When you’re facing complex litigation + valuation issues, you want professionals who can deliver accurate results. Maybe you need an expert witness to testify. Or you need to know what your business is worth for a legal matter. Whatever your needs, we offer a range of specialized services.

Professionals

You will have access to professionals who are highly trained, nationally accredited and have a diverse background of experience. They hold more than a dozen certifications, receive hundreds of hours of relevant training every year and have more than 175 combined years’ experience.

Meet the Team

History

Henry+Horne started its business valuation practice in 1991 with just two employees. Today, the practice has grown to include economic damages + litigation support, fraud + forensic services and valuation services that help clients just like you. The Firm has ranked as one of the Top Phoenix Litigation Support Firms by the Phoenix Business Journal for three years in a row and broke into the Top 10 in 2016.

Questions? Our litigation + valuation professionals help clients in a variety of industries including construction, dealerships, restaurants, technology and more.

 

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP) Valuations

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) offer a powerful tool that allows you to sell all or part of your business to employees. Because ESOPs face intense scrutiny from both the IRS and the Department of Labor, you need professionals who have both the expertise and independence for this specialized area of business valuation.

Our Firm has a proven track record with many years of experience in the formation and annual valuation of ESOPs. We can help you decide if developing an ESOP is the right move for your business, assist in creating one and provide quarterly, semi-annual or annual valuation updates to determine the fair market value of the equity interest in the company owned by the ESOP.

Your valuation will meet all federal standards for independence and documentation, and your team will meet the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.

Estate + Gift Valuations

If you have membership, partnership or shareholder interests in a limited partnership, limited liability company or corporation, knowing the value of your ownership is necessary for gift, estate tax and other fiduciary reporting purposes. You need advisers who have extensive knowledge and understanding of court cases, state statutes and IRS codes, rulings, technical advice memorandums and regulations that govern your entity and influence valuation methodology.

In the last 30 years, our professionals have valued thousands of ownership interests in partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations. They work closely with prominent estate planners, trust officers, accountants and financial planners throughout the Southwest and United States. Our experts are also frequently asked to make presentations to professionals, estate planning councils, law firms and trust departments.

Your appraisal will contain a supportable value conclusion that is concise and complies with all relevant standards and regulations. While the IRS sometimes audits federal gift tax and estate tax returns and challenges the value conclusion and discounts, our experts’ appraisals have consistently held up under the scrutiny of the IRS.

If you own undivided interests in real estate, knowing the value is important. Maybe you need an appraisal for estate + gift tax purposes, or to determine the market value when converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

Our professionals have in-depth knowledge of undivided interests and can provide the necessary factual and logical information to support their value conclusions and discounts. Your valuation will include a detailed analysis identifying factors that influence the control and marketability discounts applied to your undivided interests.

Our valuation experts appraise all types of properties including:

 Divorce Valuation + Forensics

Whether you suspect your spouse is hiding income or you need an expert to testify at your divorce deposition, our professionals have extensive experience in business valuation, sole and separate property, Ruschenberg and Cockrill analyses and other financial and tax aspects of family law.

Our specific divorce division of assets and marital dissolution key practice areas include:

  • Business valuation – Value a closely held business or a professional practice owned by one or more divorcing parties
  • Discovery – Help counsel select the appropriate financial, tax and related documents to request in the discovery phase of a case
  • Forensic accounting – Provide forensic accounting services in situations where unreported income and/or undisclosed assets are suspected. Examples of Forensic Accounting for Divorce include:
    • Asset Tracing – using source documents such as bank statements and investment account statements to follow the use of funds to its final destination (i.e. other asset such as real estate or wasting of community funds such as spending on extramarital affairs).
    • Sole and separate property analysis – the tracing of assets from its separate property beginnings through any number of mutations to demonstrate whether the asset has maintained its separate property characterization as of the date of divorce.
  • Income determination – Determine a spouse’s income for alimony or child support, often a difficult undertaking when a closely held business and/or investment interests are involved

Our experts have testified hundreds of times in divorce depositions, court hearings, court trials and arbitrations. They frequently serve as the court’s appointed expert and have helped resolve mediation cases and settlement conferences.

  • Prenuptial agreements and the forensic accountant
  • Tax reform and the impact on divorce
  • I’m divorced, now what?
  • Determining income in divorce proceedings
  • Mediation and the CPA expert
  • Divorce in business valuations
 

Business Divorce

Sometimes, business relationships do not work out and it is necessary to modify the ownership structure of the company.  When this is the case, you will need an experienced appraiser to determine the value of the equity interest at stake. Henry+Horne has the experience and qualifications to assist in determining value.

