Liisa Atva is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Business Valuator (CBV). She has valued both large and small businesses and appeared as an expert witness in court on valuation matters.

Liisa has also been a CFO for companies in the manufacturing, software, mutual fund and venture capital industries. Subsequently, she spent nine years on the deal team of an investment bank specializing in structured finance transactions. She has taught at the SFU Beedie School of Business, and rewrote the UBC Sauder School of Business Real Estate Appraisal Program’s online course on business valuation.

Although Liisa has worked for a number of large businesses she has a soft spot for the smaller ones. When she was a teenager it was the owner of an auto body shop that first sparked her interest in a business career. Her focus now is writing, teaching and mentoring business owners and students.  In addition to her Canadian experience she has lived and worked in Bermuda, Australia and the USA.

Liisa has been published in The Globe and Mail, Huffington Post, The Vancouver Sun, The BC Shipping News and The Journal of Business Valuations. One of her editorial pieces was a Google pick as top business story of the day. She is the author of The Ask: How Much is a Small Business Worth? and was awarded the Canadian Institute of CBVs 2018 Communicator of the Year award.