William H. Purcell has over 50 years of experience in Investment Banking, Mergers and Acquisitions, and other Finance Issues. He is currently a Senior Director at Seale & Associates, a boutique investment bank with both U.S. and foreign clients. Seale is focused on Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Finance Advisory, and Strategy Consulting.
Mr. Purcell's past client coverage includes such companies as Anheuser-Busch, Hoechst Celanese, Volkswagen, and Metropolitan Life to name a few. He was also appointed CEO of a publicly-traded company going through bankruptcy proceedings. Additionally, Mr. Purcell has been a director on several corporate boards. Through his relationship with Seale & Associates, Mr. Purcell has affiliations with professors at The George Washington University Business School and the University of Virginia Business School. He has been an occasional guest lecturer in investment banking and finance at George Washington University and Monmouth University.
Consulting Services Include
Mergers and Acquisitions - LBOS and Recapitalizations
Fairness Opinions
Adequacy Opinions
Solvency Opinions
Valuations
Damage Issues
Fiduciary Issues
Advice to Special Committees of Boards and Trustees
MCS Associates is a nationally recognized consulting group that has provided financial, operations and regulatory/compliance consulting services nationwide to financial institutions, insurance companies and regulatory agencies as well as real estate and financial services organizations for over 40 years. Expert Witness and Litigation Consulting are a primary focus of our services. We undertake expert witness assignments throughout the United States and our clients include several hundred leading law firms around the country, working on behalf of both plaintiff and defendant financial institutions, borrowers, depositors, investors, developers, insurance companies and their insured, securities/insurance/real estate brokers/agents, regulators and government agencies, and individuals.
Together with MCS Associates’ specialized resources in banking, financial services and real estate, we also draw on key strategic alliances in insurance, economics, academia and the securities industry to meet a wide range of expert witness needs. Our litigation experts include experienced bankers, lenders, consultants, regulators, managers, brokers & agents in insurance, real estate, and securities; insurance claims and underwriting managers; economists, accountants, appraisers, real estate analysts, and academics.
Carlo Scevola & Partners is an International Fiduciary Company headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with branches in six continents. We specialize in International Planning, Strategic Consulting and Wealth Management. Our clients trust us for everything from setting up an Offshore Company to Mergers and Acquisitions to Business Finance and Asset Protection.
CS&P’s customer-centric methodology ensures that each client gets a custom-tailored solution which addresses that business’ individual objectives and requirements. Our team has expertise in every functional category and every important geography. From finance to operations to human resources to marketing – from the Americas to Europe to Africa, Asia and Oceania – CS&P can bring together experienced executives who know how to advise you and will make your enterprise a success. All this while always protecting your privacy.
Services Offered: Business and Strategic Consulting
Intended as a unique source of inspiration for effective business organization and tax planning, as well as a quick and easy reference book, the Offshore Jurisdictions Guide is a comprehensive and objective guide to offshore jurisdictions offering personal taxation and business opportunities. Providing a solid overview of 100 jurisdictions around the world, this is an essential handbook for financial experts, legal advisors, consultants, and the general public.
During his four decades as a financial problem solver, Ted Phelps has built a reputation for integrity, diligence, and leadership.
Phelps is skilled in the fields of insolvency, reorganization, and restructuring. As a court-appointed fiduciary, he has completed dozens of business receiverships, many of which involved fraud and shareholder oppression issues.
A forensic accountant and testifying expert in the areas of Fraud, Business Valuation, and Economic Damages, Phelps excels in following the money – no matter where the trail leads.
Although it is a necessity in many litigated matters, forensic accounting can be time-consuming and expensive. Experience and sound judgment matter. “I separate gossip from fact,” Phelps says of his work. “I listen to the parties, and I strain out the extraneous and irrelevant. In the end, I come up with a road map showing the detours that led to the problems and the route to their solutions.”
