Valuation

“ Kinds of Value.—It is first necessary to state the limitations within which the principles of valuation to be laid down are applicable to the commercial balance sheet. In business many different kinds of [Pg 404] value are found and used. Thus we have the terms, sale or liquidation value, cost value, and replacement value. By the term “sale value,” when applied to a going business, is meant the value which a willing buyer offers to a willing seller. ”

“ The valuation will proceed upon the basis that the property should return to the purchaser the capital which he invests together with interest at the rate so settled, or afford him security for such interest while he keeps the property and the return of the capital when he desires to realize it. ”

“ This is not to say that a physical valuation is without worth, and even great worth in some cases; it is merely offered as an opinion that the physical value is in many (and probably most) instances a very treacherous guide to the real value—a far poorer guide, as a general rule, than the accounting department ”

“ The Court, appraisers, and the author, alike recognize that there is no one method of valuation of universal application. First cost, reproduction cost, reproduction cost less depreciation, commercial value determined by capitalization, worth of the service to the consumer, and market price of the property, if such exists, all have their weight, in varying degree in different cases. ”

“ The relation of the profit and loss phase of an enterprise to the problem of valuation is apparent—the majority of the changes in value of the assets being connected with profit and loss activities. Thus sales result in cash or claims against customers, and a valuation of these claims gives the amount of bad debts expense. The valuation of fixed assets determines the amount of depreciation expense. On the valuation of the stock-in-trade depends the cost of goods sold and therefore the gross profit. ”

“ From the standpoint of conservative business management an understatement of realizable value may be made, but never an overstatement. Accordingly, the fundamental principle of valuation applicable to this group is that these assets are to be valued at cost or market, whichever is the lower. When so valued, the figures at which they are carried in the balance sheet will usually represent an amount slightly less than the amount which it is expected will be realized from their conversion into cash. ”

“ Why make a valuation of the physical property at all if your final result depends on the income? Because it is one item which cannot be manipulated; it does not change materially from year to year; it is not dependent on rates or income; it forms a very large item in the assets of the Corporation; and it is a sound basis on which to stand.
For the purpose of determining the proper amount of securities, the cost of reproduction at present prices would seem to be the value sought ”

“ The analysis of the principles of valuation for rate-making is the most complete, most closely reasoned, and altogether the best general exposition of the subject extant. The most important contribution of the work is its criticism of the practices of valuation. ”

“ The offer of money for goods and the offer of goods for money are of course not the first steps. Each person has his own individual or subjective prices on all sorts of commodities; these subjective prices represent the valuations which he places upon the respective commodities in terms of the valuation which he places upon the money unit. ”

“ It often happens that he is not paid in money, but in something else; having bought goods to a value equivalent, which are set off against those he sold. But he accepted these at a money valuation, and in the belief that they would bring in more money eventually than the price at which they were made over to him. ”

“ It is, of course, apparent that the valuation of good-will for prospective purchase is largely dependent upon the individual judgment of the buyer and that seldom will any two men arrive at the same valuation. As a matter of prudence, under either method the average profits for the past few years should be used rather than those of the last year. ”

“ If the term is used in its more colloquial sense, such as the effect on earnings of having, in the office of the corporation, men who meet the public pleasantly, who are good "mixers," and who are active in getting business, the value is substantially included in the consideration of the income, in the manner involved by going value determination and franchise valuation. ”

“ Conclusion.—The problems of valuation are vital to any business and intimately concern its financial integrity. In order to maintain at least the original capital investment in a business, it is necessary to make provision for the decrease in asset values due to different causes. The financial management of the business must watch this feature closely, else capital will be dissipated and the business rendered incapable of performing the functions for which it was organized. ”

“ The few salient lights in the picture of valuation, presented by the author, serve especially to reveal the darkness which involves the whole subject of valuation, estimating, and the use of cost data for such purposes, and to suggest that, with all the wonderful progress on the theoretical side of the profession, engineers have as yet advanced but little in this division of the practical side—cost data, valuation, and estimating. ”

“ There is no change, however, in the rule which must govern in making the valuation-it is the actual market value or wholesale price in the principal markets of the country from which the article shall have been imported. ”

“ Investment is a pecuniary transaction, and its aim is pecuniary gain,—gain in terms of value and ownership. Invested wealth is capital, a pecuniary magnitude, measured in terms of value and determined in respect of its magnitude by a valuation which proceeds on an appraisement of the gain expected from the ownership of this invested wealth. In modern business practice, capital is distinguished into two coördinate categories of assets, [Pg 353] tangible and intangible. ”

“ Endeavor will be made to set forth clearly underlying principles and their detailed application to the chief items met in the average balance sheet as viewed from the standpoint of a going concern. Elsewhere, notably in Chapter XXXV, some principles of another type of valuation will be discussed.
In any consideration of valuation, it is necessary to seek out the sources and kinds of value to determine in the one case its basis, and in the other to establish the type of value applicable to the given conditions. Value is not of spontaneous origin; it cannot be created out of nothing. ”

