Bruce Johnson
What I Do
- Business Valuation
- Gift and Estate Tax
Licenses & Designations
- Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) – American Society of Appraisers
Education
- M.B.A. (Finance)
Texas A&M University - B.S. (Engineering)
Texas A&M University
Background
Mr. Johnson has over 30 years of experience in the valuation of privately held companies. He is an accredited senior member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) and has served on the ASA’s Board of Governors and ASA Business Valuation Committee. Mr. Johnson is the course developer and instructor for the ASA’s BV203 course on discounts and premiums and a member of the Texas A&M Corporate Finance Advisory Board. He has been published on a wide range of valuation topics in several journals and authored the 1999 Johnson Restricted Stock Study. Additionally, he is the lead author for Thomson Reuter’s Guide to Business Valuation and Partnership Profiles’ Comprehensive Guide for the Valuation of Family Limited Partnerships and LLCs. He is a contributing author for McGraw Hill’s Valuing a Business and the American Bar Associations The Lawyer’s Business Valuation Handbook. Mr. Johnson is a frequent speaker at seminars, conferences and webinars for the ASA, Business Valuation Resources, AICPA, Partnership Profiles and NACVA.
Professional Highlights
Employment History
- Marshall & Stevens, Inc.
Executive Managing Director, 1994-present - Clarke American, Inc.
Senior Financial Analyst, 1992-1994 - Texas A&M Transportation Institute
Graduate Research Assistant, 1990-1991 - Texas Instruments
Engineer, 1988-1990
Journals and Articles:
- Business Valuation Update – BVR, “Best Practices for the Valuation of Minority Interests in FLPs and LLCs,” (October 2025).
- TaxStringer – New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants, “What I Learned from IRS Audits and Tax Court Testimony,” (November 2021).
- Today’s CPA – Texas Society of CPA’s, “How to Value Privately Held Promissory Notes,” (September/October 2019), 29-33.
- NACVA QuickRead Journal – National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts, “How to Value Privately Held Promissory Notes,” (September 5, 2019).
- Business Valuation Update, “Determining the FMV of Small Privately Held Promissory Notes,” Vol. 25, No. 7, (July 2019), 1-6.
- Accountingweb.com – Sift Media, “What to Know About Proposed IRC 2704 Changes,” (April 11, 2017)
- The Pennsylvania Lawyer – Pennsylvania Bar Association, “Proposed 2704 Changes Meet Stiff Resistance at IRS Hearing,” (March/April 2017), 34-40.
- The Counselor – Illinois State Bar Association, Vol. 31, No. 2, “Proposed 2704 Changes Meet Stiff Resistance,” (December 2016).
- Arizona Attorney – Arizona State Bar Association, Vol. 31, No. 2, “Family-Owned Business Discounts May End Under Proposed IRS Regulations,” (November 2016), 28-31.
- NACVA QuickRead Journal – National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts, “Objectively Supporting Discounts for Lack of Marketability,” (November 9, 2016).
- Maine Bar Journal – Maine State Bar Association, Vol. 31, No. 2, “Avoiding Pitfalls When Making Family Limited Partnership Gifts,” (Spring 2016), 24-26.
- The Briefs – Orange County Bar Association, Vol. 84, No. 5, How to Avoid the Attention of the IRS When Making Family Limited Partnership Gifts,” (June 2016), 11, 32-33.
- Arizona Attorney, Vol. 52, No. 6, “Family Limited Partnership Gifts – How to Draw the Attention of the IRS,” (February 2016).
- Connecticut Lawyer, Vol. 26, No. 3, “How to Avoid the Attention of the IRS When Making Family Limited Partnership Gifts,” (November 2015).
- Texas Bar Journal, “The Taxman Cometh,” (October 2015), 748.
- Business Valuation Update, Vol. 19, No. 3, “Empirical Method for Determining DLOM,” (March 2013).
- BVR’s Guide to Business Valuation Issues in Estate and Gift Tax Case Law, “Using Empirical Data to Value Family Limited Partnerships,” (2010-2012 Edition – Chapter 8).
- Business Valuation Discounts & Premiums, 2nd Edition, Shannon P. Pratt, “Johnson Restricted Stock Study,” (April 2009 – Chapter 6).
- Business Valuation Review’s Guide to Estate and Gift Tax Case Law, “Using Empirical Data to Value Family Limited Partnerships,” (January 2008), 1-105.
- Business Valuation Review’s Guide to Discounts for Lack of Marketability, “Using Rates of Return to Develop Discounts for Lack of Marketability,” (February 2007), 4-17.
- CCH Business Valuation Alert, “S Corporation Tax Treatment for Minority Interests,” Vol. 4, (October 2002).
- The Partnership Spectrum, “Tax Court Rules on Marketable Securities FLP,” (September/October 2001), 19.
- CCH Business Valuation Alert, “Family Limited Partnerships – Tax Court Demands More from Valuation Experts,” Vol. 3, No. 1 (September 2001), 4, 13-14.
- Shannon Pratt’s Business Valuation Update, “Taxpayer Victory on FLP Recognition,” Vol. 6, No. 3 (March 2000), 5-6.
- Business Valuation Review, “Quantitative Support for Discounts for Lack of Marketability,” Vol. 18, No. 4, (December 1999), 152-155.
- Shannon Pratt’s Business Valuation Update, “Expert Witness for IRS Attacks Size Premium Part of Discount Rate,” Vol. 5, No. 7 (July 1999), 1-3.
- Shannon Pratt’s Business Valuation Update, “Restricted Stock Discounts 1991-1995,” Vol. 5, No. 3 (March 1999), 1-3.
- Business Valuation Review, “Limited Partnership Discounts – Observations from the Secondary Market,” Vol. 16, No. 2, (June 1997), 59-64.
- Texas Lawyer, “Discounts and the Family Limited Partnership,” (June 2, 1997), 21.
- Business Valuation Review, “Publicly Registered Limited Partnership Interests,” Vol. 15, No. 4, (December 1996), 155-156.
- Financial Planning, “What to Know About Business Appraisals,” Vol. 26, No. 2, (November 1996), 147-150.
- Business Valuation Review, “Study of Discounts for Limited Partnership Units Traded in a Secondary Market,” Vol. 14, No. 3, (September 1995), 99-101.
- Business Valuation Review, “Tax Treatment When Valuing S-Corporations Using the Income Approach,” Vol. 14, No. 2, (June 1995), 83-85.