Valuation has always proven to be a challenging task. One of the objectives of the existing accounting model is to make it possible to depart from historical cost based accounting and facilitate market valuation of assets. For this purpose the Galileo model proposes to disclose assets based on both historical based and market value based. For that purpose it is proposed that independent third party valuation service will be established. Independent third party value assessors will have to establish valuation techniques based on objective publicly available data. Each company should obtain valuation from at least two independent providers and valuation estimates for each asset category should be provided in a range format, i.e machinery for subsidiary A is valued between xx,xxx and xxx,xxx.
In today’s environment there is substantial amount of information that is publicly disclosed. There are enormous databases that contain recent real estate sales of properties. Thousands of transactions are taking place on eBay on daily basis. Historically, valuation of assets was a controversial issue. The objectivity of asset valuators was impaired by virtue of receiving compensation for these valuations. In today’s digital world, it is possible to use publicly available data to objectively value assets. Models can be developed to extract data from such source and apply predefined valuation technique to many assets that companies own. This process can be done with no human intervention and consequently provide an objective reliable way to supplement historical based accounting.
As an illustration, a company might own the following item “Catalyst 6500 Cisco Switch” as part of its inventory or as part of its operations. An independent service can digitally receive price quotes for such item from numerous vendors (some price comparison websites such as “MySimon” provide similar data), and observe recent sales at eBay. Subsequently a valuation algorithm can be applied to compile this data and calculated the estimated market value for that asset. In a similar manner many inventory items and other fixed assets can be valued.
[1] This predefined criteria can defer across industries and users. However permission based reporting does not necessarily contradict regulation FD which is intended to democratize the information propagation process.
