Touchstone Valuation, PLC
Clear. Defensible.
Business Valuations You Can Trust.
Independent business valuation, litigation support, and financial analysis for business owners, attorneys, and advisors navigating complex financial decisions.
About Touchstone Valuation
Touchstone Valuation, PLC provides independent, well-supported business valuations and financial analyses for closely held businesses and professional advisors.
Led by Travis McMurray, MBA, CPA/ABV/CFF/CGMA, the firm brings more than 30 years of public accounting and valuation experience to engagements involving transactions, disputes, and strategic planning. Touchstone is known for producing clear, defensible analyses that hold up under scrutiny—whether the matter is resolved through negotiation or formal proceedings.
The firm works closely with business owners, attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors to provide objective insight grounded in professional standards and practical judgment.
Licensed in Tennessee and Virginia.
"Valuation is part science and part professional judgment."
What We Do
Our Services
Objective financial insight for transactions, disputes, and planning.
Business Valuation
Independent valuations for planning, transactions, gifting, compliance, and dispute-related matters. While industry multiples can provide a reference point, buyers, courts, and regulators look beyond rules of thumb to factors such as cash flow quality, customer concentration, risk, and sustainability of earnings. Touchstone’s analyses provide the context and credibility those shortcuts cannot.
Litigation Support & Financial Analysis
Valuation and financial analysis for shareholder disputes, divorce, economic damages, and other contested matters. Touchstone’s work is designed to be reasonable, transparent, and defensible—recognizing that valuation is part science and part professional judgment.
Transaction Planning & Deal Support
Objective financial insight to support acquisitions, sales, and internal transitions. Deal structure matters as much as headline price. Two transactions with the same stated value can produce very different outcomes after taxes, timing of payments, and risk exposure are considered. Early financial analysis helps clients understand the true economic impact of a deal.
Gift & Estate Tax Valuations
Valuations prepared with careful attention to IRS standards and common areas of scrutiny. Touchstone focuses on producing supportable conclusions that reflect a company’s true, ongoing operating performance.
Credentials & Trust
When complex financial decisions are on the line, expertise matters. We bring decades of experience and top-tier professional credentials to every engagement.
CPA with ABV, CFF, and CGMA credentials
MBA with over 30 years of public accounting experience
Former tax partner serving closely held businesses
Experience supporting mediation, arbitration, and litigation matters
Licensed in Tennessee and Virginia
30+
Years of Experience
Serving business owners, attorneys, and financial advisors with objective, defensible analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about business valuation and our process.
“Isn't a rule of thumb valuation enough to price a deal?"
Industry multiples can be a helpful reference, but they rarely tell the full story. Buyers look closely at cash flow quality, customer concentration, risk factors, and sustainability of earnings. A detailed valuation provides context and credibility that rules of thumb cannot.
"If I receive the right price for my business, does the deal structure really matter?"
Two deals with the same headline price can produce very different results after taxes, timing of payments, and risk exposure. Ignoring tax and structural implications can significantly reduce net proceeds.
How do EBITDA adjustments affect valuation?
EBITDA adjustments can materially change value by modifying reported earnings to reflect true, ongoing operating performance. Because valuation methods often apply a multiple to EBITDA, even small adjustments can have a significant impact.
Understanding EBITDA Adjustments
EBITDA is often used as a starting point in business valuations, but the number shown on a financial statement is rarely the number a buyer, court, or the IRS ultimately relies on.
EBITDA adjustments—sometimes referred to as normalizing adjustments—modify reported earnings to reflect a company’s true, ongoing operating performance. These adjustments remove items that are non-recurring, non-operating, or discretionary in nature.
Because many valuation methods apply a multiple to EBITDA or cash flow, even relatively small adjustments can materially change a company’s indicated value. This is why EBITDA adjustments receive close scrutiny in transactions, litigation, and tax matters.
Why might two valuations of the same company differ?
Differences in assumptions, valuation dates, earnings bases, risk assessments, methods, and discounts can all lead to different results. What matters most is whether the analysis is reasonable, transparent, and defensible.
Business owners are often surprised when two valuations of the same company produce different results. This is not uncommon.
Valuation is guided by professional standards, but it also requires informed judgment about factors such as risk, growth expectations, market conditions, and company-specific characteristics. Differences in valuation outcomes often stem from:
- Different valuation dates and economic environments
- Different earnings bases or normalization adjustments
- Different assumptions about risk
- Different valuation approaches or methods
- Different applications of discounts for lack of control or marketability
Different values do not automatically mean one valuation is “wrong.” What matters is whether the analysis is reasonable, well-supported, and appropriate for the purpose of the engagement.
Get in Touch
We're here to help with your valuation needs.
Touchstone works closely with business owners, attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors.
Contact Us
If you need clear, objective valuation insight or support in a complex financial matter, Touchstone Valuations PLC is ready to help.