If you have a factory, you already know how much of your company's assets are tied up in your production line. But what are those assets really worth? The process of having a production line equipment appraisal can seem complex and confusing, but it's actually a straightforward set of calculations that follow a regular process. However, it's a process best done by a certified equipment appraiser. Why? There are a number of special aspects of the process that needs to be handled by a professional to ensure that they're done correctly. Here's a quick look at the overall process and some of the complexities involved.

How Complex Is Production Line Equipment Appraisal for Manufacturing?

• To start, the appraiser will gather basic information about all the different equipment that is being used on it, such as the year it was put into use, the manufacturer and model, any options, kits or modifications from the basic model and the number of hours and conditions it has been used it. This allows them to gather any additional information that they need to know to appraise the equipment, including information on past equipment that they've already appraised.
• They'll then ask about current issues, maintenance and repair that has been done on each piece of equipment. This provides them with some background on how well the equipment has been cared for and what condition it may be in. This is part of the process of determining the remaining useful lifespan for the machinery, which is a vital part of determining its value. As an example, you would almost certainly pay more for a piece of machinery that is expected to remain in productive use for ten years versus one that was expected to fail within a couple years.
• Next, they'll examine the equipment itself. This allows them to see if there are any potential issues that have not been caught yet. This can include issues such as small hydraulic leaks, pulleys that are going out of alignment, gears that are beginning to wear or slip, lowering performance levels or similar indicators that can lead to expensive repairs or potential issues down the road, giving you the opportunity to make vital repairs.
• Additionally, the appraiser will take into consideration unique challenges that face your industry, whether they're specific to your industry or to the market as a whole. This can include issues such as a market downturn that has caused a large surplus of that type of equipment on the market, driving down prices or whether there's strong growth in another region that can be leveraged to sell older equipment at the best possible premium.

When you're having a production line equipment appraisal performed, there are any number of factors that can come into effect during the process that will need to be considered. However, the appraisal report that you receive from a certified equipment appraiser will provide you with much more information beyond the value of your production line. Because an equipment appraiser works with a wide range of machinery on a daily basis, they'll be able to compare your equipment to other machinery they've looked at and give you valuable insights, such as prospective failure points, longevity and other information that will help you make smart decisions about your production line management.

Today's healthcare practice is facing any number of challenges on a daily basis. No-shows for appointments, changes to EHR and HIPPA practices, new treatments and medications, and an endless sea of patients who need to be seen as quickly as possible. Having the right tools can make a huge difference in how efficiently your practice operates, but many physicians and practice managers aren't quite sure how to make those changes effectively. Fortunately, something as simple as a medical equipment appraisal can make a huge difference in your practice's bottom line. Here's how.

How Medical Equipment Appraisal Can Help Your Practice Get Ahead

To start, what does your practice need to have to improve efficiency and patient outcomes? Is it new equipment that works well with your EHR system and digitization strategy? Maybe it's a new EHR suite that takes your interoperability to a whole new level. A new location to spread your practice's influence and make it easier for patients to reach you? What about social responsibility obligations to organizations such as Doctors Without Borders?

 To make these changes happen, you need to invest capital. But how much capital do you actually have? Are your assets listed accurately in the books, or are there discrepancies that could cause your practice serious issues down the road? This is one of the reasons why having an appraisal performed on your medical equipment can be so very beneficial to your practice. If you don't know the value of your equipment, will you get a good deal on new equipment or be taken advantage of? Can you secure loans for that new EHR suite or location without knowing those values? What will the value of your equipment donation to charitable organizations actually end up being and how will it impact your bottom line?

When you have a professional appraisal performed by a certified equipment appraiser, you're gaining much more than the knowledge of the value of your medical equipment. You're receiving the calculated opinion of a professional who is well-versed in medical equipment and understands the many nuances of your industry. They're able to then provide you with a carefully crafted report that will not only document your equipment's value, but can serve as a valuable tool in its own right.

