How much is your business worth? Business Valuation is the process of determining a fair value of the business, which a business owner can then use to get a good gauge of the market value of his/her business. The Singapore Government’s Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) listed Business Valuation as one of their high-growth practices that will drive demand for Singapore’s legal and accounting services, and it is evident that Business Valuation is getting more popular, especially in Singapore. Over the last few years, the increasing demand for Business Valuation services has been propelled by the rise in merger and acquisition (M&A) activities, Singapore’s growth as a centre for litigation proceedings and arbitration, increased emphasis of intellectual properties (copyrights, trademarks, etc.) as well as the use of fair value measurement in financial reporting framework.
The Chartered Valuer and Appraiser (CVA) program is the pioneer and only program in Asia that provides a structured and formalized pathway to raise the standards of ethics and professionalism among professionals who are involved in transactions, litigation, arbitration and financial reporting. The program allows professionals to acquire technical knowledge in valuation concepts, principles and application as well as the approaches and methodologies for conducting valuation. All these, which are important to the different and diverse ways of valuing an asset because valuation can be subjective.
The program was developed in close consultation with industry practitioners from the various departments like accountancy, banking, investments and it is based on the competency standards by the International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC) – the global standard-setter for valuation. Therefore, it is designed to ensure that everyone will be on the same page when valuing something. One can get certified by the Institute of Valuers & Appraisers Singapore (IVAS) and participants who successfully complete the program and meet the requirements for relevant work experience may apply to IVAS to become a certified CVA.
To sum up, through attending the program, you will be able to:
- Gain a comprehensive understanding of the standards, conceptual framework, valuation process for various approaches, and practical insights and methodologies to perform a quality valuation;
- Upon successful completion of the programme and with relevant years of work experience, apply to IVAS to be certified as a Chartered Valuer & Appraiser (CVA), a prestigious title which has gained regional recognition; and
- Demonstrate professional competence and integrity as a certified CVA holder and earn the trust and confidence of your employers and clients.
Still unconvinced? Even the Senior Minister of State for Law and Finance, Indranee Rajah, advocates for Business Valuation. She mentioned that competent business valuers are needed to support growing M&A activities in Asia and Singapore’s growing ambition to be a dispute resolution centre. Singapore is also positioned as an intellectual property (IP) hub and the usage of IP as collateral for loans and financing is becoming more common. In fact, business owners seeking loan financing would be well-advised to seek a proper valuation of their business to improve their chances of success. Overtime, the chartered valuer and appraiser title is envisaged to become a mark of quality for business valuation professionals.
