We regularly appraise food processing plants, and one constant is that they are all fascinating. From the basics of rice and almond processing, the specialty equipment of row-crop packaging and winemaking, to the intricacies of legacy facilities, I remain amazed by the technology. When I was hired by a CPA to appraise his client’s evaporation…Read More
Streamline Business Dissolutions with Shared Appraisal Expert
Shareholder and business partner dissolutions occur for a multitude of reasons, including disputes. Examples of dispute situations include a shareholder mishandling corporate information, a partner acting inappropriately, or a personality conflict among shareholders. In business disputes of this kind, a business valuation (BV) is the simplest and most cost-effective way to determine the value of…Read More
Opening up Restricted Reports
This past year we did a number of Restricted appraisal reports. All of them were for business owners, of course, and mostly for buy/sell/exchange scenarios. One was a manufacturing facility to be transferred from a retiring father to his in-charge son; another was a food processing plant for the purpose of assisting with an internal…Read More
Lightening Complex: Fire Insurance Claims
The LNU, CZU, and SCU wildfire complexes and the River Fire in the Monterey area are ravaging California. In our area (LNU), many friends and neighbors have been evacuated; across the state, so many people have lost homes and businesses. Our hearts go out to everyone affected and we hope that these fires will be…Read More
Appraisals in the Time of Pandemic
The evening of March 12, we were on a mostly empty flight back from Pittsburgh, PA where we’d spent 4 days inspecting a chain of grocery stores for a buy/sell agreement. The TP and hand sanitizer sweep began while we were there, as the Allegheny County Health Department confirmed COVID-19 cases in the area. On March 13, as you may remember, a…Read More
State Board of Equalization Equipment Appraisal Presentation
At the State Board of Equalization meeting Friday, December 6, 2019, I served as one of five panelists for a discussion of Assessment of Personal Property & Fixtures: Ensuring Accurate & Consistent Valuations & Application Methods. The other equipment appraiser on the panel was my colleague Garret Schwartz. Panelists affiliated with the assessor’s office were…Read More
Case Study: Purchase Price Allocation for a Legacy Food Processing Facility
In an equipment appraisal for financial reporting purposes, the initial rough numbers were almost twice the purchase price. Because the enterprise had been on the market for a number of years and the purchase was an arm’s length transaction, that big difference between the preliminary calculation and the purchase price didn’t make sense … until…Read More
3 Red Flags in Machinery & Equipment Appraisal Reports
I recently submitted a few examples of Machinery & Equipment Review problems–along with a sample review report–to an overseas valuation organization that’s putting together an in-house manual for its members. What’s interesting to me is that although this organization follows IVS instead of USPAP, is governmentally regulated in a way that ASA equipment appraisers are…Read More
Equipment Depreciation: Discount for Ownership
Calculating accurate deprecation for equipment values is critical; explaining how that depreciation was calculated is just as important, especially for litigation cases, property tax appeals or purchase price allocation situations. Equipment can lose value in any of the three standards areas: physical depreciation, functional obsolescence, and economic obsolescence. In some valuation situations, the loss of value…Read More
Case Study: Lowering Property Tax Costs on Wine Tanks
A California client, one of the oldest continuously operated family-owned wineries in the country, wanted to review their equipment values with an eye toward possible property tax appeal. Including in the holdings were tanks, bottling equipment, support machinery and equipment including forklifts and wastewater systems, agricultural equipment, restaurant equipment and, of course, office and administrative…Read More
15 Most Common Appraisal Report Mistakes
Appraisal review isn’t just for appraisers. While attorneys and CPAs may be best served by hiring a trained reviewer for questionable appraisals, they can do an initial pass using a quick checklist of a handful of common appraisal report mistakes. We discuss these errors in great detail in the ARM accreditation classes offered by ASA…Read More
Case Study: Asset Lists, Inspection & the General Ledger
We’re currently working with a speciality harvesting equipment appraisal in the Salinas area and have been working with the client to compile an asset list for the upcoming equipment inspection. Several conversations and email exchanges regarding how to compile an effective equipment list – in conjunction with some recent interesting inspection experiences – have freshly…Read More
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