Because a certified equipment appraiser has been taught to use standardized methodologies that have been well-tested in a wide range of real-world circumstances, the report that they prepare is able to stand up to strong scrutiny in financial, insurance, legal and tax agency circles. Having this verified information available quickly will make it much easier for you to document equipment value for a loan, an insurance claim, a court case, a tax appeal, a sale negotiation and many other circumstances you may not have considered yet.

By taking the time to have a medical equipment appraisal performed on your practice's machinery, you can take advantage of the equity in that equipment to improve your practice, whether through selling the machinery to upgrade your practice's capabilities, securing a loan for EHR upgrades or adding accuracy to your balance sheet to provide peace of mind and better accountability. However, these advantages can only be realized when you use a certified equipment appraiser to go over your practice's assets. They have the knowledge and experience to ensure that the final values you are presented with are accurate and the report generated useable for your future needs.

using market data under the cost approach

When you're dealing with tax issues, getting an appraisal for tax purposes can quickly help you to clear up any problems with the value of your equipment.  However, that's not the only reason you should get an equipment appraisal done at that time! Appraisals provide you with a world of other benefits as well, many of which you may not have considered. Here's a quick look at some of the reasons you should get an equipment appraisal when dealing with a tax issue.

5 Reasons to Get an Equipment Appraisal for Tax Purposes

1. To prove value. Is your equipment worth what the book says, what the sale magazine says or what eBay says? It may be none of the above. Your equipment is in a specific condition and has a particular expected useful lifespan that can't be quickly be determined by simply looking at another piece of machinery. It takes years of experience and training to understand the full intricacies of equipment value.
2. To fight a bad appraisal. If you're dealing with a tax issue, there's a good chance it's a bad tax appraisal. Tax assessors need to estimate value on a wide range of items, not just your equipment, and they often do that job badly. Fortunately, they'll virtually always listen to the opinion of a certified equipment appraiser, and if they won't, the appeals board will.
3. To have a record of depreciation over time. How much value has your equipment lost since you purchased it? Knowing this information is vital not only on your tax paperwork, but also to the assets that you have on your books. It's hard to make a solid business decision when your books and balance sheet are not completely accurate, but an appraisal helps you sort out this issue.
4. To get a timeline on replacement. Should you budget to replace that equipment this year, next year or in five years? It's really hard for most people to estimate the remaining useful lifespan of a piece of equipment, but machinery appraisers do it every day. They can also help point out potential repairs that may lengthen that lifespan, buying you precious time to get a little more income before the big investment.
5. To have on hand for future uses. An equipment appraisal gives you proof of value and when prepared by a certified equipment appraiser, uses tested methodologies that will hold up in court, at your financial institution, with your insurance company, when selling machinery and in a number of other situations. By having one on hand that is recent, you can deal with a whole world of potential issues quickly and easily.

Getting a machinery appraisal for tax purposes is an excellent idea, especially when dealing with a tax assessment that was inaccurate. But as you can see, it's not the only good reason for getting an equipment appraisal performed. Knowing the actual value of your machinery gives you a solid basis for any number of business ventures, and having that value calculated by a certified equipment appraiser gives you a strong position for many future issues you may run into. The report that is generated by a certified appraiser will hold up well not only with tax agencies, but also with financial institutions, court systems and any number of other situations. 

Whether you're dealing with an estate, the breakup of a partnership or a lawsuit, a business dispute appraisal can provide you with tools to prove the value of your equipment from those who would inflate or deflate its value for their own benefit. But exactly how does this type of appraisal impact your machinery value and how does it benefit your side of the situation? Here's a quick look to help you get started.

How Does a Machinery Appraisal Factor into a Business Dispute?

