Business Valuation Certifications
Designations and Organizations

small business

Following is a list with links to various valuation certifying organizations that provide credentials for individuals that provide business valuations. For a bank or other lenders to provide financing, they will require an appraisal from someone with credentials. This list is not in any particular order and your lender may require a specific designation or even a specific appraisal firm for your situation. The below organizations are not all of the organizations that issue certificates for business valuation. Some require as little as 16 hours of work to complete and others require 2 plus years to complete which will include over a 100 hours of class room time, 4 tests that take between 2 to four hours each to complete and a 2 years of supervision by someone with the designation.

Business Valuation Certifications and Designations

Following is a link to another website that has more details and describes some but not all of the following designations:  

http://valuationresource.com/

The Institute of Business Appraisers

is the oldest professional society devoted solely to the appraisal of closely-held businesses. Established in 1978, the Institute is a pioneer in business appraisal education and professional accreditation.
http://www.go-iba.org/

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Accredited in Business Valuation  (ABV)

This link is the official website for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. To be ABV – accredited in business valuation a person must first be a CPA.

https://www.aicpa.org/membership/join/credentials.html for general information and the following for information on the exam:  https://www.aicpa.org/membership/join/abv-exam.html

 

American Society of Appraisers (ASA)

The American Society of Appraisers has a very comprehensive and difficult training and examination process to obtain the BV Business Valuation credential. The ASA has many other appraisal designations for real estate, equipment, intangible property and several other areas. Additional designations related to business valuation from the ASA are:

ASA – Accredited Senior Appraiser
AM – Accredited Member
FASA – Fellow of the American Society of Appraisers

http://www.appraisers.org/Disciplines/Business-Valuation/become-a-bv-appraiser

 Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA)

CBA – Certified Business Appraiser
MCBA – Master Certified Business Appraiser
AIBA – Accredited by Institute of Business Appraisers
BVAL – Business Valuator Accredited for Litigation

Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA) – Teal, Becker & Chiaramonte Certified Public Accountants

Tbccpa.com

National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts (NACVA)

CVA – Certified Valuation Analyst
AVA – Accredited Valuation Analyst

http://www.nacva.com/

The Canadian Institute of Chartered Business Valuators (CICBV)

CBV – Chartered Business Valuator

https://www.cicbv.ca/

CFA Institute

CFA – Chartered Financial Analyst

http://www.cfainstitute.org/

The Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors

CDBV Certification in Distressed Business Valuation

https://aira.org

American Business Appraisers

https://americanbusinesappraiser.com


Following are additional websites that may be of interest. This is because it is one of the least expensive ways to get a report with a printout stating a value for a business. However, these are template driven reports that require someone to have knowledge of the business and a good understanding of business valuation terminology and methods.  The report is computer generated and accordingly does not use reason or consider unusual circumstances in determining the value. The Fair Valuers site or the excel worksheet from the Business Book Press may be adequate for certain situations. Please use these with extreme caution.

The Fair Valuers $399 Valuation on line   

http://www.onlinebusinessappraisal.com/?gclid=CIHw-pve66ECFSCjiQodkXSuPQ

Software to do it yourself to create a valuation of your business $149.95

http://www.businessbookpress.com/catalog/s101.htm