Inside a 25-Year CPA Firm’s Decision to Add Business Valuation Services
For more than 25 years, Michele’s CPA firm had served closely held businesses through tax planning, financial reporting, and advisory work. Many of her clients were growing companies navigating ownership transitions, estate planning considerations, and succession decisions.
Over time, a pattern emerged.
Clients were increasingly asking for business valuations.
Not occasionally. Not once a year. Frequently enough that it became difficult to ignore.
Some requests were tied to ownership transitions. Others involved estate and gift planning. Some were connected to strategic decisions or partner buyouts. The need was consistent, even if the situations varied.
Michele understood the importance of valuation. She had specialized training and credentials in the area. But that did not automatically make valuation easy to implement within her practice.
“Building a detailed valuation report was too much work,” she explained. “It wasn’t my core work, so it wasn’t something I did easily.”
Firms with a strong tax and planning focus often experience this first. Valuation questions frequently arise during estate planning discussions, ownership transfers, partner restructurings, and long-term tax strategy conversations. When clients begin asking about gifting shares, succession planning, or preparing for a future sale, valuation naturally becomes part of the advisory dialogue, even if the firm does not formally offer valuation services.
That was Michele’s experience as well. Even with specialized training, performing full valuation engagements required time, data subscriptions, report preparation, and ongoing compliance with professional standards. Between tax seasons, advisory work, and client demands, valuation consistently took a back seat.
The issue was not capability. It was infrastructure.
When Demand Outpaces Capacity
At the time, Michele’s firm served a significant base of advisory clients. Among those clients, valuation-related questions arose with increasing frequency.
Should we gift shares to our children?
What is the business worth if we bring in a partner?
What is a reasonable buyout amount?
Each question required more than a quick estimate. It required defensible analysis.
Without a structured solution in place, Michele faced a choice:
- Invest heavily in building an internal valuation function
- Continue referring work externally and risk losing control of the client experience
- Or identify a model that preserved the firm’s client relationship while ensuring technical work was performed by qualified valuation professionals
She chose the third option.
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Implementing a Structured Valuation Solution
Rather than launching a new internal department, Michele implemented a structured third-party valuation solution.
Certified valuation professionals performed the technical analysis under recognized standards. Her firm maintained the client relationship and integrated valuation into its broader service model.
“Hands down, it’s the best thing I saw out there,” Michele said when describing the structure.
The shift was not about expanding headcount. It was about creating a repeatable, compliant way to respond when valuation needs arose.
For a firm serving growing businesses, ownership transitions, and estate planning matters, valuation became an integrated service offering rather than an operational burden.
Credentials Are Not the Same as Capacity
Michele held valuation training and credentials. But her experience highlights an important distinction.
Credentials alone do not create time, workflow, or reporting infrastructure.
Many CPA firms receive valuation-related requests without holding any valuation designations internally. In those cases, building internal certification may not be necessary.
What matters is ensuring that valuation work is performed by qualified professionals under recognized standards, and that the process is structured in a way that supports compliance and scalability.
The decision is less about whether a firm has credentials and more about whether it has a reliable system.
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From Occasional Requests to Structured Capability
Before implementing a solution, valuation felt disruptive. It required shifting focus away from core work and absorbing reporting demands that were not part of the firm’s regular workflow.
After implementing structure, valuation became predictable.
Clients received defensible reports. The firm maintained its advisory role. Compliance standards were met. And valuation was no longer something that had to be postponed.
Conclusion: Structure Enables Growth
Michele’s firm did not transform into a valuation practice. It did not expand staff or build a new internal department.
Instead, it implemented a structured model that allowed valuation work to be performed correctly while preserving the firm’s client relationships and operational focus.
For CPA firms evaluating whether to add business valuation services, the lesson is practical.
Demand may already exist within your client base.
The question is not whether you are capable.
It is whether you have a structure that allows valuation to be delivered efficiently, compliantly, and consistently.
