Report Writing: Review and Analysis

After completing this course, attendees will be able to:

• Detect challenges in a formal business oral presentation
• Apply the elements of credible writing to business appraisal reports
• Recognize the features of excellent and problematic business appraisal reports
• Differentiate between scope and findings in an appraisal review report

Determine, Defend, and Maximize Company Value® 

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This webinar series is structured around the report writing experience. As the sessions progress, attendees will (i) hone their business writing skills, (ii) see best practices for report organization, (iii) navigate the industry’s professional standards, (iv) consider common report errors and omissions noted by practitioners and the courts, and (v) learn how to present data in tables and graphs.

Day 1: Getting to Where You Want to Go
What makes a good report great? First, it must be based on a solid valuation analysis. Second, it must tell a story that is well written, easy to follow, and unbiased. Third, it must leave the reader confident that a reasonable conclusion was reached. A report’s organization can go a long way towards achieving those objectives.

• Develop an efficient and effective report layout from cover page to valuation schedules.
• Meet the needs of a report’s intended user with appropriate appendices and exhibits.
• Review sample report excerpts that illustrate the discussion points.

Day 2: Adhering to Professional Standards
What makes a good report great (continuing from Day 2) is that it must also adhere to professional standards. This session is designed for BVFLS practitioners who want to better understand and apply the industry’s professional standards and, as applicable, how and where those standards interact with the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. 

• Assess and apply business valuation standards from NACVA, IBA, ASA, AICPA, and USPAP.
• Understand the business valuation review standards issued by NACVA and USPAP.
• Relate the application of business valuation standards to the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct.

Attendees should determine if the content in day three qualifies for their states' ethics CPE requirements.

Day 3: Before You Write, THINK
You have analyzed the financials, did your research, made the site visit, and interviewed management—you understand the business. Now it is time to write your report. In the minds of some people, this is the easy part of a valuation. In reality, not so much. Before you write, you must think about what points you intend to make and how you intend to support those points.

• Establish the primary points of a report.
• Determine the format for the support of those points.
• Find for editorial tools that help ensure grammar, spelling, and punctuation are precise, and appreciate the need to have another pair of eyes on a report before it is submitted.

Day 4: Mistakes and Errors and Omissions, Oh My
This session focuses on demonstrating a report’s relevance, reliability, and replicability through the lens (and litany) of common errors and omissions observed by the courts, and seen by practitioners with every day and IRS compliance experience. The focus is also on preventing errors and omissions by teaching good proofreading and bias-checking practices.

• Understand the principles of credible reports.
• Weigh the severity of E&O from a perspective of “the not-so-good, the bad, and the ugly.”
• Learn how to proofread and check for bias in their reports.

Day 5: Presenting Quantitative Data
Quantitative data takes us out of the world of supposition and into the realm of measured evidence. And the evidence that underlies our report’s estimates, opinions, and conclusions is almost always conveyed in tables and graphs using numbers. So it is not about the numbers, it is about presenting the numbers in a way that effectively supports the report writing narrative.

• Understand why presenting data is a communication skill, not a mathematical skill.
• Create layouts that most effectively convey the data for the intended purpose.
• Make tables and graphs comprehensible for a report’s intended user.

Applicants for the Certified Valuation Analyst® (CVA®) designation, and practitioners who hold a business valuation credential, will find the course instrumental in producing their case studies and demonstration reports for accreditation.

Newly credentialed business valuators who have obtained their valuation certification (CVA, CBA, ABV, ASA, etc.) in the last three years, and those who perform less than five valuations per year interested in advancing their valuation skills and developing new business opportunities.

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