Korda Mentha Forensic Director Alex Canale CA has created a niche for himself — and a group of like-minded specialists — within the practice.

The auditor and forensic accountant has been recognised by Chartered Accountants ANZ as a business valuation (BV) specialist, which has enabled him to progress his career while delivering extra value to clients.

Canale’s valuation work covers both contested and non-contested valuations.

Contested valuation includes minority shareholder disputes, or post-acquisition disputes. If a company makes an acquisition, but has doubt about the amount paid, then that can lead to the amount being contested.

Non-contested valuations are also done in a variety of contexts. “We also do valuations for financial reporting purposes, for example impairment testing or purchase price allocations,” Canale says.

Canale, who has bachelor degrees in commerce and law alongside a masters in applied finance, says gaining a BV specialisation has added another string to his bow.

“Valuations are a really interesting part of what we do. Accountants are well placed to work in that space because of their knowledge and understanding of financial statements and how the valuation of assets and liabilities affects the overall financial position of an entity.

“It’s something that I find really interesting and being able to specialise in it has given me more credibility to get more work in both contested and non contested valuations.”

Extra work pays off

Canale gained his specialisation via extra study through Kaplan Professional.

“There were four [mandatory] subjects that I did and I wrapped that up as part of a masters of applied finance,” he says.

“So, as part of getting the masters, I was also able to pick up on valuation subjects that I needed to do and also I did demonstrate that I had done some work in this area.”

Canale says the drive towards specialisation is mainly fuelled by client appetite.

“Clients want people who are a specialist or an expert in a particular area. Having a specialisation from a body like Chartered Accountants ANZ, which is well respected in business and in the legal profession, is really helpful from our point of view.

It means that we can say [to clients], ‘I’m a chartered accountant and all that goes with that designation, but I’ve also done some further study to specialise in this particular area’.”

Canale says that many of KordaMentha’s clients in contested valuations are solicitors; for non-contested valuations the clients are mainly corporates needing valuations for financial statement purposes.

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“Those clients feel more comfort from appointing someone who has that extra background both in experience and in the [academic] study,” he says.

“It is early days for the business valuation specialisation, so what we need to do is educate people about what it actually is and what it means.

Its existence means that we’re able to go to market and say ‘we’re chartered accountants but with this particular extra accreditation’ to work in this space.”

As for the major challenges in the business valuation sector, Canale explains that there are a lot of different types of consultants who do valuations, so finding a point of difference is essential.

“You are able to offer all the fundamental values or principles that a chartered accountant brings to all their work, aspects like integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care.

“However, the business valuation specialisation gives you a further point of distinction. When it comes to the challenge of operating in a high-stakes area like business valuation, this makes all the difference,” he says.

Canale’s advice to other chartered accountants considering doing a specialisation is to find an area which interests them; then it is “absolutely a worthwhile experience”.

“I found the study side really interesting, but I also wanted the business I work for to seek more work in this area.

The specialisation has enabled me to have more credibility in my push within the firm to say, let’s get a group of like-minded people to get interested in valuations. We’ve got people who have expertise. We’ve got specialisation. Let’s go out and try and get some more work in this area.”

Canale adds that this has also opened up career progression opportunities for him as there is a limited number of people within his organisation with this specialisation.

This article was first published in the September 2016 issue of Acuity magazine.