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A central Florida businessman who made a name for himself as a debt counselor during the Great Recession has filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, listing more than $100 million in liabilities, the Orlando Sentinel reported today. Timothy McCallan, of Melbourne, Fla., was hit with a judgment in February for $107 million in an Alabama bankruptcy for a large debt settlement law firm — Allegro Law — that was shut down by a judge six years ago as a massive fraud. Now McCallan is telling a court in Florida that he needs protection from that claim and other claims, via his bankruptcy filing. Court investigators in the Allegro case have been pursuing McCallan, because his companies, Americorp and Seton Inc., provided record-keeping and data services to Allegro.

Finance groups want to bring more consistency to the valuation profession and reduce the number of questions auditors raise about the valuations, the Wall Street Journal reported today. “We want these professionals to better document their assumptions,” Eva Simpson, who is among the managers leading the effort for the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). The groups are developing a new certification program that would require 30 hours of work, depending on experience, and could cost more than $1,000, according to the AICPA. The accounting trade group is collaborating with the American Society of Appraisers and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors to work out specifics of the program, which could be announced by the end of the year.