As the founder and president of FVLS Consultancy, Phelps developed and taught a forensic accounting course at California State University, Los Angeles. He currently teaches classes in Accounting and Fraud Investigation at Whitworth University in Spokane, Wash.
Phelps earned his M.B.A. from Whitworth University and his B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. He also studied Engineering at the United States Naval Academy. He is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts.
In addition to founding and leading his own company, Phelps has held leadership positions with several publicly traded and privately held companies, including as Director of Corporate Reorganization at Price Waterhouse. Phelps serves on the board of Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Santa Clarita, Calif., and he is a life member of MENSA and the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association.
Michael D. Pakter CA, CPA, CFE, CIRA, CDBV, CFF, MAFF, CVA, CGMA focuses on accounting, forensic accounting, financial analysis, financial forensics, economic damages, business valuation and investigations. He has experience in lost profits / earnings, business interruption claims, analysis of financial transactions and balances, Court-ordered accounting, bankruptcy, fraud examinations, investigations and the reconstruction of incomplete, misstated and/or falsified financial information.
Litigation Support - Mr. Pakter provides consulting and litigation support services to trial lawyers, trustees, examiners, receivers, business owners and managers and units of federal, state and local government. Many engagements combine financial analysis, economic damages determination, valuation issues, tracing procedures and/or other applications of Financial Forensics to assist in resolving complex commercial litigation and business disputes.
Experience - Mr. Pakter has more than 40 years of experience in forensic accounting, investigations and litigation services in numerous industries and diverse engagements, including more than 20 years of experience in economic damages and business valuations. State, Federal and Bankruptcy Courts, as well as arbitrators, have recognized me as an expert in forensic accounting, economic damages, business valuation, CPA malpractice and bankruptcy core proceedings. Mr. Pakter is a Certified Public Accountant with multiple additional certifications in economic damages, financial forensics, business valuation and bankruptcy core proceedings. He focusses his professional practice on forensic accounting, lost profits, lost earnings and other economic damages, business interruption, fraud/financial investigations, bankruptcy core proceedings and litigation support.
The purpose of this article is to introduce the reader to the new Revenue Recognition Accounting Standard (the Standard) issued jointly by the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the UK-based International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and to consider the Standard’s impact on financial analyses prepared by practitioners performing business valuatio
The choice and use of an ex-ante or ex-post analysis can lead to divergent results in protracted litigation. The article provides an illustration of how and why the results may differ. Litigation consultants are advised to consider the above and await instruction from legal counsel regarding the approach that needs to be taken.
The purpose of this article - the third of three (Part I and Part II) on this topic - is to provide the reader with an understanding Chapter 3 (What Constitutes Best Evidence) of the 2018 Practice Aid as well as certain other publications containing a body of knowledge on the best evidence to support economic damages in a court of law
In this second article on AIRA Standards, the author discusses unique issues valuing distressed companies. These include the standard of value used, the premise of value, the intended use of the valuation, and cost of capital.
It is essential that creditors, managers, and shareholders - as well as the attorneys who advise them - timely identify and respond to signs of a company’s financial distress. Financial distress, according to Investopedia, “is a condition in which a company or individual cannot generate revenue or income because it is unable to meet or cannot pay its financial obligations
The purpose of this article—the second of three on this topic—is to provide the reader with an understanding of Chapter 2 (Costs) of the 2018 Practice Aid as well as certain other publications containing a body of knowledge on the best practices for developing “avoided or saved costs,” sometimes referred to by the courts as incremental costs.
The AICPA has issued two practice aids, one on 2015 and most recently in November 2018, focused on the calculation of economic profits and damages. The purpose of this article—the first of three on this topic—is to provide the reader with an understanding of Chapter 1...
This is Part 2 of a two-part article. The first part (published in the January 2014 issue of Business Valuation Update) discussed valuations of distressed debtor companies based on discounted cash flows and considered the impact of the date and stage of distress. This part describes how the financial analyst derives the cost of capital for a distressed debtor company.
