Equipment Appraisal Blog | Understanding Machinery Appraisals

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The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it many unanticipated shifts and changes. Some of the more prominent of these occurring in the global business marketplace include unanticipated machinery, parts, and raw materials shortages in a number of key industries including construction, transportation, automotive manufacturing, furniture, and technology.

Prior to the COVID pandemic, many regional areas, both domestic and overseas, were experiencing a prolonged lack of economic growth, which led manufacturers to slow production across key economic markets. By the latter half of 2020, these same manufacturers began experiencing historically high levels of demand driven by workplace and consumer lifestyle changes creating a supply shortage.

This supply shortage, coupled with an unabated increase in demand, has resulted in significant price increases and backorder delays for many types of equipment, personal property, replacement parts, and raw materials. The providers' costs to purchase and transport these products have increased so dramatically that some are simply waiting for the market to adjust while others are passing these costs onto their clients who have no choice but to pay now or lose out on precious contracts. The growing concern is that this severe imbalance in the market is not going away anytime soon, and manufacturers will therefore continue to be unable to provide a reasonable product delivery timeline for correspondingly reasonable costs.

The resulting impact in the used machinery & equipment marketplace is one that is fairly obvious. Any business looking to sell or liquidate their excess property is able to find a greater number of potential buyers, leading to a material increase in value for their assets, given the immediate availability to sell. This increased demand may be short-term, or more likely, it will last for the better part of 2022, given the slow lag time before new tangible products are more readily available.

If you’re considering selling used equipment, parts, or inventory, make sure you can easily replace it, either through the company’s existing asset base or with replacement machines that are available at a reasonable price in the market. If you are looking to purchase used equipment or parts, it may be the best option from a deliverable timing viewpoint, however, you may have to increase your budget to reflect this shortage in the market.

From a valuation perspective, an appraiser may or may not take the impact of these market changes into account when completing an assignment. It will come down to the circumstances involved in the overall scope of work effort and their own subjective opinions on the long or short-term effects in the marketplace. Either way, you should look to engage an experienced, accredited appraiser to complete the work.

When you're considering the dissolution of partnership, a corporation or a marriage, you're often dealing with parties that have their own interests at heart rather than in the interest of the business. The person leaving the union wants to get the best possible price, while the individual that is remaining wants the lowest possible price so they can pay it off and continue to operate the business as best they can. How can both sides be dealt with fairly? One way to start down the right path is to use the proper valuation method for equipment values.

How a Machine Appraisal Helps During a Dissolution of Partnership

As part of the larger business appraisal process, a machinery appraisal provides you with a good idea of what equipment in your company is worth. If you base your business' value on the value of its assets, using tax records that depreciate machinery using a standardized table can give you an incorrect value. If your machinery is in particularly good condition, a standard depreciation can undervalue your equipment, giving the partner who is leaving less than the partner who remains. On the other hand, if the machinery must be used hard or in poor conditions, the standard depreciation may estimate too high a value, providing more money to the partner leaving and leaving the remaining partner without sufficient assets to keep the business in operation successfully. 

Methods of Appraisal During Dissolutions

Fair Market Value

When appraisals are performed for the sake of a dissolution, the most common method used to value equipment is based on fair market value. This is a value determined by a qualified valuation specialist based on the condition of the equipment and the market at the time of sale. It is often considered the most equitable way to determine value when a piece of equipment is to remain in production after the dissolution is completed.

Fair Market Removal Basis

But what if the parties want to sell off the machinery or assets? If there is at least some amount of time before the dissolution, there may be time to sell the equipment piece by piece. Fair market removal is the fair market value minus the cost of removing the equipment from the premises.

Liquidation Value Basis

When both parties want to dispose of all assets quickly and then divide the funds from that sale, liquidation value is used. This will provide the lowest possible value, the value raised during a fast liquidation where there may not be time to find an optimal buyer and the sellers will settle for the scrap value of the assets. 

Other Basis for Valuation

In some situations, such as a divorce, there may be legal requirements to the type of valuation basis used to determine equipment values. In these situations, having an equipment appraiser who is familiar with the law and who will provide the legally required valuation basis is important.

Dissolution of partnership is never an easy process, but having a qualified equipment appraiser provide you with a machinery valuation can help ensure that everyone gets a fair shake out of the deal.