Chetan Thakore, Author at Suncorp Valuations

The Role of Tangible Asset Appraisals in the Valuation of a Business

In the past we’ve discussed the role that tangible asset appraisals can play in facilitating the placement of property insurance. In addition to facilitating property insurance coverage, tangible asset (land, buildings, machinery and equipment) appraisals can be instrumental in supporting conclusions reached in the valuation of a business.

Tangible Assets for Valuation

Business valuation is the process of estimating the fair market value (or some other premise of value) of a business interest, at a given point in time, in the absence of open market negotiations. Business valuations are often required for various legal and business purposes such estate planning, financial reporting, establishing a purchase price, settling a dispute or allocating the purchase price of a business across its various assets.

Two Approaches to Business Valuation

Generally speaking there are two approaches used in the valuation of a business: A liquidation approach or a going concern approach. The approach that is selected is the one that will yield the highest return to the owners of the business at the valuation date.

Tangible Asset Appraisals - featured

Businesses that do not generate an adequate return to its stakeholders are valued under a liquidation approach (orderly or forced). In valuing these businesses, appraisals are often required to restate asset values from reported values to liquidation values, which estimate the gross proceeds expected from their sale in the open market inclusive of taxes and commissions. Under a liquidation methodology it is assumed that assets are sold on a piecemeal basis and their value is based on exchange value rather than value in use.

Businesses that generate an adequate return to investors are generally valued by estimating the present value of the prospective cash flows that are expected to accrue to their owners. These estimates are developed by utilizing capitalization and discounted cash flow methodologies that are supplemented by alternative “test” methodologies, that include multiples of revenue, multiples of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) or industry rules of thumb.

While the value determined under a going concern approach is primarily a function of prospective cash flows rather than asset values, asset valuations are often relied upon to help business valuators establish the tangible asset backing of the business. In the business valuation process, balance sheet assets (and liabilities) are often restated to their respective market values so that the valuator can allocate the value of the business to its tangible (working capital, capital assets) and intangible (goodwill and other intangible assets) components. This allows the valuator to evaluate the reasonableness of the fair market value conclusion. It also helps the valuator assess the going concern risk as he or she can quantify the portion of the enterprise value that is backed by tangible assets.

In addition, appraised values are often relied upon by secured lenders so they can help a valuator estimate a capital structure (mix of debt to equity) that is appropriate to finance the business. Appraisals can also assist a business valuator in estimating levels of capital re-investment required by a business to sustain its property, plant and equipment.

Under the assumption that a business is a going concern assets are typically appraised on basis of their value in use (vs. value in exchange) inclusive of the installation and assemblage costs required to make the property operational.

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About Suncorp Valuations

Suncorp Valuations is a leading provider of independent valuation, appraisal, and advisory services. Suncorp’s valuations and appraisals have been relied upon by leading insurance companies, public and private companies, property owners and managers, tax authorities, accounting bodies, courts, municipalities and financial institutions from all over the world.

Our valuation and appraisal staff consist of professionals that are highly accredited in the fields of engineering, real estate and equipment appraisal, business valuation, risk management and loss control. Our multi-disciplinary, multi-regional and multilingual staff take an interactive team approach and have been involved in some of the most complex valuation assignments across the globe.

For questions or comments, please Contact Us.

Administrative Assistant AA-SK-18-03

Administrative Assistant (2 Available Positions)

Headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Suncorp Valuations is a dynamic growth-oriented leader in the valuation industry, providing full service appraisal and valuation consulting services. Through offices in Canada and the U.S.A., we offer a range of valuation and costing services for land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and for intangible assets such as patents, copyrights and franchises. Utilizing robust research methodologies, valuation consultants develop reports that provide an opinion of value for assessed property and other assets. Clients utilize reports for a variety of needs including regulatory compliance, financing, litigation support, mergers and acquisitions, purchase price allocation, insurance placement and claims settlement. Our risk management department assists clients by identifying and mitigating risks such as the potential for accidents, property damage and theft. For further details please refer to our website at www.suncorpvaluations.com.

THE ROLE

Reporting to the Managing Director, this position is pivotal in sustaining business operations through internal and external client support activities in the Saskatoon office. The focus of the role is to support a group of appraisers, predominantly by completing file set ups and the compilation and delivery of client reports.

