In many of my appraisals, particularly for used in litigation, I’m frequently asked to justify the opinion of value for equipment that has outlived its expected life. Part of the general confusion can be attributed to the common misunderstanding between an accounting depreciation schedule and the practical value of machinery or equipment, including the oversimplification…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
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: Inventory Fire Loss
Join us Friday, Nov 10, 2017, 4:00pm to 5:00pm at Caruso’s in The Westin St Francis, Union Square in San Francisco, CA, when ASA equipment appraiser, Jack Young, ASA, CPA, will be available to answer your questions about the importance of independent, defensible and USPAP compliant equipment appraisals for in fire litigation. Click here for more information &…Read More
Factors in Appraising for Fire Loss or Theft
How do we appraise equipment that’s been destroyed or stolen? Of course we hope for good records — photos, equipment lists, maintenance records — but rarely are those available. Often whatever records might have existed have been lost in the same fire that destroyed the equipment. In most of the fire cases we’ve been called…Read More
Equipment Appraisal Reconciliation
Reconciliation is the final process for the equipment appraiser when more than one approach to value is used in an equipment valuation. That process involves reconciling the values from the separate approaches and resolving, if necessary, any differences in order to arrive at a final opinion of value. The question here is: “Why in the world…Read More
USPAP 2014-15: 7 Notable Changes
Every two years, USPAP (Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice) gets an update. That doesn’t mean, of course, that all appraisers are learning about the updates in the same year that the new version of USPAP hits the streets. In fact many appraisers only take a USPAP class every 5 years! Or, as we discussed in…Read More
Must-Have Resource From the Appraisal Foundation
If you’ve ever had any questions about equipment appraisal, I’m happy to share with you a new, free downloadable brochure from the Appraisal Foundation, entitled Valuation of Machinery and Equipment. This full-color, 20-page booklet is packed full of must-have information; it lists reasons you might need an equipment appraisal, provides important definitions from the American Society…Read More
Grocery Equipment Valuations
Next time you walk into a grocery store, take a moment to appreciate all the equipment on the sales floor –– from the cantilevered gondola shelves to the automated checkout stands, the food bar, water dispensing machine, and of course, all the refrigerated display cases: enclosed freezers, reach-in refrigerated cases, the open topped freezer boxes…Read More
Our 100th Post!
On the last day of June, NorCal Valuation Inc.’s equipment appraisal blog totaled 100 posts! That’s a lot of information about machinery and equipment valuation. Coming up soon will be post 102, as we continue discussing The Myth of the Certified Equipment Appraiser. In the meantime, I hope you’ll find plenty to read in our first…Read More
What Determines the Cost of an Appraisal?
When folks call us for an equipment appraisal, the first thing they usually ask is how much an appraisal will cost. Many of them are surprised to hear that we need a lot more information about their equipment and their situation before we can provide a quote or bid for the job. Why does your…Read More
What’s so Fair about Fair Market Value?
When you think about “Fair Market Value” in equipment appraisal reports, what do you think the “fair” part means? We had this discussion not long ago at an appraisal report writing class regarding the new USPAP regulations and the consensus was that the “fair” part of “fair market value” is redundant. Market Value, by definition,…Read More