Intangible Asset Valuation

Value the data, software, IP, approvals, brand, and relationships that carry most of your company's worth, with numbers that hold in a deal, a capital raise, or a board pack.
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Definition

What is intangible asset valuation?

Intangible asset valuation puts a defensible number on the assets a company owns but cannot touch: proprietary data, software, patents and trade secrets, brands, regulatory approvals, know-how, and customer and supplier relationships. By Ocean Tomo's count, intangible assets made up about 17 percent of the market value of the S&P 500 in 1975 and around 90 percent by 2020, yet most of them never appear on a balance sheet, because accounting standards expense what a company builds for itself. BD Emerson identifies what you own across twelve asset categories, values each asset with the method that fits it, and delivers a register and a report that hold up with a buyer, a lender, an auditor, or a board.

Services

What does the service cover?

Intangible asset register
Asset-level valuation
Intangible asset due diligence
Sell-side IP audit
Capital and lender support
Strategy and board reporting

Intangible asset register

A working inventory of every material intangible asset across twelve categories, from patents, software, and data to approvals, brand, and relationships. Each entry records who owns the asset, how it is protected, and which revenue depends on it. It is the first deliverable in every engagement, because nothing can be valued, protected, or grown until it exists.

Asset-level valuation

A value for each material asset using the method that fits it: relief from royalty for brands, patents, and technology; multi-period excess earnings for the asset that drives the business; with-and-without, cost, or market where they apply. Every number comes with its method, its assumptions, and the sensitivity that shows how it moves.

Intangible asset due diligence

A buy-side workstream that runs alongside financial, legal, and technology diligence and covers all twelve categories rather than the IP schedule alone. It confirms chain of title, maps which revenue depends on which asset, and finds the encumbrances that reprice a deal before signing.

Sell-side IP audit

The buyer's intangible asset diligence, run before the buyer arrives. We find the title gaps, expired licenses, unassigned contractor code, and unregistered marks a buyer would use to retrade, fix what can be fixed, and build the evidence pack so the assets you built are priced into the deal instead of absorbed into goodwill.

Capital and lender support

Valuations and asset documentation that investors and lenders can underwrite: a supported intangible asset value for an equity round, the evidence for IP-backed or royalty financing, and a register a lender can secure against, so a company whose value is mostly intangible can borrow against what it has built.

Strategy and board reporting

Getting more value from the assets you already own: licensing idle patents and data, entering markets where an approval or a brand shortens the path, repricing where the brand supports it, and closing the gaps that erode value. Each year we value the material assets and report the total and its movements to the board.

Our approach

Identify, value, grow, report

01

Identify

Working sessions with product, sales, legal, technology, and operations walk through the twelve categories and record what exists, who owns it, how it is protected, and what revenue depends on it. The first register always turns up assets nobody had named.

02

Value

Each material asset is valued with the method that fits it, using assumptions drawn from your forecasts, contracts, and observed market data. Every number states its method, assumptions, and sensitivity, so it survives a buyer, a lender, or an auditor.

03

Grow

The register becomes a plan: protect what is protectable, close title gaps, license or reprice where the evidence supports it, and control the leaks. This step follows the value accretion model Paul Adams and Jason Strimpel set out for the Andersen Institute.

04

Report and defend

Intangible asset value is reported to the board each year alongside the financial statements, with movements explained. When a deal, a financing, or an impairment test needs a formal opinion, the same team stands behind the numbers.

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Ready to value what the balance sheet leaves out?

Speak with BD Emerson about your intangible assets, the transaction, raise, or board decision ahead of you, and what a defensible number would change.

Our Advantage

Why BD Emerson for intangible asset valuation

Led by practitioners

Paul Adams and Tyler Capson of Andersen Consulting's intangible asset practice lead every engagement. Paul has led more than 300 engagements over 30 years and has been ranked among the world's leading intellectual asset strategists for 15 consecutive years.

