What is a chartered business valuator?

The designation: the chartered business valuator (CBV) designation is the premier credential for professional business valuators in Canada. Chartered business valuators (“CBVS”) are financial professionals who hold this designation granted by the Canadian institute of chartered business valuators. They are nationally recognized and provide business valuation expertise in the areas of compliance, disputes and corporate finance.

Quantifying worth: CBVS quantify the worth of all, or part of a business or its securities. They have the ability to determine the value of tangible and intangible assets, including brand and intellectual property, and then explain their rationale in an easy to understand manner.

Respected and recognized: the opinions of CBVS are respected and recognized by the courts in shareholder, partnership, securities, intellectual property and marital disputes, damage quantification, insurance losses, personal injury claims, patent infringement and breach of contract cases.

Range of work: CBVS provide assistance in a number of areas including:

• Notional valuations where a negotiated arm’s length transaction will not take place: examples include transactions between shareholders or related parties, transactions for taxation and corporate reorganization, and for transfer pricing and matrimonial purposes.

• Financial litigation support activities: examples include breach of contracts, insurance losses, patent infringements and personal injuries.
• Corporate finance and transaction-based activities: examples include financings, mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buy-outs, management buy-outs, buy/sell agreements, initial public offerings and the preparation of analyst reports and studies.

• Regulatory areas where independent valuation conclusions are required by securities commissions and other regulatory bodies: examples include fairness opinions for public market transactions, going private transactions and non arms length dealings.
• Strategic planning: examples include succession planning, preparing a business for sale and identification of value drivers.

 

Employment opportunities: business valuation is one of the fastest growing, highly-specialized professions. CBVS are employed at accounting firms, investment banks, venture capital firms and boutique valuation consulting firms. Others work directly in a variety of businesses across Canada and throughout the world.

Educational backgrounds: the profession is comprised of individuals with wide-ranging backgrounds including commerce, accounting, law and economics, as well as those holding accounting and financial designations such as CA, CMA, CGA and CFA.

What are the benefits of engaging a cbv?

There are many reasons that an individual or a corporation might require a business valuation, including tax and estate planning, matrimonial disputes, shareholder disputes, business sales and acquisitions, commercial damages quantification, and numerous other circumstances. Whatever the reason, the valuation of a business is a complex undertaking that requires specialized knowledge and abilities.

Specialized training: through their comprehensive educational program (which includes courses dealing with business valuation, as well as Canadian taxation and corporate law) and practical experience requirements, chartered business valuators (CBVS) are specially trained to deal with the intricacies that can arise when valuing any type of business. CBVS also have access to continuing education through regional workshops and national conferences that address current and evolving industry topics. Many accountants also have their CBV designation. A general distinction between the two professions is that CAS look at the past to create financial statements. CBVS look to the future to determine what is most likely to happen and place a value on that. This difference is one of the reasons the Canadian institute of chartered accountants (CICA) recognizes CBVS as the exclusive experts in the field of business valuation in Canada.

Professional recognition: those engaging a CBV benefit by working with a professional who is a member of a recognized national body, the Canadian institute of chartered business valuators (CICBV). The CICBV has firm standards of practice that help to ensure the quality and consistency of the work performed by CBVS across Canada, as well as a code of ethics by which all CBVS must abide.

Independent experts: CBVS are often engaged to act as an independent expert or assume an advisory role. CBVS also work in conjunction with other professionals such as lawyers, accountants and tax specialists.