Why do business valuation quotes vary so much?

Two quotes can be for different products

Whatever the price, check which product you are buying. In a calculation engagement, the valuer and client agree in advance on the methods and procedures, which generally leave out work a full valuation includes, and the result is a calculated value rather than a conclusion of value.

That can suit private planning. It is thin support when someone else may test the figure: the ATO reviewing a market value in a tax return, a buyer or a departing shareholder. Our answer on valuations and calculations explains the difference.

A broker's appraisal is something else again: an opinion of the likely sale price of a business. A useful guide, but a different thing from a valuation report.

Firms charge differently, and the work differs

On the fee pages of Australian valuers we read in October 2026, a full report for a small business was commonly priced at several thousand dollars plus GST. Many firms publish no fee, some charge by the hour for court appearances, and court expert reports cost more again.

An estimate of hours is not a price: the final bill depends on what the work turns up. A fixed fee is only comparable once you know what sits inside it.

What changes the work, and so the quote

• The interest. A 25% parcel of shares, trust units or goodwill alone raise questions of control and rights that a whole business does not.
• The structure. Each entity or ownership interest needs its own value, and each extra valuation date its own conclusion.
• The records. Reconciled accounts close to the valuation date keep the work contained. Accounts a year behind mean reconstruction first.
• The purpose. Court or tribunal evidence is a separate engagement with its own fee, and family law matters go to our dedicated family law practice, Family Law Valuations.

One thing should never move a quote: the value reached. A fee that grows with the answer gives the valuer a stake in it.

Four questions that make quotes comparable

1. Is this a full valuation report or a calculation?
2. Is the fee fixed, or an estimate of hours?
3. What sits outside it: GST, a second entity, a second date?
4. When does the turnaround start?

Read the answers against the engagement letter, not the headline price. A quote that cannot answer the first question is not yet a quote you can compare.

Where our fee sits

Independent Business Valuation charges one fixed fee of $999 + GST for a full valuation report on one business or ownership interest with annual turnover under $10 million. Larger businesses, groups and disputes are quoted in writing. Each extra entity or interest is $795 + GST and each extra date $495 + GST. The fixed fee applies once we confirm the interest, purpose, structure and records fit the fixed-fee scope. Anything outside it is quoted in writing before we start.

The fee is the same for a 30 June 2027 CGT valuation. What the report includes, how we quote and GST are on our business valuation cost page; CGT scoping is on our CGT valuation cost page.