This is Part 1 of a two-part article. This part discusses valuations of distressed debtor companies based on discounted cash flows and considers the impact of the date and stage of distress. Next month, Part 2 will describe how the financial analyst derives the cost of capital for a distressed debtor company.
Financial experts are frequently asked aboutthe tax impact of damage awards, both paidand received. The complexities of the InternalRevenue Code (IRC) and judicial interpretations thereofmake determining the taxability of receipts or payments difficult.The same is true when dealing with the taxability of economic damages awarded to plaintiffs in civil actions. Nuances in the IRC and the judicial interpretations may make it difficult for a taxpayer to determine the taxability of his or her proceeds from a litigation award of personal economic damages. Whether or not such is taxable often depends on how the award of economic damages is categorized and/or described in the awarding documents.
Mr. Bad Actor is a 61–year-old male who is the senior executive of the Unlucky Transportation Company. He has been in that position for more than ten years. Before his employment at the company, he worked for a series of unsuccessful transportation companies, where both he and other stakeholders lost most of their investment. He has ongoing legal and financial problems resulting from these prior business failures and from his failed marriage.
Beat K. Schlumpf, FCILT, is an Expert in European Supply Chain Management, Networks and Logistics. Mr. Schlumpf has over 40 years of experience in supply chain execution.
Mr. Schlumpf is one of the few experts worldwide with operative experience of all carriers (Sea, Air, Road, Rail) and all speeds (heavy lifts, general cargo, full load, parcel, express, mail, courier). His core competence is in the assessment, development, and implementation of integrated logistics solutions. He is the Inventor of the "Operations Efficiency Assessment” and the Time Factor model for process assessments.
Mr. Schlumpf has extensive knowledge in a broad range of management assignments. He has experience and professional competence in distribution logistics for manufacturers, retailers, producers, forwarding and transportation companies as well as postal operators (textile, machinery, postal services, mail, parcel, express, and transportation industries.)
Business Consulting Focus:
Facilities Design
Worldwide Distribution Network Design
Freight Audits
Tender
Outsourcing
Logistics and Supply Chain
Supply Chain Law
Expansion, Consolidation, and Warehousing
Mr. Schlumpf has acted as an Expert at the UNCTAD and was featured speaker on practices and operation used by global freight logistics firms for the World Trade Organization (WTO) and lecturer for distribution logistics.
Mr. Schlumpf has published articles on outsourcing, one stop shopping, co-operation with forwarders and integrators, and new inventing Operations Audit to increase efficiency.
HP Accounting Services, Inc. is a leading provider of interim and outsourced Financial Management for tech and other companies. A CPA and business valuation firm, they support their clients’ compliance with the IRC 409A and SFAS 123(R) rules, intangible asset valuation, as well as issues involving damage calculations, expert witness services in litigation.
Consulting Services:
Accounting - Bookkeeping (Monthly/Quarterly/Annual), Accounting system setup for new businesses, Personal financial statements, Business Plan Development & Loan Brokerage, Audit Preparation & Liaison, Budgeting
Business Valuation - Purchase Price Allocations — FAS 141R
Mergers & Acquisitions
Business Fraud Prevention
Robert Bates, JD, CPA, CFE, CVA, CFO has over 30 years of Financial Management and Accounting experience as a Controller and CFO in various industries. He has been in several industries, including telecom, media, retail and financial services in addition to having consulting experience at startups in the software, technology, and life sciences fields. Mr. Bates specializes in International Accounting, Software Issues, and Obtaining Financing. AS CFO of public companies, he has completed due diligence accounting/reporting for 12 acquisitions, including performing Business Valuations and dealing with FAS 142 issues. Mr. Bates has handled accounting for complex debt instruments including warrants, beneficial conversion feature, and other derivative issues. He has also been responsible for SEC reporting: 10Q’s and 10K’s.
