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Determining Reasonable Executive Compensation
Background For a wide variety of purposes, including business valuation, assessing minority shareholder claims, and the assessment of payroll and income taxes, it is necessary to consider the reasonableness of executive compensation. This is particularly true when the executive is also the controlling person of the business paying the compensation. Valuation analysists do this as…
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How to Value: Food Service Contractors
Industry Description The food service contractors industry provides food services at institutional, governmental, commercial, or industrial locations (NAICS 722300). Locations where food services are provided include airports, food courts, sports venues, and college and university cafeterias. The following are some basic characteristics of the food service contractors industry: Industry Trends The food service contractors industry…
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Reduce personal injury and wrongful death damages by 50% in one easy step
Consider someone permanently injured or killed in their early 30s that: Undiscounted, that is $4.0 million in damages. Using the “risk-free” rates of today (some of the highest that have been seen in 20+ years), results in a damage payout of approximately $2.8 million. If you instead assume the “risk-free” rates will not stay at…
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Tips for Deposing Financial Experts
The following is practical advice with the benefit of hundreds of depositions. First, a question What is your strategy for this deposition? Will you use this deposition to prepare for trial, or are you instead pursing settlement? Either choice will involve tradeoffs. If you are preparing for trial and wish to keep your cards close…
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How to Value: Clothing Stores
Industry Description The clothing stores industry retails new clothing for all genders and age groups (NAICS 4481). Retailed clothing includes men (448110), women (448120), children and infants (448130), family (448140), accessories (448150) and many other categories and segments (448190). The industry also includes basic alterations services, such as hemming, adding or removing seams, and lengthening…
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The Basics of Duty to Mitigate
Many types of commercial litigation include the duty to mitigate. The duty to mitigate is an affirmative duty: a plaintiff must make reasonable efforts to reduce their losses. When a plaintiff does not, then their damages are reduced under the assumption they had taken reasonable efforts to reduce their losses, or they are excluded from…
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Producing QuickBooks Online is Easy
If opposing counsel is claiming that producing QuickBooks Online accounting records cannot be done, or doing so would be difficult and overly burdensome, it is not. Producing a QuickBooks Online for litigation can be done in a few short minutes. There is no need to make any changes or modifications to the file, the company’s…
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How to Value: Car Washes & Auto Detailing
Industry Description The car washes & auto detailing industry cleans, washes and waxes automobiles, such as cars, trucks, vans and trailers (NAICS 811190). This industry also includes self-service car wash establishments. The industry does not include automotive repair or maintenance services, which are the subject of other valuation guides. The following are some basic characteristics…
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The Basics of Lost Profits
Lost profits is a form of compensatory damages, and a potential remedy in most commercial litigation cases including breach of contract, business interruption, theft of trade secrets, and most business torts. Lost profits seek to compensate plaintiff with the benefits they were denied due to alleged wrongdoing. At the highest level, lost profits are the difference…
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Spoliation of QuickBooks Records
Story time Our experts once served on a case to critique the claimed replacement value of a destroyed piece of property. This is commonly known as a cost approach. To support their calculation, claimants produced their QuickBooks file. Earlier, claimants produced their financial statements. Based on their form, we knew that these financial statements had…
