ABV study plan

Define the standard of value, premise of value, and valuation date for a hypothetical engagement and justify each choice in writing.

Distinguish controlling versus minority interests and marketable versus nonmarketable interests, listing the specific adjustments each triggers.

Map the major business valuation theory frameworks (income, market, asset) to the questions each is designed to answer.

Draft a one-page glossary of 20 core valuation terms from memory, then correct it against authoritative references.

Build a normalized historical financial statement for a sample company, adjusting for owner compensation, nonrecurring items, and related-party transactions.

Compute a defensible discount rate using both CAPM and a build-up approach, then reconcile the difference.

Estimate a capitalization rate from the discount rate and justify the assumed long-term growth rate.

Identify and document the key value drivers and risk factors for the sample company.

Apply the discounted cash flow method end to end, including terminal value, mid-year convention, and a sensitivity table.

Apply the capitalization of earnings method and explain when it is preferred over DCF.

Select and weight guideline public companies, computing the relevant multiples and adjusting for size and growth differences.

Compare income-approach and market-approach indications and articulate a reconciliation rationale.

Apply the adjusted net asset method and the excess earnings method to an asset-intensive sample company.

Select and apply marketability and minority/control adjustments, documenting the empirical basis for each.

Explain the levels of value and place each method's output on the correct level.

Draft the reconciliation section explaining why the selected approach was weighted as it was.

Identify the required elements of a valuation report under the applicable professional standards and check the week-4 draft against each element.

Distinguish a full narrative report from a summary or calculation report and state when each is appropriate.

Write the scope, assumptions, limiting conditions, and data-sources sections of the report.

Rewrite the week-4 reconciliation into report-quality prose with clear support for each judgment.

Complete the full report by writing the executive summary, valuation conclusion, and certification/signature sections.

Verify the report contains no unsupported conclusions by tracing every stated value back to a documented calculation.

Review the independence, objectivity, and conflict-of-interest requirements applicable to a valuation engagement and apply them to a scenario.

Draft an engagement letter covering scope, fees, assumptions, and client responsibilities.

Analyze ethics scenarios involving advocacy, contingent fees, confidentiality, and use of a client's projections, and state the correct course of action for each.

Outline the disciplinary and quality-control processes a valuation professional is subject to and what triggers them.

Identify common report deficiencies reviewers flag and build a self-review checklist from them.

Peer-review the week-6 report against the checklist and log every deficiency found.

Re-derive from memory the core formulas and adjustment frameworks across all four domains.

Complete timed practice sets in each domain and record accuracy by domain to target remaining weak areas.

Re-do the weakest two domain areas identified by practice accuracy until each reaches a stable threshold.

Finalize a one-page exam-day reference sheet of formulas, standards elements, and ethics decision rules.