“I chose a career in business valuation because it is an ever-changing, exciting profession that showcases new theories and developments. Like many others, I was drawn to the BV profession because of the diversity of opportunities available to me. Whether the work is transactional, taxation, planning, or litigation, there is something in business valuation for everyone who is interested in financial career options.” —Erin Hollis, ASA
Business valuation is an economic study on the value of a business or a business interest at a specific point in time. In the business valuation profession, there are vast opportunities in an infinite number of business industry engagements for clients. For any given matter at-hand, business valuation professionals develop the knowledge of finance as it applies to the business, learn the operational and financial nuances, understand tax code and law as it applies to the engagement, and have the opportunity to represent oneʼs professional opinions in a court of law.
Not only do business valuation professionals have the opportunity to work with a wide range of industries, but also they usually work directly with the company CEO/owner or other senior executives.
“I had a long career in middle-market corporate banking before I joined an accounting firm as a partner to start a management consulting practice. There was a demand for business valuation work at the very beginning which only grew, so we decided to specialize in business valuation.” —Jim Brown, ASA
As many a business valuer can attest, there is nothing monotonous about business valuation. It is a stimulating profession filled with learning new theories and applications, and working with some of the most talented thought leaders around the world. Intelligent people are drawn to this profession, and those professionals comprise a sincere quest for continuous learning.
“I stumbled into the world of business valuation when I had lunch with a friend and told him that I was not satisfied in my job in the corporate world. He told me about a colleague that did what I did, but acted as a consultant to other companies. I joined that team and we have worked together for almost twenty years to this point.” —Bruce Johnson, ASA
While many finance, business, and accounting college undergraduate and graduate students are discovering the dynamic and diverse opportunities of a career in business valuation, others transform from related fields to serve in the business valuation role of trusted advisor. One true advantage for newer business valuation professionals is the ability to immediately put to use very sophisticated financial decision-making processes that, in other lines of business, might take years before being promoted to a high enough level to use them.
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