Business Valuation "MythBusters"

Harold G. Martin, Jr. is a Director in the Valuation and Forensic Services ("VFS") Practice of Keiter, a certified public accounting and consulting firm located in Richmond, Virginia. He was formerly the Partner-in-Charge of the VFS Practice for 23 years and member of the Executive and Partner Compensation Committees.

He has over 40 years of experience in valuation, forensic and public accounting, and financial services. He has performed over 2,000 valuation and forensic projects in over 220 industries. He has qualified as an expert witness before U.S. District Court, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and 22 circuit courts in five states, as well as the American Arbitration Association and National Association of Securities Dealers. He has been named as an expert in disputes subject to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. He has been appointed by U.S. District Court as a forensic accountant on cases in which he collaborated with the SEC and the FBI. He has been appointed by the U.S. Office of the Federal Public Defender as a consultant on fraud cases. He has also been retained by the U.S. Department of Justice as a consultant in a litigation in U.S. District Court. He has presented testimony at trial, arbitration, and deposition over 95 times. He has been appointed by various circuit courts as a neutral forensic accountant and appraiser.

Harold is also the Managing Director of the Financial Consulting Group ("FCG"), the leading organization of independently owned business valuation, forensic, and financial consulting firms in North America. FCG provides member firms the opportunity to collaborate in knowledge-sharing, teaming on projects, practice development, and training through participation in FCG University, webinars on specialized topics, on-line discussion forums and publications.

He is an adjunct faculty member of The College of William and Mary Raymond A. Mason School of Business. He has taught forensic accounting in the Master of Accounting program for 19 years, and he has also served as a guest lecturer for the M.B.A program and the Marshall-Wythe School of Law. He has also served as a guest instructor at the FBI Academy for forensic accountants in Quantico, Virginia, as well as the National Judicial College.

Prior to joining Keiter, he was affiliated for 13 years with two of the "Big Eight" international accounting firms, serving as a Director responsible for managing the Financial Advisory Services practice for Coopers & Lybrand's Richmond, Virginia office and as a Senior Manager in Management Consulting Services for Price Waterhouse. He also served as a Direct Loan Officer in retail banking at First & Merchants National Bank.

In 2024, Harold was recognized by Forbes magazine in its inaugural list of America's Top 200 CPAs. He was also selected as a "Super CPA" in Virginia in valuation and litigation services in peer surveys conducted by Virginia Business and the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants for each year from its inception in 2001 to its final year in 2014.

He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Business Valuation Hall of Fame and is a two-time recipient of the AICPA Business Valuation Volunteer of the Year Award. He serves as an instructor for the AICPA Business Valuation School and is a former instructor for the AICPA ABV Exam Review Course and AICPA Expert Witness Skills Workshop. He is a former member of the AICPA Business Valuation Committee, former Chair of the AICPA Business Valuation Conference Steering Committee, former commissioner of the AICPA National Accreditation Commission, former editor of the AICPA ABV e-Alert, and former editorial adviser and contributor for the AICPA CPA Expert.

He is a former member of the VSCPA's Board of Directors and former chair of the Business Valuation and Litigation Services Committees. He created and formerly chaired the Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants Forensic & Valuation Services Conference for 23 years.

He is a co-author of Financial Valuation: Applications and Models, 1st-5th ed., a contributing author to Cost of Capital: Estimation and Applications, 2nd-4th ed., an Editorial Board member for Business Valuation Update, the editor of the Financial Consulting Group FCG Buzz, a former member of the VSCPA Editorial Task Force for Disclosures, and a former expert panelist for Financial Valuation and Litigation Expert. He has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, as well as numerous other publications.

He received his A.B. degree from The College of William and Mary and his M.B.A. degree from Virginia Commonwealth University where he was a member of Beta Alpha Psi (National Accounting Honorary). He is licensed in Virginia as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He is also certified by the AICPA as Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV), Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF); by the American Society of Appraisers as an Accredited Senior Appraiser in Business Valuation (ASA); and by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners as a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).

Kevin Yeanoplos, CPA/ABV, ASA is a Shareholder and the Director of Valuation Services for Brueggeman and Johnson Yeanoplos, P.C., a firm with offices in Seattle and Tucson that specializes in the areas of business and intellectual property valuation, financial analysis and litigation support. Kevin is also one of the founders of YS Advisory Services, utilizing his extensive experience over the last four decades in advising professional service providers and their clients on strategic planning and management issues. He is an Adjunct Professor for the University of Denver's Daniels School of Business where he teaches graduate level courses in advanced business valuation.

For close to 40 years, Kevin has assisted clients around the country with the valuation of a diverse array of intangibles including patents, trademarks and song catalogs to name a few, whether it be for divorce or other litigation, financial reporting, gift and estate taxes, mergers and acquisitions or ESOP's, among others. The diversity extends to Kevin's extensive business valuation experience, with a partial client roster that includes healthcare companies, high tech companies, aircraft parts manufacturers, biomedical companies, construction companies, professional practices and automobile dealerships. As both an expert witness and court appointed neutral in state and Federal courts across the country, Kevin has assisted triers of fact in understanding a variety of complex valuation, financial analysis and damages issues.

