Much has been written about appraising the closely held business
enterprise. Many of these articles and treatises fill a large part
of my library, and some of the texts are in their second edition.
None, however, is as comprehensive as this monograph on the
subject of valuing professional practices. Moreover, the basic fundamentals
set forth in this book have application in valuing the
non-professional business as well.
The book is written for practitioners in North America as well
as for those in other areas of the world. The concepts and the
methods are the same in many countries and, although many
court decisions may not readily cross borders, neither do many
U.S. and Canadian court cases set precedent in jurisdictions where
they were not originally tried.
The author, early on in the book, points out that market value
is distinct from fair market value, which assumes that both buyer
and seller are apprised of all the factors influencing value. How
often do we get set upon "comparable" transactions that do not
represent fair market value? Another area that the author clarifies
is the difference between commercial goodwill and personal
goodwill.
In the chapter on the valuation of partial interests the author
provides the results of a 1989 survey of 50 business valuators from
Canada and the United States with respect to the probable incidence
of various ranges of combined marketability and minority
interest discounts from rateable value which readers should find
most helpful as a reference in establishing their own discounts.