Don Wisehart

The Financial Valuation Group of Florida, Inc. and The Financial Valuation Group of Ft. Lauderdale, Inc. (d/b/a/ The Financial Valuation Group) are forensic accounting, business valuation, and consulting services firms in Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 

 Most of us recognize and respect value but few of us really know how it is established.  Yet, situations arise daily that demand accurate assessments.  In fact, countless business and financial transactions and other day-to-day events that affect millions of people hinge on the determination of value.

That's why our work is critically important, and why we never take it lightly.  We adhere to the ethical standards of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) designation requirements.  Our most rigorous standards are self-imposed, and the findings of every engagement we undertake must survive the scrutiny of our strict review procedures.  In short, our work is a product of professionals who approach each project with care and 25 years of experience. 

As a result, we have earned the respect of hundreds of clients from coast to coast.  A wide variety of companies, attorneys, CPAs, professional practices, shareholders, banks and others have relied on FVG to appraise the value of a wide range of transactions and interests.  Likewise, our findings and opinions have been reviewed and accepted by:

• Courts, including Federal District courts, Tax courts, and State Circuit courts
• Government agencies, including the SEC
• Accounting firms, including the Big 4 and 2nd-tier accounting firm

BIO

Donald Wisehart has been involved in business valuations throughout his career in public accounting. In 1992, he made a commitment to focus his practice primarily on business valuations. Since that time, Mr. Wisehart has been retained by both public and private companies over a wide variety of industries with sales ranging from as little as $500,000 to as much as $1.2 billion and market capitalization as large as $500 billion.

These companies have come from the manufacturing, non-manufacturing, service, high-tech, bio-tech and retail sectors.    He has valued stock options and a variety of intangible assets as well as business entities both on controlling and non-controlling bases. Mr. Wisehart‘s “fair value” opinions on option pricing, goodwill impairment and intangible fair value have been reviewed and have withstood the scrutiny of the SEC and big-4 accounting firms. He has provided litigation support both as an expert witness and as an analyst for valuations in various legal proceedings including divorce, shareholder disputes and economic loss cases.

Since 1996, he has lectured for both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts on various business valuation topics He has spoken on the national level on such topics as “Capitalization and Discount Rates” and “Discounts and Premiums”. In fact, the course that he developed on discounts and premiums was designated by NACVA as a core course for their business valuation certification program. “Discounts and Premiums” and was also sold as a self-study course. He has also developed and taught a course entitled “Using the Guideline Public Company Method”. This course was expanded to encompass all aspects of the market approach and became a required course in NACVA’s certification program beginning in of May 2000.

He was the Chairman of the Education Board for NACVA and served as the first president of the Rhode Island Business Appraisal Group. In 1998, Mr. Wisehart was one of the first members of his profession to earn the American Institute of CPA’s “Accreditation in Business Valuations” (ABV).

Mr. Wisehart was one of the founding members of the Financial Consulting Group L.C, (“FCG”), formed in 1999 and currently a nationally recognized group of business valuation experts totaling some 100 firms across the country. The diverse specialties of FCG’s membership provide a rich resource for its members to draw upon.

In December 2002, Mr. Wisehart was designated by the American Society of Appraisers as an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA). He was the first CPA in New England to hold both the ABV and ASA designations.

As a result of Mr. Wisehart’s substantial experience and knowledge in determining the “fair value” of intangible assets and employee stock options, he has taught the AICPA’s courses in “Fair Value Accounting: A Critical New Skill for All CPAs” and “Fair Value Accounting Concepts”.    He has presented webinars on reporting fair value of “business combinations” (SFAS 141r), SFAS 142 (Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets), and “Top Ten Impairment (Goodwill) Challenges”. He has also spoken nationally on the determination of fair value of employee stock options (SFAS 123r).

Mr. Wisehart, along with 24 other valuation experts from around the country, has co-authored the 1st edition to a major treatise on business valuations, “Financial Valuation – Applications and Models”. This book was released in 2003. The 2nd edition was released in 2006 with 29 other valuation experts and the 3rd edition is expected to be released in the spring of 2010.    He was also a contributing author to the second edition “Valuation for Financial Reporting” released in 2008. Mr. Wisehart is one the original “expert panelists” for the Financial and Litigation Expert, a national news journal that publishes bi-monthly on a variety of articles on financial valuation and litigation support services.

Over the past 10 years, the RI Society of CPA’s has reached out to Mr. Wisehart to provide to the New England business valuation appraisal community seminars on current and advanced business valuation issues including such topics as fair value, cost of capital, discounts for lack of control and discounts for lack of marketability. Mr. Wisehart was awarded the “2009 Instructor of Great Distinction” in recognition of his communication skills as well as his body of knowledge and experience.

