Continuing Professional Education on Business Valuation & Litigation
Upcoming Webinars:
- June 30, 2026: From Value to Proceeds: A Transaction Advisory Framework for Valuation Professionals and CPAs
- July 29, 2026: Beyond the Multiple: Advanced Market Approach Techniques
for Transaction Data Analysis
Tuesday, June 30, 2026, 1:00 – 3:00 PM ET
From Value to Proceeds: A Transaction Advisory Framework
for Valuation Professionals and CPAs
Speakers: Asif Charania, CPA/ABV/CFF and Scott Zickefoose, CPA, CM&AA
Webinar Description
Business owners often fixate on headline price, but the real measure of a successful transaction is what ends up in their pocket after debt, working capital adjustments, deal structure, and taxes. This session equips valuation professionals and CPAs with a practical framework for advising clients across the full transaction lifecycle, from pre-sale readiness through closing and post-close true-ups. Using current middle-market M&A data, the presenters walk through how valuation approaches translate into deal pricing, how deal structure allocates risk between buyer and seller, and where the gap between enterprise value and net after-tax proceeds actually emerges. The session also explores tax optimization strategies, common value killers, and the operational levers that drive multiple expansion, giving attendees the tools to deepen their advisory relationships and expand their firm’s transaction-related service offerings.
Learning Objectives
In this session, participants will learn to:
- Apply the three core valuation approaches in a transaction advisory context and explain how each informs deal pricing, negotiation strategy, and buyer behavior in middle-market transactions.
- Advise clients on how deal structure, including seller notes, earn-outs, rollover equity, and working capital targets, affects the gap between headline price and net after-tax proceeds.
- Assess a client’s financial and operational readiness for a transaction by identifying common diligence risk areas, including revenue quality, customer concentration, balance sheet anomalies, and debt-like items.
- Counsel clients on tax structuring considerations, including asset vs. stock sales, Section 1202 (QSBS) exclusions, installment sales, and entity selection, to maximize after-tax proceeds.
- Identify opportunities to expand advisory and consulting services around transaction readiness, sell-side diligence support, and pre-transaction planning for business owners on a 12- to 36-month horizon.
Handouts:
- VPS Webinar slides
- Following the webinar, attendees will have access to a video recording of the program
Wednesday, July 29, 2026, 1:00 – 3:00 PM ET
Beyond the Multiple: Advanced Market Approach Techniques for Transaction Data Analysis
Speakers: Bethany Hearn, CPA/ABV/CFF and Tiffany Mellow, CPA/ABV
Webinar Description
This session moves beyond the basic selection of market multiples and focuses on how valuation professionals can assess the reliability and comparability of transaction data. Participants will begin with a brief refresher on the market approach and common pricing multiple formulas. The presentation will then address statistical tools used to evaluate dispersion, relationships among variables, and predictive usefulness within market datasets. Using transaction examples, participants will consider how adjustments may be necessary for revenue recognition differences, EBITDA normalization, working capital, owner compensation, growth expectations, and deal terms.
Learning Objectives
After completing this session, participants should be able to:
- Describe the market approach and calculate common valuation multiples using observed transaction data.
- Interpret coefficient of variation, correlation, and regression results in the context of comparable company and transaction analyses.
- Recognize transaction characteristics that may require adjustment before deriving or applying market multiples.
- Compare adjusted and unadjusted multiples to assess the effect of data normalization on indicated value.
- Document the rationale for market multiple selection in a manner suitable for valuation workpapers or expert reports.
Handouts:
- VPS Webinar slides
- Following the webinar, attendees will have access to a video recording of the program
About the Presenters:
Bethany Hearn, CPA/ABV/CFF, is a partner at MH CPA PLLC in Champaign, Illinois, leading the firm’s Transaction Services group. With over 35 years of experience, she specializes in valuation and litigation support services for privately held companies and attorneys, covering areas such as succession planning, mergers and acquisitions, marital dissolution, shareholder disputes, and gift and estate tax valuations. She is a co-author for the Fifth Edition of Financial Valuation: Applications and Models, an instructor for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) National Business Valuation School and is one of America’s Top CPAs in Valuation Services for 2025 by Forbes.
Ms. Hearn is a licensed CPA in the state of Illinois, Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV), and Certified in Financial Forensics (CFF). She has provided expert witness testimony on valuation and forensic-related matters in multiple states. Additionally, she regularly teaches on valuation topics for professional organizations and at conferences and has served in various leadership roles within the Forensic and Valuations Services section of the AICPA.
Tiffany is a CPA and an ABV (Accredited in Business Valuation) with almost 15 years of experience and leads the Business Valuation and Litigation Support practice for Perkins & Co., the largest privately held public accounting firm in Oregon. Based in Eugene, she provides valuation services for estate and gift planning, charitable gift tax compliance, estate tax, succession planning, buying and selling businesses (including quality of earnings and due diligence), marital dissolution, and shareholder oppression, to name a few. She’s also a go-to resource for consultation services and for litigation/testimony. She is currently serving on the AICPA Business Valuation Committee and the AICPA Scholarship Foundation Committee and is an ABV champion for the state of Oregon.
She is a second-career accountant, starting her professional life with the intention of being a marriage and family therapist, with an BS in Psychology from the University of Oregon (go Ducks!). I got my post-baccalaureate in Accounting from Linfield University and started my CPA journey after a volunteer experience preparing taxes for AARP’s Tax Aide program.
Continuing Professional Education on Business Valuation & Litigation
Jim Hitchner’s Valuation Products and Services (VPS) provides tools to assist practitioners in business valuation, litigation services, and forensics and fraud.
Valuation Products and Service, LLC is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2417. Web site: www.nasba.org. Some online programs sponsored by VPS are administered by the Virginia Society of CPAs. For more information regarding CPE, refund, complaint, program cancellation or other policies of the Virginia Society of CPAs, visit vscpa.com/CPEPolicies or call (800) 733-8272.