Business

Michel Valbrun Shares Tips With Firms About Asking The Right Questions While Hiring CPA

Published

5 years ago

June 23, 2021

Michel Valbrun, CEO & Founder Of Valbrun Group Brings In Value Based Learning For Firms/Entrepreneurs

Michel Valbrun, a reputed CPA, helps entrepreneurs and businesses understand the importance of saving money on taxes and use it as a tool to create wealth. This has helped many of his clients create generational wealth. His multiples of experience in the corporate and accounting firms helped him start his own venture ‘Valbrun Group’ – where he opened his own accounting firm. He is sharing some tips with the firm owners and brand owners on how to ask the right questions when they hire a CPA.

Question #1

Afraid of the IRS? Not suitable then. An individual with the CPA role should be absolutely comfortable and work willing, and try to engage with the idea of handling an IRS audit.

If they are overly nervous about the IRS audits or how they work, find someone else to do the job for you. Some of the tax preparers often advised: “Don’t take this deduction, even though it’s legitimate, because it might raise a red flag and get you audited.” This is a statement that comes from a place of insecurity and unpreparedness.

Question #2

Are you ready to handle IRS communications, if necessary? Hire the best tax advisor who is highly capable to deal with an IRS auditor, not you. Michel shares, ‘I cannot emphasize this point enough. It is highly advisable that you as a business/brand owner don’t converse with the IRS directly. No means no!.’

Be it a simple request or an extensive audit, the IRS could easily flood you with too much information as you are a common man who is unaware of the depth of the knowledge they hold. Your CPA should know this depth even more than the IRS.

Question #3

Have you experienced an IRS audit before? Listen to them carefully. How was their experience with the rendezvous? Ask them a few examples if you don’t understand something. Also feel free to understand how it ended at the end. There can be 100 different scenarios in your case, however, it is necessary to understand how they react in such instances.

Losing an audit means losing a huge refund for the client. In some cases, it means a huge tax refund if the auditor won. In fact, it is better if the taxpayer was better off losing when you combine the two years of tax paid.

Question #4

Do you know how to build a relationship with an IRS auditor? This is a moment changing answer usually. CPA with good people skills can make the IRS auditor feel comfortable and really do their best to coax them. Auditors usually have a really tough job, and building rapport with them can make a big difference in the results.

Keeping proper documentation of expenses can keep the tax return in check. Always ask for a list of the documents you need to keep for emergencies. It’s critical to keep good records. Led and mentored by Michel Valbrun, most small and medium-size businesses can easily reduce their tax burden legally and ethically. To get some tax or finance saving advice from the genius himself, check out Michel’s website and save all your money to create wealth for the upcoming generations.

Business

How Technology Drives Value Creation in Private Equity

Published

2 weeks ago

April 29, 2026

Matthew Wiles

How technology drives value creation in private equity is now one of the most actively debated topics among institutional investors and fund managers. A decade ago, technology was largely a cost center in PE-backed companies. Today it sits at the center of margin improvement, revenue growth, and exit multiple expansion. Firms that figured this out early are generating better returns with less reliance on financial engineering.

The shift happened for a practical reason. As interest rates rose and deal multiples compressed, financial leverage stopped doing the heavy lifting. Operational improvement became the primary value creation lever. Technology accelerated what was possible within the ownership period.

How Technology Drives Value Creation in Private Equity Operations

Operational improvement through technology produces the most measurable results. PE firms apply technology tools to reduce costs, increase throughput, and improve decision-making speed inside their companies.

Digital Process Automation in PE-Backed Companies

Manual processes in back-office and production functions carry real costs. They consume labor, generate errors, and slow down the information flow that management teams depend on. Automation tools eliminate these costs without requiring headcount reductions that disrupt company culture.

The most impactful automation deployments in PE-backed operations include:

Accounts payable and receivable automation that compresses billing cycles and reduces days sales outstanding
Production scheduling software that reduces downtime and improves throughput in manufacturing environments
Inventory management systems that cut carrying costs by aligning purchasing with real-time demand signals
Quality control automation that reduces defect rates and warranty claims in product-based businesses

ZCG Consulting (“ZCGC”) works with companies across industrials, manufacturing, packaging, and consumer products to identify and implement automation programs tied to specific financial outcomes. The approach connects technology investment to measurable margin improvement rather than treating automation as a general upgrade.

Data Infrastructure as a Value Creation Tool

Many PE-backed companies arrive under new ownership with fragmented data systems. Different departments use different tools. Reporting requires manual consolidation. Leadership makes decisions with incomplete information.

Fixing that infrastructure creates immediate value. Integrated data systems give management teams real-time visibility into revenue, cost, and operational performance. That visibility accelerates decisions and surfaces problems before they become material.

James Zenni, founder and CEO of ZCG with over 30 years of capital markets experience, has consistently emphasized that information quality drives investment performance. That view shapes how ZCG approaches technology investment across the companies in its portfolio.

Technology Drives Value Creation in Private Equity Through Revenue Growth

Cost reduction gets most of the attention in PE operational improvement, but technology also drives revenue growth. The mechanisms are different, and they compound differently over a hold period.

E-Commerce and Digital Customer Acquisition

Companies that sell primarily through traditional channels often leave significant revenue on the table. Adding e-commerce capabilities or investing in digital customer acquisition expands the addressable market without proportional cost increases.

PE firms that invest in digital revenue channels generate higher growth rates during the hold period. That growth rate difference translates directly into exit multiple expansion.

Revenue growth technology applications in PE-backed companies include:

E-commerce platform buildouts that open direct-to-consumer channels alongside existing wholesale relationships
Customer relationship management systems that improve retention and increase repeat purchase rates
Digital marketing infrastructure that lowers customer acquisition costs through better targeting and attribution
Pricing optimization tools that identify margin improvement opportunities without volume loss

Technology-Enabled Customer Experience Improvements

Customer retention is cheaper than customer acquisition. Technology investments in customer experience, service speed, and product quality consistency reduce churn. Lower churn produces more predictable revenue. More predictable revenue supports higher exit valuations.

ZCG deploys Haptiq Technologies and Solutions, its 300-plus-person technology division, to support digital transformation across its companies. The platform was founded 20 years ago and manages approximately $8 billion in AUM. It brings implementation resources that most individual companies cannot afford to build internally. That capability gives ZCG’s companies faster access to technology improvements at lower execution risk.

Building Technology Capability Within PE-Backed Companies

Technology investment during the hold period creates value in two ways. It improves financial performance during ownership. It also makes the business more attractive to the next buyer.

Strategic buyers and later-stage PE funds pay premium multiples for companies with modern technology infrastructure. A business with integrated systems, clean data, and digital revenue channels commands a better price. A comparable business running on legacy platforms does not.

The ZCG Team structures technology investment as part of the initial value creation plan for each company. Priorities get set at entry based on the gap between current capability and acquirer expectations.

This pre-sale positioning approach changes how technology investment gets funded and sequenced during the hold period. Projects that improve financial performance and exit readiness simultaneously get prioritized. Projects with long payback periods that do not improve the sale narrative get deferred.

How technology drives value creation in private equity is ultimately about execution discipline. The tools matter less than the clarity of the financial objective each technology investment must achieve.