Has anyone taken the ABV exam here? I did a search and read a couple of posts on it. How hard is the test? I bought the self-study book and it was pretty much… crap. Any good study materials out there for the exam?
Ocean Mist, is this the business valuation credential that only CPAs can take?
^Yes.
I’m not a CPA so I haven’t taken it, but my understanding is that it is pretty easy. The designation isn’t all that well regarded in the valuation industry. I don’t come across many Big 4 valuation folks with it (or at least none that make note of it), mostly local CPAs that want to generate a little extra money doing valuation work for the hardware store across town.
I’ve been looking into business valuation myself, and as far as I can tell they look pretty simple. The ASA, basically the gold standard in valuation, requires like 4 or 5 classes + experience for their basic certification. After each class your tested on what you learned. Doesn’t seem so bad. Besides, most of the material is based on books by Shannon Pratt. I have three of them and they don’t seem too complicated. ASA > ABV; ABV > CVA; from what I’ve been told.
el duque Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’ve been looking into business valuation myself, > and as far as I can tell they look pretty simple. > The ASA, basically the gold standard in valuation, > requires like 4 or 5 classes + experience for > their basic certification. After each class your > tested on what you learned. Doesn’t seem so bad. > > Besides, most of the material is based on books by > Shannon Pratt. I have three of them and they don’t > seem too complicated. > > ASA > ABV; ABV > CVA; from what I’ve been told. +1. As I previously noted though, CFA is very quickly becoming the preferred designation if you want to play with the big boys. I believe ASA lets you skip one or two of the classes/tests if you have the charter. Certainly nothing wrong with a CPA getting the ABV though.
There’s also CBA, MCBA, AIBA, and AVA which are pretty much useless from what I’ve heard. I believe it takes 5 years to become a full ASA, a long long time, and you have to be doing valuation work the entire time.