Economic downturns and recessions are notorious for encouraging fraud. As new and prospective fraud examiners, it's imperative that you become aware of the various fraud risks that can occur and the red flags that indicate a fraud in progress.
Keegan Linscott & Associates, PC is a full-service Accounting Firm with more than 27 years of experience providing the highest quality of service to clients through a multi-dimensional team of dedicated and trusted professionals.
Leaders in their industry of practice, the professionals at KLA are Certified Public Accountants, Certified Fraud Examiners, Forensic Accountants, and Certified Insolvency, and Restructuring Advisors. They are committed to providing their clients and community with exceptional service, specializing in such matters as complex commercial litigation, FAR audits, all taxation matters, bankruptcy, reorganization, insolvency issues, and fraud detection, investigation, and prevention.
Audit Services - Audits, Reviews, Compilations, Federal Acquisition Regulations
Business Services - Quickbooks, Small Business, Payroll, Part-Time CFO, Cash Flow, Bank Financing, Strategic Business planning, Business Valuation, Succession in Planning, New Business Planning, Non-Profits, Internal Controls
Christopher G. Linscott, CPA, CFE, CIRA, is a Director of Keegan Linscott & Associates and is the Director of Litigation, Forensic Accounting, and Bankruptcy Support Services. He also manages corporate financial audits and tax clients. Mr. Linscott was previously employed with the international CPA firms of Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), and Peat Marwick (now KPMG). He has more than 25 years of experience in public accounting.
Mr. Linscott specializes in the areas of Litigation Support, Bankruptcy Reorganization, Fraud Investigations and Prevention, and Business Consulting. He has served clients in industries including construction, health care, home builders and developers, law firms, manufacturing and distribution, non-profit, professional services, real estate, restaurant franchises, retail service, and wholesale.
Mr. Linscott is a Member of the Arizona Society of CPA's, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, National Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors, and a Director of the Board of Directors at Bashas’.
Panorama Consulting Group is a technology-agnostic consultancy specializing in Digital Business Transformation and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Implementations for mid- to large-sized private- and public-sector organizations worldwide.
This highly respected firm is 100% independent of software and technology vendor affiliation. They offer a phased and integrated approach to strategy alignment and execution, enabling each client to achieve its unique business transformation objectives by transforming its people, processes, and technology.
Panorama clients include multi-national conglomerates from Amazon Robotics to Valcor Engineering, as well as governmental entities, including state and local governments, municipalities, school districs, state offices of the attorney general, and tribal governments.
About Panorama Consulting Group
Listen to Panorama Consulting Group's Podcast Series: The Panorama Angle
A large global retailer in the process of implementing SAP software wanted customized, on-site training for the company's internal resources. The company needed to implement inventory management modules while executing training and communications, but it had a lack of organizational change management experience.
Providing engineering, architecture, construction, and consulting solutions to the global life sciences and advanced technology industries, this firm had recently undergone an internal reorganization of its business units and operations. Each region was following its own processes, and multiple systems were being used. This led to duplicate and inconsistent data.
This multi-billion dollar professional services company was using various, disparate software applications across its worldwide operations. Many of its core business processes were not utilized globally, and dual/triple entry was demonstrated at various sites and in various functional areas.
Project Oversight Case Study: Oil & Gas: Upstream petroleum oil exploration and production company in the Middle East. Company operates several blocks, including one on the Arabian Sea, where crude oil, produced from this
While the company had little technological communication either internally or with its sister firm, the company was growing by leaps and bounds. It needed to modernize its technology and improve its business processes to continue providing outstanding customer service while meeting increased sales demand.
This consumer services company in Denver was using custom software developed in an AS/400 environment. Many of its core business processes were either manual or paper-based, and the company was struggling with the issue of sole dependency on a single employee who understood the legacy systems.
A tax and accounting firm with revenue between $500,000 and $1,000,000, was growing both organically and through acquisition. This firm had a conglomerate of various software. The main financial system (used for time, billing, and financials) was at “end of life,” meaning it was not going to be supported by the vendor in about two years time.
