Chartered Business Valuators (CBVs) are finance professionals with extensive knowledge and expertise in the specialized field of business valuation. CBVs are trained, accredited, and governed by CBV Institute, the unequivocal authority in business valuation for over half a century and a leader in the global valuation profession. CBVs are internationally recognized as having the judgment and analytical training necessary for a wide range of valuation-based needs, all based on value measurement, value creation, and value protection.
VALUE MEASUREMENT 
VALUE CREATION 
VALUE PROTECTION CBVs work to uncover what you don’t know. Valuation analysis provides a different and bigger-picture perspective than accounting, audit, and tax. CBVs use financial information and dig deeper. A CBV is uniquely trained to identify risks and opportunities to enable trusted, valuation-based business decisions. You will understand how each key business element impacts the value of your business.
CBVs work with senior management to create shareholder value, the primary objective of any for-profit enterprise. CBVs have unique insight to define value drivers that will bring the most profitable opportunities for growth to your business. They will unlock intangible assets not on the balance sheet of the business – assets that will drive value, such as customer and community relationships, data, and workforce capabilities.
CBVs understand the ebbs and flows of the market and the risks inherent in achieving cash flows. They also understand business risk and the actions required to safeguard business value. This not only protects the value already established in a business, but allows for a long-term perspective on future goals to mitigate risk and to maintain and grow value. A CBV can protect your business with a constructive plan driven from valuation insight.
CBVs ARE:
Trusted to determine business value and provide insightful and high-quality valuation-related analyses in different contexts, ranging from straightforward to highly complex.
Active in all sectors of the economy and financial markets.
Objective experts who provide independent valuation advice for a variety of purposes, including financial reporting, income tax compliance, and litigation support.
Trusted advisors who provide value-added support for value-based decision making, including transaction and advisory services, succession planning, and much more.
PRACTICE AREAS
Whether performing work for clients or as part of a corporate team, CBVs apply their experience and expertise to determine the value of businesses, business interests, intangible assets, and complex liabilities in a variety of contexts.
CBVs provide a variety of deal analysis, transaction advisory, investment banking, and credit analysis services to clients ranging from small, privately held companies to global public conglomerates in a variety of contexts, including:
- Valuations for purchase, sale, and financing
- Going public/going private transactions
- Mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures
- Strategic, financing, and business integration analysis
- Valuations required by financial and securities regulators and fairness opinions
- Business succession and transition planning
- Business restructuring
CBVs also work for equity research firms, pension fund asset managers and wealth management firms.
CBVs are engaged to determine business value and assist with income tax compliance as well as income tax planning matters in a variety of contexts, including:
- Estate freezes and corporate reorganizations
- Disputes with taxation authorities related to business value
- Valuation of stock option benefits
- Valuation of business interests contributed to or withdrawn from an RRSP or TFSA
- Charitable donations of business interests in kind
CBV professionals are also employed by tax authorities to review transactions to ensure the related valuations are appropriate.
In addition to determining the underlying value of businesses, CBVs also provide expert evidence related to legal, tax and financial disputes for such matters as:
- Matrimonial and family law, including calculation of equalization payments and income available for support
- Shareholder or partnership disputes, including shareholder oppression remedies under company law
- Commercial litigation
- Expropriations impacting businesses
- Securities and investor litigation
- Anticompetition
- Financial investigations
CBVs often measure economic losses in the context of litigation relating to matters such as patent and licence infringement, breaches of contract, misrepresentation, expropriation, business interruption claims for insurance purposes, and personal injury. They also assist in a variety of bankruptcy, insolvency, and receivership situations.
Valuations for financial reporting purposes are required to determine the value of identifiable intangible assets such as brands, data, technology, and customer relationships. CBVs determine the value of individual assets acquired in a business combination so that the purchase prices of such assets can be appropriately allocated.
CBVs also undertake annual impairment reviews for acquired goodwill and intangible assets under accounting standards such as International Financial Accounting Standards (IFRS), Canadian Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE), and US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP).
Business valuation fundamentally includes the valuation of financial instruments (FI) such as derivatives, contingent instruments, fixed income, equity instruments, hybrid instruments and structured products.
CBVs value all types of FI, including complex financial instruments, primarily for financial reporting purposes, using financial models. CBVs are also involved in evaluating the appropriateness of valuation controls, processes and overall governance of FI valuation.
As valuation experts, CBVs view transactions through an “investor’s lens” and focus on helping businesses identify, evaluate, and implement growth, and value-optimizing strategies. CBVs are uniquely qualified to provide a variety of strategic services, such as financial modeling (including development, review and audit of financial models), data-driven insights into financial and operational decision-making processes, and practical solutions to complex business problems.
These types of advisory services are performed on behalf of clients looking to:
- Evaluate their strategic options or develop business strategies to unlock value
- Perform investment analysis, investment decisions, and capital validation
- Identify value opportunities and business risks
- Develop investment alternatives and alternatives for value creation
- Create value by improving cash flow and investment returns
CBVs are active within businesses, often holding senior leadership roles or as entrepreneurs. CBVs are employed by corporations (both private companies as well as public reporting issuers and funds), typically in internal valuation functions, such as financial and strategic planning and analysis, business development, deal analysis, or financial reporting. CBVs perform critical functions for institutional and pension or other fund investors within the banking and investment management industries and on behalf of financial and securities regulators.
Many CBVs are also active in academia – both in research and as instructors at leading post-secondary institutions across Canada.
FOR THE GOLD STANDARD IN BUSINESS VALUATION, LOOK NO FURTHER THAN THE PRESTIGIOUS CBV DESIGNATION.
When companies need to determine the market value of their business, they turn to a CBV for answers. CBVs combine technical knowledge with real-life practical experience to put forward globally respected valuations of a business, its securities, and/or its assets.
CBVs are in demand globally as leaders in the professional business valuation industry. They have highly competitive salaries and varying career paths, highlighting the professional value and diversity of in-demand CBV professionals.