Business valuation cost: what you pay and what you get

What sets the fee

The fixed fee covers a defined piece of work, and six things decide whether a job fits it:

• Size. One business or interest with turnover under $2 million or $2 million to $10 million is the same fixed fee; turnover sets the delivery time. Turnover over $10 million is quoted in writing, because it usually means more revenue streams, wages to test and contracts to read.
• What is being valued. The whole business, all the shares, a 30% parcel, units in a unit trust, a partnership interest or goodwill alone. A minority parcel needs its own thinking about control, even when the business underneath is the same.
• How many entities. A trading company plus a trust that owns the equipment is two entities, each needing its own value.
• How many dates. One valuation date is included. A second date means a second conclusion, though not a second analysis.
• The records. Reconciled, up-to-date financial statements keep the fixed fee intact. Accounts a year behind, or tangled related-party loans, mean reconstruction work, and we tell you before anything starts if that changes the fee.
• Specialist questions. Trading losses, value resting on a forecast, or one customer providing most of the revenue may move the work to a written quote.

What does not move the fee: the value we reach, or who will read the report. A fee tied to the answer would undercut the independence you are paying for.

A fixed fee versus hourly rates

Some valuers quote an hourly rate and an estimate of hours. For a defined valuation, that leaves the risk of the unknown with you: if the records are messier than expected, the bill grows, and you find out at the end.

We scope first, then fix the fee. If the scope changes mid-engagement, say a second trust turns up in the structure, we pause and confirm the change in writing before doing the extra work.

How a full report fits one fixed fee

The fixed fee covers a defined scope: one business or ownership interest, annual turnover under $10 million, with financial statements available. Every matter gets one information list and one secure upload link, so your documents arrive in one place. Software organises and checks the figures, while a suitably qualified business valuer at Valuation Group makes every valuation judgement and signs every report. There is no hourly billing. 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.

Comparing quotes fairly

• Is it a fixed fee, or an estimate of hours?
• Is it a full valuation report, or a calculation or limited-scope engagement?
• What sits outside the fee: GST, a second shareholder, a related trust, a second date, a call with your accountant?

What a full valuation report includes

The fixed fee in the table above is for a full valuation report. In practice that covers:

• A written scope. An engagement letter naming the interest, the purpose, the valuation date, the basis of value and the fee.
• Normalised earnings. Your recent financial statements adjusted so they show what a buyer would actually inherit: owner wages reset to a market rate, one-off costs removed, related-party rent tested.
• A conversation about the business. Customers, staff, the lease and risks the accounts do not show.
• A reasoned method. A primary method suited to the business, cross-checked against a second approach where the evidence allows.
• The interest, not just the business. How control, minority holdings and any shareholders agreement were treated.
• A report someone can follow later. The conclusion, evidence, assumptions and limitations, reviewed and signed by a suitably qualified business valuer at Valuation Group.

Before the final report, you sign a representation letter confirming the information you supplied.

Not in the fee: tax advice, valuing land and buildings (a property valuer does that, and we can use their figure as an input), court or tribunal expert reports, which are a separate engagement with their own fee, and family law matters, which go to our dedicated family law practice, Family Law Valuations.

Full valuation or calculation: why prices differ

Whatever the price, check which product you are buying. In a calculation engagement, the valuer applies procedures agreed with the client, which generally do not cover everything a full valuation requires, so the result may differ from a full valuation. A limited-scope engagement sits somewhere between that and a full valuation. Why business valuation quotes vary so much sets out the other reasons.

A calculation can be enough for private planning. It is a thinner document when someone else may test the figure: the ATO reviewing a market value used in a tax return, a buyer, a departing shareholder or a lender.

Our published fixed fee is for a full valuation report. A calculation or limited-scope engagement is never presented as equal to one, and we tell you which you are getting before you engage us. The difference is set out further in our answer on valuations and calculations.

Add-ons for extra entities, interests and dates

The fixed fee covers one business or ownership interest, in one entity, at one valuation date. The core analysis is done once, so each extra conclusion is priced as an add-on:

• Each additional entity or interest: $795 + GST. A second shareholder's parcel, or units in the related trust that owns the plant.
• Each additional valuation date: $495 + GST. A current value plus a value at an earlier date when shares changed hands, for example.

When the extras multiply, such as several operating businesses or a long chain of trusts and companies, the engagement moves to a written quote rather than a stack of add-ons.

How we quote

1. 01Answer the quote questionsPurpose, structure, the interest, turnover, the date, the records and your accountant. For one business with financial statements inside the fixed-fee scope you see the fixed fee straight away. Groups, disputes and turnover over $10 million get a written quote.
2. 02Scoping callWe confirm the interest, the entities, the dates and the records. Tell us your deadline and we will tell you on the call whether we can meet it.
3. 03Engagement letterThe scope, fixed fee and information list in writing. Nothing starts until you sign.
4. 04Payment, documents, reportYou pay and upload documents through the secure link on your matter. The report follows in 2 business days for turnover under $2 million, or 3 business days for turnover $2 million to $10 million. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received, and pauses while we wait for answers to our questions or your signed representation letter.

The full sequence is on our process page.

GST, and whether the fee is deductible

Every fee and add-on is quoted plus GST, which adds 10%. If your business is registered for GST and acquires the valuation for the business, it may be able to claim a GST credit. Whether it can may depend on what the valuation relates to, so check with your accountant.

Deductibility generally turns on why you obtained the valuation. A fee incurred in working out a tax position may be deductible as a cost of managing tax affairs, unless it is capital in nature. A fee connected with buying or selling an asset may instead form part of that asset's cost base for CGT, or be neither. A valuation with several purposes may need to be split. Your tax adviser decides.

Valuing for CGT at 30 June 2027

From 1 July 2027 the CGT rules for individuals, trusts and partnerships change, and some owners may want a market value as at 30 June 2027. The fixed fee is the same. What differs is the scoping, which our CGT valuation cost page walks through. A valuation as at 30 June 2027 is prepared after that date, once your records to 30 June 2027 are available. You can book your place now.

A valuation is not the only route. Some taxpayers may be able to choose an apportionment method set by the Government instead; it was still a draft in October 2026. Companies are treated differently. Whether a valuation is the right choice is a question for your tax adviser.