How To Improve Your Chances of Passing the ICVS Case Study Exam

The writing of the case portion of the ICVS exam should be no different than submitting a report to your own client. The underlying thought pattern shold be along the lines of, "Is this the type of report I would be pleased to submit to my client?"

In order to help you achieve this goal consider the following:

- Does the report flow in a logical order, is it well written with proper use of grammar, correct spelling and punctuation?

- There is nothing more disconcerting than mathematical errors. Is your report free from them?

- Have you made the report easy to read with a table of contents and properly referenced everything to it in the body of the report?

- Does your summary letter address the client, outline the purpose and scope for the valuation, contain a statement of standards as it relates to FMV or other value as stated in IACVA's "International Glossary of Business Valuation Terms?"

- Summary letter: were the limitations and restrictions of the valuation stated, was the value of the company stated and did you sign the letter?

- In the main body of the report did you include:

- A description of the company, sufficient information to conduct a valuation, was the objective of the valuation stated as well as the effective date?

- Who are the owners and how is ownership shared, did you interview management, who/what was your principal source of information, did you make a site visit to the company?

Note: To document a site visit to this imaginary compary, use a company in your city you have visited. In place of its name, use those provided here in this examination, and tell the story of your visit. This simulated site visit can be used or the form from Appendix IV of BV: UFA.

- Have you done a thorough job of analyzing the financial data? All the data!

- Is there appropriate discussion of the economic conditions as well as an industry discussion?

- Have you considered all possible valuation methods and supported the one you chose to use and put your reasons for not using the others?

- Is the appendix complete and contains the detail you didn't put into the body of the report?

- Is this truly a report you would want your client to have?

Attachment:- IACVA Case study.zip