Murray & Roberts Valuation Services, Inc.


Murray & Roberts CPA Firm S.C. has been performing business valuations since the year 2000. Typically, these 'full valuation reports' took weeks to prepare and would cost between $5,000 and $10,000. Over the years we had been told many times by our clients that they weren't sure their situation warranted the expense of the full report, or that their circumstances didn't allow for the time required to prepare such a report. Our clients wanted a quality report that was less expensive and quick.

In 2013 we conducted an analysis of the many reports we had written, with the objective of identifying the least amount of information required from the client to arrive at a value estimate within 10% of the full report conclusion of value over 90% of the time. The result of that work is our Calculation of Value Report, which we could prepare within 48 hours at a cost of only $499. We began promoting this service nationwide in 2014 on mycompanyvalue.com through a new company called Murray & Roberts Valuation Services, Inc.

Two years later, we conducted a detailed analysis of the best sales forecasting techniques (see our article titled Is There a Better Method of Forecasting Sales). The conclusion of this analysis was a significantly improved sales modeling method. The techniques applied in this modeling (least squares, principally) led to the development of our operating income modeling method (discussed in detail in Modeling Operating Income from Historical Data).

The reliability of valuation results has been an unspoken problem – the elephant in the room – burdening the valuation profession since the original formalization of valuation procedure. Experts had no way to quantify for their clients the impact that data quality had on the reliability of the valuation conclusion.

While conducting statistical analysis on the improved accuracy of our operating profit model, we formulated a procedure for testing the statistical reliability of a valuation estimate, and the Reliability Score was born. The Reliability Score is the first statistical measure ever created to evaluate the reliability of a valuation conclusion.

All of these innovations began out of an attempt to satisfy our clients’ needs for a fast, reliable, and economical business valuation, and have resulted in the world’s best free online business valuation, and the only one with a statistically determined Reliability Score.

About author  
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BRIAN MURRAY CPA/ABV CVA
Company founder Brian Murray CPA/ABV, CVA (Accredited in Business Valuation, Certified Valuation Analyst) has been in public accounting since 1997. Prior to that he was in finance at Kimberly-Clark Corp., audit at M&I Bank Corp., and accounting manager at Browning-Ferris Ind. Brian's areas of specialty are estate and trust tax and business valuation.

Brian's community involvement includes: serving as Treasurer of the Salvation Army Fox Cities, serving on the Board of Directors of the Fox Valley Humane Society, serving on the Board of Directors of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, serving on the Board of Directors of the Wildwood Film Festival, and serving on the Board of Directors of Mothers and Unborn Baby Care. Brian also volunteered as a Big Brother for four years, and for United Way's fundraising campaign for multiple years. Brian and his family live in Neenah, WI.

Brian has been consulting clients regarding business value and merger & acquisition transactions since 2000. The majority of the valuation reports written were to aid a buyer or seller in a transaction or negotiation. Brian has often served as lead negotiator for prospective buyers or sellers.

Brian has served as an expert witness in corporate litigation cases as well as divorce, and has performed valuations for estate and gift tax returns, and estate planning.