Part of Andersen Consulting

BD Emerson announced on August 10, 2026 that it is joining Andersen Consulting, with closing expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. Clients get a global valuation bench alongside BD Emerson's M&A advisory, diligence, security, and technology teams in one engagement.

Numbers that hold under review

Every valuation names its method, states its assumptions, and shows its sensitivity. The same work supports a board decision, a purchase price allocation, a lender's credit file, and a buyer's diligence, so it is done once and reused for each audience.

Reviews

What our customers say

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

Great consulting firms for scaling security, compliance, and appsec.

Outstanding partner in Technical and Cyber Due Diligence

Appsec maturity and application hardening.

BD Emerson helped us simplfiy our compliance management.

BD Emerson did such a phenomenal job. What started as privacy support quickly became a full partnership across compliance, engineering, and even business operations. They’re embedded with our team. They understand our product. They move fast. They’re simply invaluable.

Adam Ben Jacobs

CTO @ OneStep GPS

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

We had a hard time finding the right company to partner with in support of our compliance journey. Some vendors sell the idea that they do the work, but then you end up doing everything. The ambiguity is what killed our last project. BD Emerson’s team has such great technical knowledge and understands the standard so well that they made us comfortable with moving fast. This has led to us closing major enterprise customers that were previously out of reach because of security and compliance.

Tom Watkins

CEO @ AMI AssetTrack

Lead an enterprise initiative to overhaul the organization's technology stack from ecommerce, corporate tech, and corporate security.

Supported ISO 42001 exercise and served as internal auditor.

Rubrik's privacy and compliance team began with the backbone of BD Emerson. BD Emerson supported building out the privacy program, GRC (ISO 27001, SOC 2, CMMC, FedRAMP), and the appsec function.

We needed a partner who could move quickly, without sacrificing precision. BD Emerson brought the expertise, structure, and speed we were looking for. Their team became an extension of ours, embedding themselves across the organization, guiding us step by step, and giving us confidence in areas we hadn’t tackled before. The internal audit they conducted was so detailed that even the external auditors called it out. Achieving ISO 27001 with zero nonconformities says everything you need to know about the quality of the partnership.

Walid Souilem

CTO @ FGI Worldwide

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

BD Emerson didn’t just help us meet our compliance goals; they integrated security and privacy into the core of our operations. I highly recommend BD Emerson to anyone seeking SOC 2 or GDPR compliance, or simply looking to enhance their security team and boost customer trust in their product and services. Their dedication and expertise have been invaluable to our success.

Padraig Reilly

CEO, Boxcore

BD Emerson understood our business requirements and worked side-by-side with us. The policies and controls we developed together not only meet compliance standards but improve how we operate day to day.

Matt Meierdierks

IT Manager, Lincoln Industries

From day one, BD Emerson brought urgency, clarity, and a sharp understanding of what truly matters to our business — earning and keeping customer trust. They went beyond helping us meet compliance requirements; they helped build a foundation for secure, scalable growth. That kind of partnership is rare.

Jason Marker

CEO @ LifeLenz

BD Emerson didn’t just help us pass an audit—they helped us build a sustainable culture of security.

Alexey Indeev

CTO Spare

BD Emerson was essential in helping our company navigate the daunting process of leveling up our security infrastructure. BD Emerson’s impressive expertise and confidence throughout the process helped our team exceed HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 1 standards quickly, distilling what can be an overwhelming process into a streamlined, organized effort. From day one they began adding value and getting us on course. With their help we delivered on a massive security overhaul with both extreme efficiency and thorough attention to details. Because of BD Emerson’s support, we’ve increased our clients’ trust in Titan Intake and the life-changing work it accomplishes for those seeking specialist referrals.

Patrick Bruce

CEO, Titan Intake

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is an intangible asset?

Which intangible assets do you value?

When does a company need an intangible asset valuation?

How is an intangible asset valued?

How is this different from a purchase price allocation?

How is the work priced?

Who does the work?

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