Consistently keeping track of the business value of your client is a significant CFO Service. Business owners should be kept abreast of the value of their business on a quarterly basis. Business Valuation can be utilized and needed for the following purposes:

• Obtaining financing
• Company is being acquired or merged
• Shareholder buyout or disputes
• Personal Financial Statements
• Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP)
• Litigation or Divorces
• Conversion of Corporate Status from a C-Corp to an S-Corp
• For Estate and Gift Tax Purposes
• For purposes of the business Owners goal setting
• Shareholder Buy and Sell Agreements

CFOs should calculate two different valuations. One such valuation is what I call the Book Valuation. This valuation uses the traditional metrics like sales, EBIT, cash flow and assets. The second valuation that should be made is what I call the Synergy Valuation. The Synergy Valuation is a valuation that a strategic buyer would pay. A strategic buyer is a buyer who is in the same business and will be able to take advantage of economies of scale and synergies. This buyer will probably pay a higher price than the book valuation.

A temporary CFO can provide the valuable service of keeping track of the Patents and Trademarks for a company. Patents and Trademarks are easy to lose track of due to how very complicated they can become. The situation only gets worse if there are several of them. Understanding where each Patent and Trademark is in the process will be one less area for a business owner to worry about. Suggesting patents and trademark opportunities is another CFO service. If your company imports be aware that if a product has FDA approval that there can be some discounts on duty and tariffs on those imports. Also be aware that if a company is not registered with the FDA for certain products that shipments can be refused at customs. I learned about this when I was tracking a patent for a client. Another important factor in tracking Trademarks and Patents is understanding the costs. Legal fees can get way out of hand. Most recently I have used www.legalzoom.com and had a lot of success in filing a trademark at a quarter of the cost.