Consulting Services
More than Tax and Accounting Firm
Murtha & Murtha CPAs specializes in a variety of financial consulting services in the Tampa area. When choosing a CPA, it is important to consider some of the unique situations that can arise throughout your business and personal life. Business owners will invariably need business valuations. Self-employed people need help implementing and learning an accounting system. Potential purchasers of businesses require financial due diligence services in order to confidently move forward with an acquisition. A CPA that is qualified and experienced can assist you when these unique challenges arise and will be instrumental to your success.
Business Valuation
Murtha & Murtha Certified Public Accountants provides market value evaluations and fully certified business valuations that comply with standards and guidelines set forth by AICPA and NACVA. All business owners will eventually require some form of business valuation. A business valuation can be a simple “back of the envelope” analysis, a long, standards-based process, or somewhere in between. The factor that decides what level of valuation is the purpose of the valuation. For instance, a business owner who is curious about the market value of their business on a year-to-year basis may be comfortable with a more affordable MVE, whereas a client in a partnership dispute may require a certified valuation.
Market Value Estimates (MVEs)
A Market Value Evaluation is designed for clients who want to know the current value of their business, but don’t need a certified valuation. A Market Value Estimate will not only give you your business’s value, but may also provide you with information about your industry and current market activity that will help you set goals and make adjustments that your financial statements alone cannot provide.
Who can use an MVE?
- Business owners contemplating selling their business
- Managers/owners using annual value as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
- Individuals expecting a possible legal dispute who need a base-line idea of value
- Partners/shareholders executing a buy-sell agreement
Fairness Opinions
Our Fairness Opinion (FO) combines a business valuation (most often an MVE) with an opinion of the fairness of the overall terms and conditions of a proposed purchase and sale agreement. The purpose of a fairness opinion is to provide the buyer or seller of a business with an objective opinion of the overall composition of an offer to purchase. Depending on the needs of the client, we often partner with attorneys and other professionals to cover specific concerns.
Who can use a Fairness Opinion?
- Buyers in the privately held corporate markets (corporations, individuals, private equity groups, etc…)
- A business owner who just received an offer
Certified Business Valuation
A certified business valuation is often required for legal reasons, IRS requirements, and a multitude of other purposes. Certified business valuations are completed following procedures outlined by NACVA and/or AICPA. The purpose of the standards are to ensure that business valuations are completed and performed consistently among all practitioners. The standards attempt to remove as much subjectivity as possible. A certified business valuation is the highest form of valuation available.
Who can use a Certified Business Valuation?
- Individuals (usually business owners) involved in legal disputes (partnership, divorce)
- Estates and individuals due to IRS matters
- Corporate mergers
- Partners acting in accordance with a buy-sell agreement or operating agreement
- Business owners engaged in succession planning/exit planning
- Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)
Due Diligence Services
Digging Through the Details
Due diligence, especially for middle market businesses, can appear to be a daunting task. We work with a flexible framework allowing us to verify a business’s financials quickly and accurately. This ensures that the deal stays on track. We work directly with the seller and the seller’s CPA firm to ensure quick and effective service.
We’re not Deal Killers
CPA firms are often quick to red flag a deal when the due diligence process gets complicated. The reason for this is that advising a buyer not to move forward with a deal is less risky than the opposite. As M&A professionals, we at Murtha & Murtha understand that passing on a good deal can be just as costly as accepting a bad deal. Our tested due diligence process will provide you with our unbiased opinion. The end result is a calculated investment decision that limits the risks related to the financials.
