Valuation as written argument.
A defensible opinion of value is not a number. It is a document that must hold up to its audience.
A valuation is sometimes confused with a number. The number, in fact, is the least durable part of the work. What lasts, and what matters when scrutiny arrives, is the document.
The audience for a valuation report is rarely the client who commissioned it. The audience is opposing counsel in a divorce proceeding, the IRS in an estate audit, a beneficiary contesting a transfer, a court considering a shareholder dispute. These audiences are not friendly readers. They are looking for assumptions to challenge, methodology to dispute, conclusions to undermine.
The standard of preparation
A report prepared with these audiences in mind looks different from a report prepared as an internal exercise. It documents every assumption, including the ones that seem self-evident. It explains the choice of valuation approach in the context of the engagement's purpose. It addresses the most likely objections before they are raised.
This is not over-engineering. It is the standard required by the work.
Independence is structural
The firm does not condition fees on the conclusion. The firm does not represent both sides of a contemplated transaction. The firm does not produce opinions designed to support a predetermined number. These are not posture. They are structural commitments that allow the work to withstand scrutiny.
A valuation is a written argument. The firm prepares each one to be defended.