Additional responsibilities include general office administration, scanning, and providing support to other team members with the completion of appraisal reports. The role is fast paced, with a variety of responsibilities, and provides the opportunity to grow and expand within and beyond the role requirements.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

Along with the required credentials, you are friendly and enjoy communicating on the phone. You excel at time management, are able to balance conflicting priorities, problem solving, manage a high workload, and be a strong team player. You are naturally focused on providing high levels of client service and ensure accuracy of your work through inquiry and well-honed proofreading skills. You are able to work independently and communicate openly with business partners to ensure work is completed to required standards and within given timelines. You are flexible and adapt easily to new procedures. You enjoy finding efficiencies within systems and learning new skills. You are detail focused and comfortable performing work that requires high levels of accuracy in a high volume environment.

THE REQUIREMENTS

A certificate or diploma from a recognized administrative program or equivalent.
Two to three years office administrative or related experience.
Extensive experience using Microsoft Office Suite; expertise with Word and Excel.
Exceptional written and oral English language skills.
Proficient, accurate and fast keyboarding skills (60 wpm minimum).
Demonstrated ability to learn new software applications.

THE ROLE COMPETENCIES:

Outgoing and friendly with pleasant and professional phone manners.
High attention to detail.
Active listening, verbal and written communication skills.
Genuine interest in providing high levels of internal and external customer service.
Outstanding organizational and time management skills.
Able to multi task with constant interruptions.
Can work competently with minimum supervision.
Proactive, with a desire to drive results and exceed goals.
Determined and hard working.
High personal and professional standards.
Team player able to support and collaborate with internal stakeholders.
Effective problem solving.

We pride ourselves in offering flexible work arrangements that allow our employees to balance work and life commitments.

THE APPLICATION PROCESS:

Send your resume and cover letter to the email provided
In the Subject Line place the competition number, then your first and last name.

Email:

HR@suncorpvaluations.com

Subject:

AA-SK-18-03 Followed by your first & last name

Example: AA-SK-18-03 Fred Doe

Deadline:

June 1, 2018

We thank all applicants for their interest in this position, however, only those selected for interviews will be contacted.

Apply Now

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Appraisals in the Settling of an Estate or Managing a Trust

In the last edition of our newsletter, we discussed the correlation between commodity prices and construction costs and that during periods of escalating commodity prices property owners can find themselves underinsured as the cost to replace certain types of assets escalate. In periods such as these many property owners question why they should be ensuring their buildings or equipment for a higher value when they are aware that the market value of their property may not have appreciated to the same degree or in some cases may have even declined.

While this is counter intuitive, property owners need to be cognizant of the difference between market value and replacement or insurable value. Market value, as determined by an accredited appraiser, repre-sents the probable price that would be realized for a specified property at a specific point in time, if offered for sale on the open market Generally speaking, market value is arrived at through an analysis and recon-ciliation of the market environment, the investment characteristics of the property, and its depreciated replacement value of the improvements. Reconstruction costs are the basis for determining replacement or insurable values and include an analysis of the labor, materials, equipment and other costs required to reproduce a property (or piece of equipment) of like kind and quality in the same location.

While there has been little research on the relationship between market and replacement values, the graph below produced by Robert Shiller of Yale University charts U.S. home prices against construction costs, population growth and interest rates since 1880. What is evident from this research is that there is little relationship between building costs and housing prices and there have even been periods where the two are negatively correlated. In fact, despite the steep decline in U.S. housing prices over the past couple of years there continues to be a general escalation in building construction costs across the country.

Senior Software Developer IT-AB-18-02

Senior Software Developer, IT-AB-18-02

Headquartered in Saskatoon, Suncorp Valuations is a dynamic, growth-oriented leader in the global valuation industry. Through offices in Canada and the U.S.A., we offer a full range of valuation, consulting and costing services for land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and for intangible assets such as patents, copyrights and franchises.

Utilizing robust research methodologies, valuation consultants develop reports that provide an opinion of value for assessed property and other assets. Clients utilize reports for a variety of requirements including regulatory compliance, financing, litigation support, mergers and acquisitions, purchase price allocation, insurance placement and claims settlement. Risk Management Services assist clients by identifying and mitigating risks such as the potential for accidents, property damage and theft. For further details please refer to our website at www.suncorpvaluations.com. Suncorp provides employee benefits, transit allowance, along with incentive and RRSP programs.

The Role

The position can be located in our Edmonton office and will be reporting to the Director of IT Services. The Senior Software Developer is pivotal to our software development team. As a technical leader, the Senior Software Developer will work with a small team of developers in our Saskatoon office, to enhance, maintain, and develop software that is critical to sustaining and streamlining business operations.

