Forensic Accountant & Business Valuation Expert for Arkansas Matters

Working With Out-of-State Counsel

Joey Friedman, CPA, P.A. is a litigation-focused forensic accounting and business valuation firm engaged by counsel in Arkansas matters. The firm is based in Florida and works nationwide, handling records-based analysis remotely and traveling for deposition and trial testimony as a matter requires. Mr. Friedman has testified in state, federal and foreign courts, for plaintiffs and defendants, in civil, criminal and marital proceedings. The firm does not prepare income tax returns and does not provide tax planning services.

Divorce in Arkansas is heard in the Circuit Court. Federal matters are heard in the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas. Mr. Friedman is regularly engaged in matters in states across the United States, as well as in international matters, and the firm accepts Arkansas engagements in state and federal proceedings alike.

Retaining a forensic accountant from outside the state is common in financial disputes, and in some matters it is preferred:

• Conflict distance. An out-of-state expert is less likely to have prior or ongoing relationships with the parties, their businesses, their banks or their other advisors.
• Records-based work travels. Valuation and earnings analysis are performed on documents and data. The location of the analyst does not change what the records show.
• Independence is visible. Where the parties move in the same local professional circles, distance from those circles is easier to explain to a finder of fact.

The Three Things That Decide an Arkansas Case

Equal is the starting point, and any departure has to be explained on the record

Arkansas does not begin with an open question about fairness. The statute provides that “All marital property shall be distributed one-half to each party unless the court finds such a division to be inequitable.”

A court may divide unequally, but it “must state the reasons and basis for not dividing the property equally, which should be recited in the order entered in the matter.” It is not required to list every statutory factor or weigh them equally — but it must say why.

That shapes what evidence is worth producing. A party seeking an unequal division needs material a court can point to in writing, tied to the factors the statute names. A party resisting one benefits from the same clarity in reverse. Either way the useful contribution is documented figures attached to specific factors, not a general impression of who deserves more.

The arithmetic has to match the evidence — gross and net are not interchangeable

In Cowan v. Cowan, 2026 Ark. App. 206, the Arkansas Court of Appeals addressed a division of employment bonuses. The court below had divided them using gross figures. The appellate court found the problem plainly: “the record established only the net bonus deposits, yet the circuit court divided the bonuses using gross figures that did not reflect funds actually received . . . after taxes and other deductions.”

A division “must be supported by the evidence.” Where the proof establishes what actually landed in an account, dividing a larger pre-tax number divides money that was never received.

This is ordinary forensic work and it decides real money. Bonuses, distributions, stock compensation and draws all arrive net of withholding, retirement deferrals and other deductions, and the gap between the headline figure and the deposit can be very large. Establishing which number the records actually prove — and producing the bank statements and payroll detail that tie one to the other — is the difference between a division that survives appeal and one that does not.

Precision is not required, but support is

Arkansas’s appellate courts have said the property-division statute “does not compel mathematical precision in the distribution of property; it simply requires that marital property be distributed equitably.” The circuit court has “broad powers to distribute property in order to achieve an equitable distribution.”

Read those two ideas together with the one above, because they are not in tension. A court need not split every asset to the dollar. But whatever figures it does use have to be ones the evidence supports. Discretion is about the division; it is not a licence for a number nobody proved.

The practical reading for an expert report is to be exact where the records allow it, explicit about the basis where they do not, and clear about which is which.

Personal versus enterprise goodwill

Where a business depends on one individual, part of its value may not transfer to a new owner. The firm calculates and separates the transferable value from the non-transferable value and documents the basis for each. This is a financial calculation, not a legal determination — how that split is treated is a matter for the court under Arkansas law.

Forensic Accounting and Litigation Support

Gross-to-Net Compensation Analysis

Establishing what was actually received from bonuses, distributions, equity compensation and draws after withholding, deferrals and other deductions — tied to payroll records and bank deposits, which is the evidence an Arkansas division has to rest on.

Factor-Linked Support for an Unequal Division

Assembling the financial material that maps to the statutory factors, so that a court departing from an equal split has figures it can recite in its order — or so that a party resisting a departure can meet them.

Dissipation Analysis

Documenting what was spent, withdrawn or transferred, when, and to what end — a question Arkansas courts have treated as bearing directly on whether an equal division would be inequitable.

Complete Asset and Interest Identification

Establishing what actually exists before anything is valued — entity interests, deferred and contingent compensation, receivables and interests in trusts or estates.

Business Valuation Disputes

Valuation of closely held businesses and professional practices for divorce, shareholder and partnership disputes and buyouts, including the normalization questions that decide most of these cases: owner compensation, discretionary expenses, related-party transactions and customer concentration.

Hidden Asset Tracing

Following money through business accounts, related entities and personal accounts to establish what exists and where it went — common in divorce and in partnership disputes where one side controlled the books.

Economic Damages and Lost Profits

Quantifying what was lost, on a method that survives cross-examination, and identifying where an opposing calculation departs from the records it claims to rest on.

Fraud and Embezzlement Investigations

Reconstruction of what happened from the underlying records — misappropriation, fictitious vendors, payroll schemes and diversion — documented so it can be presented to a court, a board or an insurer.

Rebuttal and Opposing-Expert Review

Review of an opposing expert’s report to identify method departures, unsupported assumptions and figures the underlying records do not support — in Arkansas, very often whether a figure is the one the evidence actually proves.

Deposition and Trial Testimony

Expert testimony in state, federal and foreign courts, in depositions, mediations, arbitrations including AAA, and jury and non-jury trials, for plaintiffs and defendants alike.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Arkansas split everything down the middle?

That is the starting point. All marital property is distributed one-half to each party unless the court finds such a division to be inequitable. The court may divide unequally, but it must state its reasons for doing so in the order.

My bonus was taxed before I ever saw it. Does that matter?

It can matter a great deal. In a 2026 decision the Court of Appeals found error where a division used gross bonus figures although the record established only the net amounts deposited after taxes and retirement contributions. Which number the evidence proves is the question.

What does a court need in order to divide unequally?

Reasons it can state. It need not list every statutory factor or weigh them equally, but the basis for departing from an equal division has to be recited in the order.

Does every asset have to be valued exactly?

Arkansas courts have said the statute does not compel mathematical precision, only an equitable distribution. That is discretion about the division, not permission to use a figure the evidence does not support.

Which court hears a divorce in Arkansas?

The Circuit Court.

Can a Florida-based expert work on an Arkansas case?

Yes, and it is common. The analysis is performed on documents and data, which does not depend on the analyst’s location, and the firm travels for deposition and trial testimony as a matter requires.

What records are needed to start?

Tax returns with every schedule, entity documents, and account and loan records. For a business or practice, the general ledger in native form, bank and credit card statements and payroll records. For an Arkansas matter, pair every compensation figure with the bank record showing what was actually deposited — that pairing is exactly what an appellate court looked for.

What credentials should a financial expert in an Arkansas matter hold?

For matters that may reach a hearing, the relevant considerations are accounting credentials, experience with the specific analysis at issue, and a record of testifying. Mr. Friedman is a CPA accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) by the AICPA and a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Discuss an Arkansas Matter

Joey Friedman is a CPA accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) by the AICPA, a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, with more than 25 years in accounting and forensic practice and an expert witness practice serving attorneys and litigants nationwide since 2014. To discuss whether the firm is the right fit for a matter — including scope, timing and whether an out-of-state expert suits the case — call 954-282-9615 or use the contact form. The firm accepts engagements in other states as well — see states served for how the analysis differs elsewhere.