“ Reproduction Value.—In ascertaining the reproduction value, the aim should be to obtain prices for which the material could be purchased and the work let to responsible parties at the date of the valuation. Real estate and depreciation are probably the two items in which there will be the largest differences in opinion as to values, and both should be determined by the personal examination of experts, following some prearranged system. ”

“ Thus the question in a valuation for rate making is how much a utility will be allowed to earn. The basic question in a valuation for reorganization purposes is how much the enterprise in all probability can earn.' Institutional Investors v. ”

“ As time passes, more complete knowledge may indicate insufficient or excessive estimates of such items as depreciation, bad debts, provision for contingent liabilities, and similar reserve items, the valuation of which must be corrected for an accurate showing of earning capacity. Thus a distinction must be made between summaries compiled to show the current profit and loss results and those which give a true index of earning capacity over a longer period. ”

“ Depreciation is intimately related to practically all problems of valuation. The engineering profession has made many valuable investigations and contributions to the literature of the subject and constant reference to them and use of some of their findings will here be made. Most of their studies relate to the vexed and still unsettled question of the valuation of public utility properties for the sake of its bearing on the problem of fair and equitable rates to the user or consumer. ”

“ Some classes of items, known as contingent assets and contingent liabilities, will be discussed and their place determined as they are met. The net worth items, in whatever detail desirable, must also be included.
Valuations for Rate Regulation
The second problem as to the basis on which items shall be valued for the balance sheet is our chief problem. The general question of valuation may be viewed from so many points that definition of its meaning here is necessary. Principles that are applicable to valuations for one purpose frequently cannot be made to serve another purpose. ”

“ The scheme of physical valuation, as a basis for rate making, is flatly rejected as unworkable by practically all the ablest railway authorities of the country, and that the only true measure of value is the earning capacity. ”

“ Usually three values are shown, viz.: market, par, and so-called investment value, to be explained later. Where the securities held are not listed on any exchange or are held closely and not traded in extensively, it is often difficult to secure reliable market quotations for them. Here cost, unless known conditions demand otherwise, seems the best basis for valuation.
Investments Producing No Income
Some investments may be of a permanent type and yet of themselves produce no income. ”

“ By cost to make is meant full cost, which includes materials used, labor applied, and a fair share of the overhead expenses. Whatever the cost to make, whether lower or higher than the identical equipment could be purchased for on the market, that represents the capital outlay and is the true basis for valuation, taking cognizance of depreciation for the elapsed period. ”

“ An average figure gives a better indication of what the business may be expected to do under normal conditions. Inasmuch as the value of good-will depends on excess earning capacity, the second method of valuation rests on better theoretical grounds than the first. Practically there is no preference, since valuation is largely a matter of personal judgment under either method. ”

“ If the capitalization is reasonable, there must be some way to demonstrate the fact, and it seems as if a properly made physical valuation, with due allowance for the intangible values, is at least a step in the right direction. ”

“ There are so many complex factors entering into the problem of valuation, so many widely different plans have been presented, and there are so many thinking men who have opposed and do honestly and sincerely oppose any form of valuation, that a most thorough study of the subject should be made. ”

“ According to the current type of analysis this is the price because, intending buyers' and sellers' valuations of the article being just what they are, it is at this figure that the largest number of exchanges can occur. Were the price higher there would be more persons willing to sell than to buy; were it lower there would be more persons willing to buy than to sell. At $5 no buyer or seller who means what he says about his valuation when he enters the market goes away disappointed or dissatisfied. ”

“ Inasmuch as every profit made must be reflected in a corresponding increase of some asset or the decrease of a liability, and, conversely, every expense incurred is reflected as a decrease of assets or increase of liabilities, it is apparent that profits determination is largely a question of the valuation of assets and liabilities and therefore rests upon the principles already established. Thus the amount of gross profit is not determinable until the value of the stock of merchandise on hand is known. ”

“ Another point requiring careful investigation is the provision of ample reserves for depreciation, and the same method of calculation and consideration of the different elements of depreciation and the conditions under which they are operative must be taken into account in all the companies.
The main problem in using earnings as the basis for valuation is the determination of the number of years’ profits to be averaged. Care must be exercised to handle uniformly the earnings and expenses of the various companies. ”

“ They cover railroads, water-works, gas-works, and other classes of public service corporations, and clearly demonstrate the fact that any analysis of the subject of property valuations must include all classes of corporations. Rate-making and taxation in themselves are entirely separate and distinct from valuation, which is a necessary preliminary step in either undertaking. ”

“ Unchangeable only for the period under consideration and as regards the purpose of the appraisal. This value varies from year to year, depending on business conditions and on earnings of the company.
Non-Physical Values and Methods for Their Determination. In the published articles treating on the subject of valuation, much stress is laid on the intangible or non-physical elements of value. They have been termed "going concern values," "business values," "good will values," "franchise values," as well as "non-physical" and "intangible" values. ”

“ The greatness of an estate, in bulk and territory, doth fall under measure; and the greatness of finances and revenue, doth fall under computation. The population may appear by musters; and the number and greatness of cities and towns by cards and maps. But yet there is not any thing amongst civil affairs more subject to error, than the right valuation and true judgment concerning the power and forces of an estate. ”