BV207-OOO - Business Valuation Report Writing and Analysis
Category: Business Valuation
Continuing Education: 4.8
Registration
Please see the "Upcoming Classes" tab for class offerings and registration information.
Course Description
A common stumbling block for many
candidates going through ASA’s accreditation process is the successful preparation
of a satisfactory appraisal report. After reviewing hundreds of
reports and working directly with candidates, ASA’s Board of Examiners realized
many BV practitioners need specialized assistance in preparing
high-quality appraisal reports. This course has been prepared keeping in mind the
types of report-writing errors commonly found in submitted reports and with a view
to the high degree of competence and report-writing skill required to pass
the rigorous report review by ASA's Board of Examiners. Candidates who follow
the guidelines presented in this course stand a much better chance of preparing
a satisfactory report on the first try.
This course will:
- Review the rules for report writing set forth in
relevant appraisal standards;
- Suggest proven solutions to logistical problems like
organization, layout, style, printing, etc;
- Present a workable outline for a formal written
business valuation report;
- Suggest suitable content for each section of an
appraisal report; and
- Present a sound background for preparing appraisal reports which will meet
the requirements of the ASA’s Board of Examiners.
A Note on
Sample Reports
Some students have requested that ASA provide them with a sample report
showing the content and organization discussed in this course. Experience has
shown, however, that when students are provided with a sample report, they do
not learn the underlying skills and analysis necessary to become competent
appraisers and report-writers. Accordingly, no such sample report is included
with this course; however, the many examples included in the course and the
suggested table of contents are a “great start” and serve as a sound foundation
for good report writing.
The Skilled Report-Writer
While this course
will serve as a guide for writing business valuation appraisal reports, no
one-day session can teach everything the skilled and competent appraiser needs to
know about report writing. Competency and proficiency in report writing can only
be gained through years of continuing appraisal education and hands-on appraisal
report writing experience.
Pre-Requisites
This course assumes students are at least minimally qualified to perform
business appraisals and have passed the four BV Principals of Valuation courses
(BV201 - BV204). This course also assumes students can demonstrate an
expected level of common sense and good judgment, as well as proper and
comprehensive grammatical skills. While this course will assist you in
writing a report that will be acceptable for ASA’s accreditation process, taking
this course does not guarantee that your report will pass the Board of Examiners
review process.
Who Can’t Use a Refresher?
For practitioners who have already achieved journeyman level business
valuation skills, a course like this can serve as a reality check. Few
practitioners have the opportunity to have their written reports reviewed on a
regular basis, and it is easy to get stuck in old report-writing habits.
Many appraisers use a report template of one type or another for report writing
and these templates can become out-of-date. Boilerplate type text can live
for years undisturbed on report templates, never tested against newer
standards.
Acknowledgements
This course grew
out the experiences of ASA’s Board of Examiners while reviewing
reports submitted by Candidates for the Accredited Member (AM) and the Accredited Senior
Appraiser (ASA) designations. The author has extensive report writing
and review experience for ASA and other professional appraisal
organizations. It is important to acknowledge the skilled and valued contributions of
Steven Schroder, ASA and Warren Burkholder, ASA in the concepts and contents of
this course. Both provided hundreds of hours in reviewing candidate reports and
contributed significantly toward the art of report writing.
No prerequisites for this course.
Agenda
This is a self-paced, OnDemand course providing
approxiately four (4) hours of material to
complete.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students will be able
to:
1) Understand the rules for appraisal report writing set forth in relevent
standards;
2) Develop an acceptable report template using proper layout and
styling;
3) Write an outline for a formal written business appriasal report;
4) Draft suitable content for each section of the report; and
5) Prepare an organized, well-reasearched, substantiated and defendable
business appraisal report.