He graduated from Kent State University in 1968 and was admitted to the Ohio Society of CPAs in 1972. In 1974, he relocated to Rhode Island where he is currently licensed as a CPA. He received his Masters Degree in Taxation from Bryant College in 1984. He has been in public practice for 31 years and in addition to his business valuation concentration, he has taught various Accounting courses at Johnson and Wales University, Roger Williams University and the University of Rhode Island.

• Business Appraiser for 18 years
• ASA – Accredited Senior Appraiser ABV – Accredited in Business Valuation CVA – Certified Valuation Analyst CFF – Certified in Financial Forensics
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) for 40 years MST – Masters of Science in Taxation
• Concentration in complex corporate, partnership & individual tax strategies, tax planning and tax compliance.
• Author of Various Business Valuation Courses
• Valuation For Financial Reporting - NACVA’s Learning Institute – 2008 Valuation For Financial Reporting - NACVA’s Learning Institute – 2008 The Market Approach - Required Course – NACVA’s “CVA” Accreditation – 2000 Using the Guideline Company Method - NACVA’s Learning Institute – 1998 Discounts and Premiums - Required Course – NACVA’s “CVA” Accreditation – 1997 Capitalization and Discount Rates - National NACVA Conference – May 1996
• Co-Author & Contributing Author of 2 Major Business Valuation Treatises
• Financial Valuation – Applications and Models, 2nd Edition (Co-Author) Valuation for Financial Reporting, 2nd Edition (Contributing Author)
• Presenter and Speaker to Local, National & Webinar Audiences
• “Dealing with Debt” in Business Valuations (2010 NACVA National Conference)
• “Top Ten Impairment (Goodwill) Challenges” (2010 AICPA Webinar)
• “Current Updates in Valuations” (NACVA Learning Institutes (Local & National))
• “The Probability-Weighted Expected Return Method ‘P-WERM’ in Emerging Growth Companies” (2008 NACVA National Conference)
• “Valuing Intangible Assets for Litigation and Financial Reporting” (NACVA IP Workshop)
• “Intangible Assets and Financial Reporting: Purchase Price Allocations and Impairment Tests” (NACVA IP Workshop)

1. White Papers/Presentations, Publications, and Business Valuation Courses
2. Capitalization and Discount Rates
3. National NACVA Conference – May 1996
4. Discounts and Premiums
5. Required Course – NACVA’s “CVA” Accreditation – 1997
6. Using the Guideline Company Method
7. NACVA’s Learning Institute – 1998
8. The Market Approach
9. Required Course – NACVA’s “CVA” Accreditation – 2000
10. Financial Valuation – Applications and Models
11. Co-authored with James Hitchner and 29 Other Professionals – 2006 2nd edition,
12. published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (3rd Edition to be released n the fall of 2010) Valuation for Financial Reporting, (Fair Value Measurements and Reporting),
13. Contribution Author – 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007
14. Financial Valuation and Litigation Expert, Valuation Products and Services, James R. Hitchner, Editor-in-Chief, Atlanta, GA. Expert Author Panel Member (30 Panelists)
15. SFAS 123r Valuation Defies "Intuition", Aug /Sept 2008 Issue 14, Page 7 Probability-Weighted Expected Return Method: "P-WERM" might make an analyst
16. squirm, Oct /Nov 2007 Issue 9, Page 9. Dangers of Mixing Transaction Databases, Aug / Sept 2006 Issue, Page 7. Boston’s Battle of The Beta, Dec 2009 / Jan 2010 Issue, Page 12
17. BVR (Business Valuation Update), BVResources.comsm, Business Valuation Resources, LLC, 1000 SW Broadway, Suite 1200, Portland, OR 97205-3035
18. “Reporting Standards Update: What All BV Analyst Should Know”, Vol. 14, No. 12, December 2008
19. Business Valuation Q&A Database, Business Valuation Resources, LLC, 1000 SW Broadway, Suite 1200, Portland, OR 97205-3035 One of approximately 30 expert panel members, copyright © 2004 Business Valuation Resources, LLC
20. BV Q&A: Valuing partially developed franchises?, October 2005, Vol. 2.No. 10, pages 7 & 8.
21. BV Q&A: Update: Is it allowed to "opt out" of USPAP?, May 2005, Vol. 2.No. 5, pages 6 & 7.
22. BV Q&A: Methodologies used to determine personal goodwill, Answer Two:, November 2004, Vol. 1.No. 11, pages 6 & 7.
23. BV Q&A: Valuing a company with a shareholders' deficiency:, August 2004, Vol. 1.No. 8, pages 4 & 5.