Santa Barbara Valuations Inc.

To bring a clear, fundamentally sound finding of value to each client

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When competitors' cases go to Tax Court or when negotiations fall apart over valuation, it is often because the analyst has failed to use good fundamentals.  We flex between approaches, using the best method for the situation, and our positions are engineered so that authorities must consider what they say.  Four factors set us apart - and are why we produce reliable results for our clients.        

First, we rely on M&A data like private equity investors and business brokers.  45% of valuators surveyed in 2022 compare the private company to public companies.  Most accountants use this data and a long, complex formula.  With the different market and use of applied statistics, the method often strays off course.   Deal-makers find these types of appraisals to be unreliable because it is an apple-to-oranges comparison.     

We do too.

Our viewpoint is like a private equity investor, not like an accountant.  Value is driven by cash flow, margin, growth rate, entry barriers and market opportunity.  These elements explain the value of all business types - seed and early stage, mature, professional services, retail, distribution, software, manufacturing and real estate. 

   We use scientific method to connect company performance and industry data to value.  Scientific method is superior to approximations using statistics, big data, binomial lattices and differential equations.  These indirect methods certainly take skill and are intellectually stimulating but can be enormously inaccurate.  

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We examine inventory, contingencies and owner issues that are either skipped in the accountant's formula or are found outside the financial statements.  These elements are key for agriculture, retail, distribution, real estate holding companies and settling equity holder buy-outs.  

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For more depth, check the site library.

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