We regularly appraise food processing plants, and one constant is that they are all fascinating. From the basics of rice and almond processing, the specialty equipment of row-crop packaging and winemaking, to the intricacies of legacy facilities, I remain amazed by the technology. When I was hired by a CPA to appraise his client’s evaporation…Read More
Streamline Business Dissolutions with Shared Appraisal Expert
Shareholder and business partner dissolutions occur for a multitude of reasons, including disputes. Examples of dispute situations include a shareholder mishandling corporate information, a partner acting inappropriately, or a personality conflict among shareholders. In business disputes of this kind, a business valuation (BV) is the simplest and most cost-effective way to determine the value of…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
Lightening Complex: Fire Insurance Claims
The LNU, CZU, and SCU wildfire complexes and the River Fire in the Monterey area are ravaging California. In our area (LNU), many friends and neighbors have been evacuated; across the state, so many people have lost homes and businesses. Our hearts go out to everyone affected and we hope that these fires will be…Read More
Financial Reporting Appraisals: Acquisition Accounting
One of my favorite accounting professors, Dr. Larry Watkins, PhD, CPA, retired last year from Northern Arizona University, where I took many accounting courses before finishing up & graduating from Arizona St University in Tempe. In the years after I got my ASA and before he retired, we got together a few times for what…Read More
3 Red Flags in Machinery & Equipment Appraisal Reports
I recently submitted a few examples of Machinery & Equipment Review problems–along with a sample review report–to an overseas valuation organization that’s putting together an in-house manual for its members. What’s interesting to me is that although this organization follows IVS instead of USPAP, is governmentally regulated in a way that ASA equipment appraisers are…Read More
Successful Acquisitions include Equipment Appraisals
The headline “Common Mistake for Sellers” caught my eye in a recent article about acquisitions in the printing industries’ Printing Impressions: Common Mistake for Sellers Sellers almost invariably overestimate the value of their equipment, according to Hahn. The only way to get an accurate estimate, he adds, is through a professional, industry-specific equipment appraisal, the results…Read More
Equipment Fire Loss: Compiling a List for Insurance Claims
Compiling a List for Insurance Claims Devastating fires in the Napa, Sonoma and Santa Rosa areas have burned thousands of homes, businesses, and other structures. In the wake of the damage, fire loss claims are inevitable. It’s not always an easy process to assess what’s been lost, especially in the midst of sometimes overwhelming grief…Read More
Maxxforce Engines: Appraising Value for Litigation
Update: In January 2020, the Navistar MaxxForce engine class-action settlement finalized at $135 million. We are not available to appraise individual trucks. We suggest owner/operators find an attorney to assist with individual claims. In 2017 an Arkansas trucking company became the latest to file a complaint against Navistar in federal court, arising out of the…Read More
Wildland Fire Litigation Conference: A Report
Several years ago while serving as equipment appraisal expert witness for the Ophir Fire, I discovered the Wildland Fire Litigation Conference and put it on my appraisal bucket list. Just this year, my schedule finally allowed me to attend the conference. In the intervening years, I’ve done many equipment appraisals related to insurance loss claims,…Read More
Case Studies: Food Processing Equipment
Food and beverage processing equipment isn’t like the equipment in other manufacturing plants. Lubrication is different. Sanitation is on-going. And usage cycles vary — not only from facility to facility, but often within individual facilities, often depending on the agricultural cycle. And awareness of equipment usage cycles is essential for an accurate appraisal. Why? Usage…Read More
Compelling Evidence for Property Tax Appeal
A county Board of Equalization in Washington state recently examined one of my equipment appraisal reports in an on-going tax appeal case. The report had been originally submitted to the county assessor, who dismissed it, citing … the statement by the appraiser that the purpose of the appraisal is to assist with an ad valorem tax…Read More