require an additional capitalization factor to be figured into the assessment.
How a business is run and who owns it is an important consideration here, as with other approaches to valuation. 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.
Different Kinds of Business Valuations
Not all valuations are the same and not all valuations are confined strictly to businesses. There are other value assessments that serve difficult purposes. Others focus on things such as patents and intellectual property.
What is a 409A Valuation?
A 409A valuation is conducted for the purpose of evaluating the stocks associated with the company. It is common for employees in many fields to receive stocks as compensation. Stocks given to employees are regarded by the IRS as deferred income ퟀ�” income given to someone in one year but actually paid in a different year.
This may seem overwhelming. Ultimately, it is a matter of reporting stock earnings. For one thing, this type of valuation can help a business find its fair market value. Any employee offered stock as part of their compensation must be able to buy equity in your company at or above the fair market value determined through this valuation. In addition to stock, a 409A valuation is required if your company issues bonus plans, salary deferral arrangements and other agreements involving deferred compensation for employees.
Often, you will know you need this type of valuation because it will be legally required of your business. Additional 409a valuations could be required at the end of a new round of funding or once a year, even if you have gotten this type of valuation in the past already.
An accountant such as the ones at Redwood can be a crucial ally in trying to sort through the 409A valuation process any time you find you need to do one. They can also help you choose the best approach to this valuation for your circumstances and business needs.
Valuations for Businesses
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.
Whatever the reason, a skilled valuator can help you get equity and enterprise valuations. Redwood’s expert team has grown to keep pace with our increasing client needs. We have experienced accountants prepared for whatever your business’ specific valuation needs entail. Perhaps you want to ensure compliance with tax reporting or, conversely, find the fair market value of your business.
IRS regulations, business needs and finance are complex fields that call for knowledge and specialization. A valuation is an added complexity on top of keeping your business running, so allow our accountants to handle valuations for you.
Valuations for IP and Patents
Intellectual property and patents have separate valuation concerns. Most businesses do have some sort of intangible property that want to protect and valuate, though. 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. Other reasons for IP and patent valuations include business planning, mergers and acquisitions and litigation support.
Make sure your patent or intellectual property is protected by understanding what it’s worth on the market. Defining assets that are not necessarily tangible can be complex, though. But the value of IP and patents cannot be understated, especially in recent times when so much of a business’s value comes from these assets in particular.
Purchase Price Allocations (ASC 805)
Purchase price allocations, or ASC 805, may be necessary for your business. In the course of negotiations for a business acquisition, things such as liabilities, assets and fair market value need to be assessed objectively. Purchase price is the crucial outcome of such an evaluation of a business.
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?
At Redwood Valuation Partners, we are experts in business valuation. Whether you are comparing your business to others in Raleigh or looking elsewhere, a business valuation can show you the fair market value of your business and assets and keep you in compliance with any tax code regulations.
Knowing the fair market value of your business can help your future. Business valuations help in situations where you want to sell, sort out your taxes or simply determine the value of your various assets. You also could seek a business valuation in order to protect a patent. Assets and liabilities are complicated. That’s where experienced accountants come in to help inform and guide you. Our team has worked for years in business, finance and tax issues, allowing us to meet the needs of a wide range of businesses.
While venture capital and auditing can be complicated, we believe teamwork and expertise can help manage the process of a valuation. Our team consists of experts who have worked in their specialties for years. We understand that many of our clients come from high-pressure startups and growth-focused companies with tight deadlines. We value your time; let us minimize the burden of complicated valuation details while you focus on what you know best ퟀ�” your business.
Our principles when working with clients include intense focus, long experience and grounded expertise, no matter the cause for the valuation. We go beyond the standard valuation to offer a free consultation, as well as audit defense and customized reports. We will even help you get started if you aren’t sure. The customized reports we include with our valuations give you insight into the details of all of your businesses assets. See both subjective and objective elements of your valuation with an in-depth look at your 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.
The bottom line is that a business valuation, for any reason, is best approached with help. Redwood has the experts on hand to make your business valuation a painless process with lots of benefits. A free consultation may be the perfect starting point.
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 Raleigh, NC.
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 Raleigh
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