In this role you will participate in all phases of the software development lifecycle including determining requirements, design, development, testing, deployment, maintenance, and support. The Senior Software Developer will work closely with stakeholders to identify requirements and set priorities and deadlines. Along with software development, the incumbent will be responsible for the maintenance and expansion of our reporting systems including client-facing and internal management reports. Supporting the existing and new software post deployment is also a key part of this role.

The Ideal Candidate

Along with the required credentials and impressive technical skills, you are excited about joining a dedicated, passionate team that creates innovative software solutions. You are an accomplished software developer with a deep understanding of developing software in a multi-tiered environment. Although you are able to work independently, you thrive in a team environment and are able to appropriately leverage the knowledge of coworkers to overcome difficult challenges. You enjoy working in an office environment, while collaborating with stakeholders in other offices. You easily manage multiple projects and are naturally focussed on providing internal stakeholders with high quality service. You are forward thinking and resilient when faced with setbacks. On a personal note, you are interested in developing your career through on-going professional development.

The Requirements

Post-secondary Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or Computer Engineering or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Five to eight years professional software development experience.
One year of experience in a related position demonstrating technical leadership.
Project management experience in some aspects of the software development lifecycle.
Experience designing and developing multi-tiered software applications.
Expertise in .NET programming (VB or C#), and TSQL
Expertise with ADO.NET in a stateful mode.
Experience with Winforms development in Visual Studio
Knowledge of MS SQL Server.
Experience with source control tools.
Knowledge of Crystal Reports or similar report writer.
Strong Database skills with understanding of SQL, relational databases, and SQL optimization.
Experience in the creation of stored procedures/functions, triggers and other database objects.
Understanding of networking protocols and technologies.
Proficiency with Windows operating systems and domain environments.
This position is restricted to those legally entitled to work in Canada.

The Competencies

A genuine desire to go above and beyond to provide excellence in client service.
Proactive, with a desire to drive results and exceed goals.
Strong planning, organizational and time management skills.
Ability to balance competing priorities between project and non-project work.
Strong problem solving skills with ability to analyze and understand data.
Detail oriented and organized with robust analytical skills.
Self-motivated with solid oral and written communication skills.
A strong team player that demonstrates integrity and ownership.
Proven experience working in a cross-functional team environment.
Capable of writing clear and complete technical and functional specifications.

The Application Process

Please send an email to address below providing the following information:

In the Subject Line place the competition number, followed by your first and last name.

Email:	HR@suncorpvaluations.com
Subject:	IT-AB-18-02 First Name Last Name
Deadline:	March 5, 2018 (position may be filled prior to deadline date)

We thank all applicants for their interest in this position, however, only those selected for interviews will be contacted.

Apply Now

Position applying for:
Name*
First Last
Email*
Enter Email Confirm Email
Salary Expectation
Where did you see this posting?*
Upload Resume*
Max. file size: 100 MB.
Upload Cover Letter*
Max. file size: 100 MB.
File types permitted for upload are: doc, docx, txt, rtf, pdf

Wood Dust & Carcinogens – Risk Mitigation Considerations

Over the past several years there has been an increase in inspection activity and updates of dust collection systems for Industrial Arts (“IA”) facilities located in many high schools and middle schools. Exposure to wood dust has long been associated with a variety of adverse health effects, including dermatitis, allergic respiratory effects, mucosal, and non-allergenic respiratory effects.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (“IRAC”) has classified wood dust as a carcinogenic to humans. A study completed in 1965 observed that a large number of furniture workers and other wood workers exposed to wood dust in England developed a rare form of nasal cancer (Adenocarcinoma).

Wood dust & Carcinogens - Feature

Controlling exposure

All safety programs should have policies and procedures, as well as references to documentation such as local Occupational, Health & Safety Act’s and Regulation’s. Safety programs should include an ongoing risk analysis system, which accumulates information progressively, noting potential risky and hazardous operations with specific plans in place to mitigate potential injury and property loss.

Basic Safety – Reducing exposures to wood dust

Standard ventilation (dust-control systems) should be provided.
Dust-control systems should be cleaned, inspected, and maintained on a regular basis.
Filter masks should be worn.
Eye and face protection should always be provided.
Type of wood (species) should be investigated before use to ensure it is safe to use in a school environment.

Stay informed. Many changes take place on a regular basis relative to safety equipment, dust mitigation practices and identified health concerns. Talk to risk management professionals – people in your industry and various other organizations. Suncorp Valuations has experienced personnel that can assist with Loss Control inspection and implementation.