Client Uses environmentally sustainable practices to produce approximately 650,000 tons of chlorine-free, bleach kraft pulp annually. Generates approximately $155 million in annual revenue...
This plastic and rubber injection molding company processes orders using both a made-to-order process and engineer-to-order process. The company engineers to order through a variety of CAD systems and must undergo first article inspections prior to running production batches.
The district contracted Panorama to help in the replacement of its existing systems with a proven, commercial-off-the-shelf ERP system. The client undertook this initiative to replace aging systems, gain efficiencies and update existing processes. Another goal was to improve the timeliness, accuracy, safeguarding and consistency of information
The client was moving from manual processes and old systems to a modern system, so their employees faced a big learning curve. Unfortunately, their ERP vendor only provided them with a “jump start” program that only covered particular deliverables and activities. For example, they provided an overall communication approach but not a communication plan.
Not long ago, this global organization had implemented an ERP system across several aerospace and defense manufacturing plants. It was now considering an upgrade to the latest version of the system. However, the organization knew its end-users were still struggling to adopt the changes instituted by the prior initiative. Panorama deployed two organizational change management experts
The organization was founded in 1981 as a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. It does not just encompass a non-profit organization but also encompasses a for-profit company that has a different fiscal year. As such, the organization must focus on tracking, reporting and financial record keeping – including tracking grants and gifts from contributor to the end-product or support delivered.
Panorama was engaged by the city to select and assist in the implementation of a new ERP and related systems. Framed as an initiative to bring a high “return on citizenship” (the amount and quality of services received for taxpayer dollars) to the city’s constituents, the project’s goal was to implement a platform that would provide the same (or better) quality
The city had been using a decades-old ERP solution and had not evaluated their business processes at any point during that time. Not only was the current ERP system not the best fit for their municipality, but the city was spending an inordinate amount of money on maintenance costs for customization and did not take advantage of instituting best practices or current technology.
Vertical integration allows the company to control all aspects of beef production. It partners with ranchers and operates feed lots, ensuring cattle are fed to their standards. In addition to its processing capabilities, the company operates its own trucking line, providing products from farm to table. The company supplies beef to the US retail grocery and foodservice markets, federal school lunch programs and the US military worldwide.
Avinash Vashistha has dedicated his career to the unique requirements of the Global Outsourcing Market. His background and understanding of the practices surrounding Offshore Markets provides clients with a custom offshoring strategy, supplier / build mapping, favorable pricing, reduced risk, successful transition and sustainable performance contracts that address issues unique to offshore delivery.
Mr. Vashistha has evaluated and conducted due diligence on over 200 supplier firms, including companies in India, Russia, China, Philippines, Malaysia, C&E Europe, US, Canada, UK, Ireland and Vietnam. He has directed sourcing assessments, IT and BPO / KPO sourcing transactions and executed program governance models realizing $6 Billion in savings for clients. Avinash also developed significant expertise in the areas of R&D, Technology, Human Resources, Finance and Accounting, Analytics, Investment Research, claims processing and other domain specific voice and back office business processes. Mr. Vashistha has been a strong proponent of well-qualified, but lesser known tier-two suppliers in the competitive sourcing process.
Thought Leader: His opinions are sought and recognized by worldwide organizations and conference organizers such as IDC, NASSCOM, CITEM, C-Level, Private Equity Conference, the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, CII, SBPOA and IAOP. Leading media conglomerates such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Time, The Straits Times, The Business Times, USA TODAY, CNN, CNBC, Forbes, Business Week, Bangkok Post, NDTV, Times Group, Business Standard and Cyber Media have featured Avinash extensively. He has been recognized by HRO Today as ‘HRO Superstar’ for 2006 and 2007 in the category of thought leaders and advisors on outsourcing. He has also been recognized as ‘FAO Superstar’ for 2007.