Mr. Pearson is the founder and managing member of Valuation Advisors, LLC (VAL). VAL specializes in the determination of value for estate and gift taxes, mergers and acquisitions, shareholder/partner planning, business corporation law, fairness opinions, matrimonial matters, intangible and intellectual property assets, and various other employee, tax, and litigation matters. Mr. Pearson has over 25 years experience in providing business valuation and consulting services. He has obtained his Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV), Certified Financial Forensics (CFF) and Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) designations from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and his senior appraiser (ASA) designation from the American Society of Appraisers Mr. Pearson is a past Chairman and a current member of the AICPA ABV exam task force (providing oversight for the preparation of the ABV exam for CPA?s nationwide), a past Chairman and current member of the New York State Society of CPA?s Business Valuation committee and a current member of the its Ethics and CFO committees, and the Vice President of the Estate Analysts of WNY. Mr. Pearson is the creator of the Valuation Advisors Pre-IPO Discount for Lack of Marketability database. The largest source of transaction on illiquidity information for closely held entities in the world, and is utilized by CPA and valuation firms, law firms, government agencies, and investment banks domestically and in over 20 foreign countries, available at BVResources.com, in the deal and market data section. He is also the creator of MergerShark, an extensive merger, acquisition, and valuation content database, and the exclusive member benefit M&A database for the AICPA. MergerShark deal transaction data, income method data, Discounts for Lack of Control and Lack of Marketability and much more valuation related data. Mr. Pearson is also a frequent speaker on valuation and finance topics.