Let's take a look at a few situations in which a business dispute appraisal may help you prove the value of your assets. This doesn't mean that the appraiser will automatically provide you with a higher or lower figure than the other side, just one that has been calculated fairly using tested, standardized methodologies:

• A nasty divorce is pitting two sides of a business against each other. One person wants out, the other wants to keep the company. The one who wants out wants top dollar for the years they put into the business, and isn't afraid to inflate the company's value and the value of its machinery assets. The one who is staying with the company resents this manipulation and therefore wants to only pay a fair market value. This could also be the other way around, with the individual who is leaving the business only wanting what's fair while the one staying with the company deliberately lowballing the value of the business and its equipment assets. A dispute appraisal determines the actual value of the equipment.
• When a long-run business suddenly loses its owner to a heart attack or car accident, the family is suddenly faced with splitting up the business. However, some family members are willing to wait for the right buyers at a higher price while other family members want to quickly liquidate the equipment and assets in order to get on with their lives instead of dragging out the entire process. How do you determine the fair value to make everyone as happy as possible? A dispute appraisal looks at the entire situation and helps determine what would be a fair value all the way around.
• Tragedy strikes, and a worker is killed on the job at your construction site. The surviving family members sue your company, going after everything they can in their pain, and are determined to take it all. They know a little about the industry and have seen equipment like yours go for a lot of money. But what they don't understand is that your equipment is headed towards end of life or was used and abused rather badly during that fast-track project a couple years ago. How do you prove to them what the value of your machinery really is? A dispute appraisal.

By starting out with a solid grasp of your equipment's value, a business dispute appraisal gives you the verified information you need to fight for your rights in any number of different situations. However, not every person who represents themselves as an appraiser can provide you with the solid calculations and tested methodologies you need to get the job done. Make sure that you only work with a professionally-certified appraiser who has experience in your industry as well as with valuation disputes.

For business owners, creating an equitable division of assets during a divorce means taking the value of existing equipment into account. Since divorces can be contentious matters, there are a few considerations to keep in mind when planning to get equipment appraised before a divorce. 

What to Expect in a Divorce Appraisal

During a divorce, couples must split all marital assets. Just as the couple will need to divide the house and the cars, a divorcing couple with a business must divide the company's assets.

Circumstances vary, but a general rule of thumb is that anything owned by one party before the marriage does not count as a marital asset, thus is exempt from being split. Any property, personal or business, acquired after the marriage counts as a marital asset and must be shared. So if one person owned a van before getting married, they maintain ownership of the van, but if the van was acquired as a company car after the wedding, its value must be split. 

In order to divide assets fairly, the couple must agree on their worth. While it's relatively easy to get a valuation of a van using Kelly Blue Book or the equivalent, it's not so easy to get the valuation of business assets. That's where an appraiser comes in: A qualified appraiser can examine the company's equipment and calculate value, so the couple can move on with the division of marital assets. 

After all of the equipment has been valued, lawyers can determine how to split all of the couple's assets equitably. In some cases, one party may want to buy the other party out of their share of business assets. Other times, the business owner may decide to sell off certain assets, then give the proceeds to their ex. A third option is to retain business assets and give the ex a greater share of personal assets. 

Divorce Appraisal Concerns 

Maintaining fairness can be difficult in a divorce, as emotions run high on both sides. Sometimes, one party can be tempted to hide assets as a way to punish their soon-to-be ex. Even when both sides are playing fair, the lower-earning spouse can worry about whether they are really receiving everything they're entitled to by law. For this reason an appraisal list, which lists all company equipment to be valued, can guide the process. Once both sides have agreed to the list, the appraisal can move ahead. It's key to select an appraiser who is experienced with divorce appraisals and taking equipment valuations. If things aren't valued correctly, then both sides are harmed.  

Once an appraiser has been chosen, they will value all equipment. An appraiser might take a market approach to equipment valuation, which examines recent sales prices of similar items. This approach is best for common items, since data is available.

The cost approach works well in the absence of recent sales data. In this valuation method, the appraiser determines how much it would cost to replace the equipment new, and then subtracts value lost due to depreciation or obsolescence. To accurately assess how much value the existing equipment has lost, the appraiser may need maintenance records, purchase receipts, and other data. 

Business owners or their spouses who are undergoing a divorce should identify an experienced appraiser early on, so there's a lead time in which the appraiser can get valuation. Our equipment appraisers can work with one spouse, both parties, and their attorneys to develop a divorce appraisal that is objective, so marital assets may be split equitably.