Accounting and Financial Analysis 101 for Attorneys

Agenda / Content Covered

1. What Every Attorney Needs to Know About Financial Statements, Accounting Methods, and Recordkeeping
   2:00 - 2:45, Bruce T. Andersen, Mark S. Cherry, Matthew J. Silla
2. The Many Ways of Assessing the Health of a Company
   2:45 - 3:30, Mark S. Cherry, Bruce T. Andersen, Matthew J. Silla
   1. The First Thing You Do When Evaluating a Business
   2. Reading Accounting Reports: What do You Look for?
   3. Financial Statement Analysis: What's Hiding in the Footnotes?
   4. Leveraging Financial Ratios Analyses
   5. Common Mistakes in Financial Forecasting
3. Wielding Business Valuations Skillfully
   3:45 - 4:30, Mark S. Cherry, Bruce T. Andersen, Matthew J. Silla
   1. Types, Goals, and Methods of Business Valuations
   2. Spotting Red Flags and Potential Problem Areas
   3. Tips for the Valuation Experts Battles
4. Financing Options, Process, and Key Considerations
   4:30 - 5:15, Matthew J. Silla, Mark S. Cherry, Bruce T. Andersen

Accreditation Details:

Bruce T. Andersen is the president of BTA Corporation, a boutique firm located in Los Angeles, California, providing tax, accounting, and consulting services to small businesses. Mr. Andersen is a certified public accountant. He has taught management science and information systems at California State University in Bakersfield. For the last 14 years he has been a member of the faculty at the University of Phoenix School of Business. Mr. Andersen is a member of California Society of Certified Public Accountants. He received his B.S. degree from Iowa State University, M.S.B.A degree from Boston University, M.B.A. degree from California State University in Bakersfield and M.S. (taxation) from Golden Gate University. After watching the cannabis industry for several years, the firm set up a division specifically for the cannabis industry in 2018, branded as CannabisCPA.tax, providing tax, audit, accounting and systems support to the cannabis industry.

Mark S. Cherry is an attorney with Mark S. Cherry Attorney at Law, PC, which is a general practice professional law firm in Cherry Hill, New Jersey that, in addition to the general practice of law, assists homeowners across New Jersey. His firm has extensive experience in foreclosure prevention, real estate, tax law and bankruptcy law. Mr. Cherry is admitted to practice in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Federal District courts, Bankruptcy Court, Federal Court of Appeals and U.S. Tax Court. In addition to being an accredited civil mediator, he is also the member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), American Association of Attorney-Certified Public Accountants (AAA-CPA), and New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators (NJAPM). He earned his J.D. degree from the Delaware Law School of Widener University. Before that he earned his B.B.A. degree from Temple University (Moot Court Honor Society).

Matthew J. Silla , ASA, CFA, is a senior manager with Apple Growth Partners. AGP is a full-service CPA firm focused on helping privately held businesses grow. He is part of the firm's business valuation and litigation support team, which consists of nine full time employees and completes more than 200 engagements per year. Mr. Silla focuses his areas of concentration on the valuation of privately owned businesses, ESOPs, intangible assets and stock options, as well as financial market and industry research, financial modeling, and company specific financial performance analysis. He is a member of the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute and the American Society of Appraisers. In addition to serving as a senior member of the firms ESOP team, Mr. Silla heads the firm's financial reporting valuation practice. He earned his B.A. degree with a concentration in finance from Baldwin Wallace University.