A popular and experienced presenter, Kevin frequently lectures throughout the United States on the topics of valuation, applied finance and financial analysis, including presentations to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants ("AICPA"), the American Society of Appraisers ("ASA"), the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the State Bars of Arizona, Colorado and Utah, and many other professional organizations. He has been a faculty member for the AICPA's National Business Valuation School for close to 25 years and is currently on the faculty of the ABA Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute.

An accomplished author, Kevin has contributed to Valuing Professional Practices & Licenses, Forensic Accounting in Matrimonial Divorce, Financial Valuation: Application and Models, Guide to Personal v. Enterprise Goodwill, and Reasonable Compensation: Application and Analysis for Appraisal, Tax and Management Purposes, among many others. He recently co-authored the Financial Expert Guide for Family Law Judges and Attorneys. He is currently lending his editorial skills to the Business Valuation Review as a member of its editorial board.

Throughout his professional career, Kevin has volunteered his time and talents to give back to the public and his profession, including prior service as a Commissioner on the AICPA's National Accreditation Commission, Chair of the AICPA's ABV Credential Committee, Board Member of the Arizona Society of CPAs and Chair of the Arizona Board of Appraisal among others. He is a former member of the AICPA's Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) Examination Task Force, which is responsible for developing the exam that must be passed by those that hope to earn the ABV credential. He is currently serving as a member of the Arizona State Board of Accountancy's Certification Advisory Committee, as a Commissioner on the Arizona Commission on Judicial Performance Review, appointed by the Arizona Supreme Court, and as a member of the Utah Association of CPAs Leadership Council.

The AICPA honored Kevin's contributions by naming him their 2006 Business Valuation Volunteer of the Year and inducting him into the AICPA Business Valuation Hall of Fame in 2010, recognizing fewer than 30 individuals whose lifetime achievements and contributions have significantly advanced the valuation discipline and have enhanced the valuation profession for CPAs. In 2018, The Expert Resource Connection named Kevin as the recipient of The Thomas Burrage Award for Compassion, Collegiality & Character. In 2022, the ASCPA recognized Kevin's valuable lifetime service to the CPA profession by honoring him as a Life Member.

The 1983 Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of Utah (BS) and 2021 graduate of the University of Denver (MBA) is a Certified Public Accountant Accredited in Business Valuation ("CPA/ABV") and was in the charter class of those earning the ABV credential. In addition, he is an Accredited Senior Appraiser in the Business Valuation discipline for the American Society of Appraisers.

When he's not chasing down the value of the invaluable, you can find Kevin running around the country on a 200-mile Ragnar Relay, raising money for a children's hospital as part of the Distinguished Clown Brigade, plying his acting skills as an extra in a horror movie, using his business acumen as a board member for a local theatre or radio station, volunteering for the Special Olympics, educating the public about the wonders of nature as the President of the Tucson Orchid Society, advocating for royalty reform as a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences or interviewing the likes of Roger Daltrey, John Oates and Brian Wilson as a Beat Writer for AXS Entertainment and the webzine that he recently founded, Trebled Minds. He is currently a Board Member for Audubon Rockies, the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Audubon Society.

Jim Hitchner is managing director of Financial Valuation Advisors www.finvaluation.com and is president of The Financial Consulting Group www.gofcg.org. He is also CEO of Valuation Products and Services (VPS) www.valuationproducts.com.

Mr. Hitchner is editor/coauthor of the books the Hitchner Pratt Fishman Consensus View Q&A Guide to Financial Valuation and the VPS DLOM Guide and Toolkit, published by VPS. He is also editor/coauthor of Financial Valuation Applications and Models (FVAM), fourth edition; Financial Valuation Workbook (FVW), fourth edition; and Valuation for Financial Reporting: Fair Value, Business Combinations, Intangible Assets, Goodwill, and Impairment Analysis, third edition, all published by Wiley. Mr. Hitchner was also coauthor of PPC's Guide to Business Valuation, 18th through 31st editions, Thomson Reuters. FVAM and FVW have been adopted by the AICPA for its five-day Business Valuation School. These two books are also used by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts ("NACVA") for its three-day Advanced Business Valuation course. NACVA also uses the Discount for Lack of Marketability Guide and Toolkit as part of this course.

He has spent over 42 years in valuation services, including as a shareholder with Phillips Hitchner Group, partner-in-charge of valuation services for the Southern Region of Coopers & Lybrand (currently PricewaterhouseCoopers), and senior appraiser with American Appraisal Associates. In the valuation area he has coauthored over 20 courses, taught over 60 courses, published over 150 articles, and has made over 400 conference and webinar presentations.

He is also an inductee in the AICPA Business Valuation Hall of Fame and a two-time recipient of the AICPA's Business Valuation Volunteer of the Year award. He was also one of the four original members of the AICPA Business Valuation Standards Writing Task Force and served for the entire six years, up to the June 2007 official release of the standards.