Business Valuations Are Not Commodities
Privately-held Maine business owners might need appraisals of their interests for many reasons, including: Small business loans, Strategic planning, Mergers, acquisitions and shareholder buy-ins (or buy-outs), Equitable distributions of marital estates, Minority...
Reliable Experts Are Independent Experts
A financial expert witness builds on a solid foundation constructed by a reputable source to reach a reliable conclusion. At times, multiple sources are used to reach a conclusion, and these are the assumptions and sources underlying the expert's opinion. However, in...
Valuing Intellectual Property
Many small businesses today have a significant amount of intellectual property as part of their value. Sometimes it can be difficult to actually place a value on this type of property. It can be hard to understand, as it’s often quite technical. Also, there are...
Year-End Payroll Reminders
It may seem far away, but the year will be wrapping up before we know it. Small business owners need to keep in mind all that needs to be submitted to complete required documents. Here are some important items to keep in mind when finishing up the tax year. Remember,...
The Benefits of Outsourcing Accounting and Bookkeeping
A Maine-based small business owner might assume that they will save money by doing all accounting and bookkeeping work themselves. Oftentimes, however, these business people realize that isn’t necessarily the case. These tasks are often complicated, and can take up...
Valuators in Taking Case Disagree Over Measure of Damages
City of Baton Rouge v. Jay’s Donuts, Inc., 2014 La. App. Unpub. LEXIS 722 (Dec. 17, 2014) An expropriation case centering on taking a successful donut shop for public use raised fundamental valuation issues, such as the proper methodology for capturing the full extent...
Non-Compete Agreements: What Can They Accomplish?
Maine-based small businesses want brilliance and innovation from their employees while they are on the payroll, but they also want their employees to keep those qualities to themselves if they leave the company. Non-compete agreements attempt to that to control any...
Financial Forecasts and Projections in Litigation
The efficacy of financial forecasts or projections that are used by an expert when they are making a valuation in a litigation proceeding is a point that can be missed. If these forecasts are off, they can be the cause of a large difference between experts. It’s...
Resolve Customer Billing Disputes Promptly
All Maine-based small businesses have their share of customers who take forever to pay, and even plain old bad apples who just won’t pay up. Some companies, however, seem to be battling long and unproductive billing problems with their customers more often than not....
Protect Your Company Against Fraud
Fraud within a small business used to be rare. But now, many different types of organizations are falling victim to internal fraud. The good news is that while no anti-fraud system is infallible,there are things that small business owners can do to reduce the risk of...