Timely valuations you can rely on.
Experience you can trust.
Our Consulting Team
Unlike most other CPA firms, valuation and litigation support services are a primary focus at Seigneur Gustafson LLP, with several seasoned full-time professionals dedicated to this area of our practice, including nationally recognized consultants Ron Seigneur and Brenda Clarke. Our expertise is vital, because frequent changes in statutes and regulations can markedly affect the outcome and mean millions of dollars to the clients we serve.
Ron Seigneur is a recognized leader, educator, and innovator in the valuation field. He lectures frequently on valuation, litigation, and financial analysis issues to other valuation professionals and attorneys. Ron is also nationally recognized for his consulting expertise with law firms and attorneys, subsequent to a 7 year stint as a legal administrator and Chief Financial Officer for a 50 attorney Denver law firm.
The SG Team is also involved in complex litigation services, specializing in the calculation of economic damages in a broad range of personal and complex corporate disputes. We provide acquisition/ divestiture support to closely held businesses and expert witness services.
The experts at SG have held key positions in local and national appraisal organizations, and currently participate in these professional organizations: American Society of Appraisers, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts, the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants, CLE of Colorado, the Expert Resource Connection, the Institute of Certified Fraud Examiners, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and the College of Law Practice Management.
Meet the Team
Ronald L. Seigneur, Partner
Ron has over 30 years of valuation experience and has been endorsed as an expert witness in several jurisdictions and has served in appointments such as trustee, mediator, arbitrator and special master of the court. Ron is very active nationally as an educator and author of valuation science and has written and taught advanced level valuation courses in several states for the AICPA, NACVA state bar associations and the Environmental Protection Agency.
He is past chair of the AICPA Accredited in Business Valuation committee and NACVA’s Professional Standards Board. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Denver Daniels College of Business where he teaches business valuation. Ron holds a BA in Hotel Restaurant and Institutional Management from Michigan State University and an MBA in Accounting and Corporate Policy from the University of Michigan. He is the author of numerous publications, including the co-author of the 1300+ page treatise on business appraisal titled Financial Valuations: Applications and Models, Reasonable Compensation: Application and Analysis for Appraisal, Tax and Management, The Cannabis Industry Accounting and Appraisal Guide, and the Financial Expert Guide for Family Law Judges and Attorneys. Ron also continues to focus attention to tax planning and compliance matters, as well as emphasizing succession and exit planning strategies for Seigneur Gustafson clients and their professional advisors.
Ron is originally from Michigan, but has been living in Denver for over 30 years. He lives in Golden with his wife Beverly, and, in his spare time, enjoys time with her, his two daughters, Chelsea and Sydney, and his five grandchildren, Zoe, Oliver, Lila, Remington, and Benjamin. He loves golfing, gardening, Colorado sunsets sitting around the fire pit, camping with family and friends, seeing live music, and traveling extensively for work and play. Ron is dedicated to his profession, as well as his family, and lives life by the motto, “Work hard, play hard!”
Brenda M. Clarke, Managing Partner
Brenda has over 20 years of experience working with a wide range of small businesses on various taxation, attestation, and planning issues. Brenda is Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV), which is a certification awarded by the AICPA. She is also a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) with expertise and experience in business valuation and economic damages claims litigation assignments, as well as valuation analysis for estate and tax transactions. Brenda has served as an expert witness in various family law cases both in and out of Colorado.
Brenda is a graduate of the University of Colorado with a BS in Business Administration and has previous work experience as a controller for a regional transportation company. Brenda has strong industry experience working with manufacturing companies, professional service firms, high tech clients, and cannabis related clients. She is the author of various publications and speaks locally and nationally on valuation and tax related issues.
Ryan Cram, Senior Financial Analyst
Ryan Cram has worked as a Financial/Valuation Analyst with Seigneur Gustafson, LLP since 2016, and specializes in cannabis, hemp and early-stage company valuation. Prior to joining SG, Ryan developed his career as an investment analyst with a boutique sell-side equity research firm covering the wireless semiconductor industry, Charter Equity Research – a firm Institutional Investor Magazine has consistently ranked as a top equity research company. In 2014, he started a consulting practice valuing cannabis related businesses and developing pitch decks and other marketing materials for fundraising efforts. He’s helped several cannabis entrepreneurs raise seed and first round capital in an industry with limited access to growth capital. His research has been published in various news sources and throughout Wall Street over the last several years. Ryan has made several television appearances on financial news networks and spoken publicly about valuation issues within the cannabis, hemp, and wireless technology industries.
Since 2013, Ryan has also owned and operated a successful equipment rental company which leases cannabis trimming machines and sells grow supplies to cultivators around Colorado. This experience has offered Ryan an inside look at the industry as its developed over the last several years. The unique insights, relationships and data sets that he has developed as a part of this experience, combined with his appraisal interactions with cannabis businesses throughout the supply chain has made him uniquely qualified to value companies throughout the supply chain.
Mr. Cram graduated from Colorado State University in 2003 with a degree in Finance & Real Estate and is a Chartered Valuation Analyst (CVA). He’s held series 7, 6, 63, 66 and insurance licenses in his past life as a financial advisor – these licenses have lapsed since his career path has shifted to valuation exclusively. He’s an avid snow sport and fitness enthusiast.
Praise for the Seigneur Gustafson Valuation Team:
“On behalf of my divorce client, I retained Ron and his team to value a very complicated cannabis business which included partial ownerships in several interrelated Limited Liability Companies. Ron prepared an excellent report as well as a three-page summary which was extremely helpful in resolving the case prior to trial. Ron, Ryan, and the rest of his team were a pleasure to work with at all times. I believe the quality of their work was exceptional. If you need a nationally recognized expert to evaluate a cannabis business, you should definitely hire Ron and his team.”
— Thomas C. Bradley, Esq.
Law Office of Thomas C. Bradley
Reno, Nevada