Institute of Management Accountants Event: Intangible Capital, the real value of a business

The NH Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants is hosting Trek principals, Mary Adams and Michael Oleksak, at their February meeting.

From the event announcement:

Did you know that a balance sheet presented under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles can only explain 20% of the value of the average company? The rest is lumped together as “intangible.” Very little is known or understood about this hidden 80% of value, yet this information gap affects the ability of management teams everywhere to make the right decisions and drive growth performance, as well determine the true value of their company.

These intangibles reflect the shift of companies toward greater dependence on knowledge. These “unrecognized” intangibles include a broad range of capabilities and “assets” such as data, networks and processes that together make up the fundamental infrastructure of the modern business.

Management accountants have a unique opportunity to unlock the secrets of this hidden 80% of corporate value. This presentation will explain how you, as a management accountant, can be a valued partner to your fellow managers and peers in identifying, measuring and monetizing these critical intangibles. We will draw from the recent IMA Statement on Management Accounting entitled Unrecognized Intangibles: Identification, Management and Reporting and the book Intangible Capital: Putting Knowledge to Work in the 21st Century Organization, both co-authored by our speakers, Mary Adams and Michael Oleksak.

More information and registration

Business Valuations and the Intangible Information Gap

I was recently sent a copy of a new Statement on Management Accounting about Business Valuation (free but registration required) from the Institute of Management Accountants.

It’s a great overview of the process used to value businesses. None of the information in the paper was a surprise to me. I learned the basics of this process years ago when I was a high-risk lender.

But when I read the paper with my intangible capital hat on, I was struck by how much the accounting challenges of intangibles are limiting and, perhaps, distorting the work of valuation professionals. Read more