Equipment appraising over the holidays? More fun than you’d think! Not only do we love our work, of course, but we got a great unexpected assignment that couldn’t wait. So instead of decking the halls, we celebrated by packing laptops, clipboards, measuring tape, and mechanical pencils into our intrepid travel office and driving through the Central Valley for an equipment appraisal adventure in the snowy Sierras to inspect hospitality equipment during the heyday of the holiday season. Along with the equipment appraisal gear, we optimistically threw in our snowshoes …
Because we hadn’t received an equipment asset list along with the services agreement, we scheduled a few extra days to compile a complete FF&E inventory (furniture, fixtures and equipment). This extended timeline was no hardship since we were staying in a business suite on-site, with meals included at the adjoining premier restaurant. By design, we worked late into the dark cold evenings so that we could explore a different snowy trail each afternoon. The weather was great. We even enjoyed snow flurries a few days!
Hospitality equipment appraisal is a different kind of equipment valuation, one that includes the kind of personal property not generally included in the construction, agricultural, manufacturing or processing equipment appraisals that make up the bulk of our valuation assignments. Tables, chairs, POS equipment and kitchen equipment are, of course, part and parcel of any restaurant equipment appraisal, and we do a fair number of those every year. Computers and office furniture show up in almost every equipment appraisal. And souvenir shop displays aren’t much different from the merchandise display equipment in any retail establishment. But the bed frames, mattresses, hide-a-bed sofas, luggage carts and dressers particular to lodging establishments are not the examples that spring to mind when most people think of equipment.
That being said, we’ve actually valued a fair number of hospitality establishments, including soft goods valuation along with generators, snow blowers, kitchen and bar equipment and gift shops. Hotels, lodges, and motels we’ve appraised have varied from iconic San Francisco establishments to rustic waterfront cabins or those nestled in the woods, standard urban multi-story hotels, and luxurious resorts such as the one we were fortunate enough to spend the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve inspecting for a buy/sell situation. Other reasons for hospitality equipment valuations include estate planning, insurance purposes, family law, and property tax appeals, as well as other financial reporting purposes such as purchase price allocation.
Back in the office, with snowshoes stored away and the 700+ item equipment asset list ready for research, we don’t regret working over the holiday. Sometimes, a busman’s holiday is the best kind of a holiday, as long as there’s time for an afternoon walk in the snow between inspections!
Jack Young, ASA, CPA
Hospitality Equipment Appraiser
NorCalValuation.com
