Calculated Intangible Value - CIV

To understand this one, you'll need to know what an intangible asset is...this is something that is not physical but has some value. You might think this sounds very spiritual, like we're talking about the soul. Kind of, only in a business sense. Intangible assets include things like goodwill, reputation, brand value, patents or intellectual property.

The CIV method is trying to assign a value to those things. As you can imagine, there is no Kelly Blue Book to look up goodwill or reputation value. So it can be tricky.

The process can be done by simply finding the market value and subtracting the book value from it. But, market values can change, so some experts argue this may not be accurate. Below is a detailed step by step calculation method that works around moving market values. It might be a bit detailed for the average layperson, but it gives an idea of the pieces involved.