Jason Buhlinger, CPA/ABV, CFE, CVA

Bio

Jason is a Partner in the Consulting Practice of Armanino LLP where he leads a team specializing in providing business valuation services and financial analyses to clients for a wide range of diverse purposes. These valuation services include business valuations for gift and estate tax purposes, stock option pricing analyses, purchase price allocations, complex securities valuation (including preferred equity, options, warrants, and convertible debt with embedded features), goodwill/impairment analyses, as well as various transaction-related services. Jason and the business valuation team at Armanino have valued clients in a wide range of industries, that also range in size from early-stage start-ups to multi-billion-dollar entities.

Jason also has a background in forensic accounting and litigation support having provided expert witness testimony, or been named as an expert, on a wide range of cases including business valuation (diminution of value and overall business valuation), lost profits damages, and asset tracing.

Jason joined the firm as a staff analyst in 2007 and was promoted to manager in 2014. Early in 2016, Jason departed the firm for corporate America where he worked as a business unit controller at MilliporeSigma and gained valuable industry experience. He also worked as the financial reporting manager for the Biologics division of Patheon. In this role, he developed and managed reporting and forecast processes. Jason rejoined the firm in late 2017.

Jason earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Fontbonne University and a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting from the University of Missouri–St. Louis. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), is Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV), is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), and a is Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA).

Q&A

My wife and I absolutely loved the first home we bought when we were newlyweds. We made a ton of memories there with family barbecues, and it had a gorgeous backyard that backed to wooded common ground. It was so peaceful to sit on the back deck. Unfortunately, a few years ago, we had some unprecedented flooding in our area and our home flooded. We were tasked with the tough decision of either fixing up our home and hoping it wouldn’t flood again or selling it. We ultimately decided to sell, and while we love our new home, we still miss our first home.

I did a valuation of a cemetery and crematorium. It was the coolest project I have ever worked on. I was tasked with determining what the cemetery was worth, and I got to experience the ins and outs of the business. There’s value in someone who takes care of those who have passed on. It’s a huge responsibility.

I used to have a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that I would ride as often as humanly possible. However, after our son John was born, my wife and I decided it probably wasn’t a good idea for me to keep the bike. I miss my bike every time I hear a motorcycle roar past. John is only five now, but I told my wife when he goes to college, we’ll drop him off in the morning and I’ll be at the local Harley-Davidson dealership in the afternoon.

Detailed and less regimented. Not as caught up in schedules. When you get obsessed with following a schedule, you miss out on thinking time.

The first partner I ever worked for was a woman, and at the time, you didn’t see a lot of women that had accomplished as much as she had. Prior to her time as a partner, she broke through the glass ceiling and had previously worked her way up to the executive level at a publicly traded agrochemical company in the ‘80s and early ‘90s — not an easy feat. She is extremely intelligent and taught me to immerse myself and learn as much as I possibly could. She took me under her wing and made sure that I succeeded.

Camaraderie of our team. It’s nice having people around to talk to on a frequent basis. We get to know one another on a personal level and end up being more than just coworkers.