Examples of Business Divorce key practice areas include:

  • Employee disputes with their employer– many times we are asked to interpret the financial impact of contract language that involves an employee and employer.
  • Shareholder disputes – when a shareholder wants to be removed from the ownership of a company, we provide the financial expertise to compute the fair market value of the leaving shareholder’s equity value.
  • Business-to-business disputes – In some cases, there are disputes between two companies over contract language. We interpret the financial impact of the contract language.

We are skilled in the process of litigation support and the complex financial issues that arise during shareholder or member disputes, providing answers and expert witness testimony when needed.

Trust + Probate Forensics

A fiduciary is tasked with acting in the best interest of the parties they represent. Sometimes that doesn’t happen. Our professionals are trained and experienced in independently analyzing complex financial issues that arise during trust + probate disputes. We provide understandable answers and expert witness testimony when required.

Transaction Advisory

Making a change in your business is a big deal. If you’re thinking about selling your company, transferring ownership to your kids or making succession plans we can help. Henry+Horne is a full-service accounting firm that offers valuation, tax, financial and advisory services to business owners just like you who are considering:

  • Mergers, sales or acquisitions
  • Exit or succession plans that include a transfer or sale of equity in their companies

Our experts can provide you with strategic advice and options throughout the transition process to:

  • Maximize the value of your business
  • Find an appropriate buyer
  • Structure the transaction to minimize taxes
  • Maximize economic benefits

Whether you are on the buy-side or sell-side of a potential merger + acquisition (M&A) transaction, you want professionals with extensive experience and a solid understanding of all the moving parts in the transaction. As the buyer of a business, we can help increase the transparency of the company’s financial information. As the seller, we can help increase the likelihood of a successful transaction.

Buy-Side Advisory Services

Our professionals work with you to understand the potential risks that would cause an unsuccessful outcome. Our goal is to provide useful information that will help you maximize a return on investment. Possible areas of concern could be:

  • IT environment
  • Operational risks
  • Quality of revenue + working capital
  • Quality of customers
  • Quality of earnings

Sell-Side Advisory Services

Our goal is to maximize the sales price by addressing company-specific challenges before the business is listed. We’ll perform an appraisal of the company and assess key performance indicators that can be addressed to optimize the earnings potential.

We also perform a sell-side financial due diligence report to mitigate the likelihood of a post-LOI haircut to the purchase price. Our report gives you feedback from a market perspective so you can adjust operations or perform accounting corrections so financial statements provide an accurate picture of the company’s economics.

Economic Damages

When it comes to complex economic damages and litigation support issues, you want experience and direct access to your financial expert when you need it.

You can expect our highly trained, nationally accredited professionals to perform sophisticated financial analyses. We stay current on the latest state and federal court cases and work with attorneys to meet tight deadlines. We control costs by using the latest process and technology to perform complex projects efficiently, and we communicate our findings in a clear and concise manner.

Expert Testimony

When it comes to litigation matters, you need an expert witness who can clearly communicate case facts through written reports and oral testimonies. Our professionals have a proven track record as expert witnesses and have provided expert testimony at depositions, arbitrations and trials for issues including:

  • Asset tracing
  • Business valuations
  • Child support
  • Fraud investigations
  • Lost profit analyses
  • Marital dissolution
  • Partnership disputes
  • Professional standards
  • Spousal maintenance

Our professionals can be utilized in whichever stage of litigation you’re in – case assessments, discovery assistance, case analysis and testimony at trial. Your expert witness will review records and underlying supporting documentation relevant to your case to arrive at appropriate conclusions, as well as document methodology and ensure that chain-of-custody procedures are established for all forms of evidence.

Our professionals have been admitted as experts in state and federal courts, and have provided expert testimony in many areas including:

Other Financial Consulting Services

Whether you suspect fraud in your business, need a financial issue investigated or are involved in a legal matter, our forensic accounting experts can help you with a wide range of issues including:

Our professional experts hold a number of certifications including the certified fraud examiner and certified in financial forensics designations. They identify key issues, possess a certain investigative intuitiveness when it comes to handling your needs and simplify their findings so they’re easy to understand.

Questions about forensic accounting and fraud examination? Fill out the form to the left to contact Melissa Loughlin-Sines or Mike Metzler.

Testimonials

Henry+Horne’s approach to fractional valuation enabled us to put our tax exemptions to efficient use. We appreciate the professional work done by Henry+Horne. This was the second assignment you completed for our family and again, thanks for a job well done.

Phoenix Gift Tax Client

We were under an extremely tight deadline for this project, and Stephen’s team worked very hard to meet that deadline. They only asked for information that they truly needed, and were very responsive to our requests. Their report was delivered on schedule as promised. I would not hesitate to use them again in the future should the need arise, and would highly recommend them to others as well.

Scottsdale Financial Reporting Client

The dedication and technical expertise of the Henry+Horne staff were invaluable throughout the course of the litigation. I look forward to working with Henry+Horne again in the future.

Phoenix Attorney
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