Tangible property appraisals are a pivotal part of any business—whether you are an entrepreneur just starting out, or own a slew of profitable companies. Tangible personal property appraisals serve a variety of purposes, each one vital to the distinct operations of the business. Tax and financial reporting, property insurance, and ad valorem taxes are just a few commonplace examples of where these appraisals are necessary. More profoundly, asset appraisals affirm the value of your business. They legitimize your position to stockholders and disclose eminent information about the business during mergers and acquisitions.
Unbeknownst to many business owners, tangible personal property appraisals also serve another purpose in the business realm—protecting your business in the event of a move. Having to relocate your business is usually an exciting milestone; an achievement that signifies outgrowing a space to pursue even more opportunities. Whether you’re relocating your business to a bigger space across the street or traveling across state lines, a move poses risk of loss or damage to your items.
You can take precautionary measures to protect your items, but once they are in transit, everything is out of your hands. A tangible personal property appraisal serves as an extra protective measure if a moving-related casualty would occur at any point during the move. Tangible personal property includes everything from staplers to manufacturing equipment; office furniture to company vehicles. Anything that is not “nailed down” is considered to be a business’ personal property, but not all of these items require an appraisal. An appraisal expert will focus on valuing the costlier items—heavy machinery, computers, printers—over items that are not pertinent to the immediate needs of the business and are more inexpensive to replace—office decor, stationery, staplers.
Relocating a business is demanding and requires effort that is beyond the physical capacity of most companies. For this reason, business owners will hire a moving company to assist them with the move. These moving companies will offer you liability coverage—take it. However, don’t believe that it will be completely sufficient. If one of their staff misplaces an item or, even worse, causes irreversible damage to a piece of your property, the reimbursement amount they are responsible for paying won’t come close to covering the item’s full value. Your business insurance provider can help compensate for this loss by covering the remaining cost of repairing or replacing the item, though.
You should work with an appraiser to value your business’ expensive property well in advance of your move. Ideally, no property will be lost or damaged during your move, but if something were to happen, your insurance provider will need to see proof of value. Your appraisal report will serve as a testament to what your property is worth so that you are guaranteed reimbursement for the full amount. If the appraisal is not done in advance, you prohibit yourself from asking for the full market value of your property.
Give yourself peace of mind before your big move by working with Appraisal Economics. Our asset valuation services provide a more detailed and accurate process in determining the value of your tangible personal property.