Business Valuation for Accountants

What you get when you refer a client

Most accountants do not want to run a valuation practice on the side. You want the valuation done properly, at a known price, without your team chasing documents. That is the job we are set up to do.

• One defined fixed fee: confirmed in writing before work starts. No hourly billing.
• Clear engagement scopes: the interest, purpose, valuation date and structure, and whether it is a full valuation or a limited-scope calculation.
• Professional valuation reports: subject, date, method, analysis and key assumptions, so you can follow the reasoning to the conclusion.
• Secure information collection: documents come through the secure upload link on the matter, never by email.
• Centralised status updates: one matter, one status, visible to you with your client's written consent.
• National service: valuations are completed Australia-wide, regional town or capital city alike.
• Partner benefits: the same fixed fee with priority scheduling, batch handling and consent-based status updates, plus bulk quotations for client lists.

We do not prepare returns, give tax advice or go after your client's compliance work. We value businesses and business interests, and nothing else.

How a referral works, end to end

A referral takes you a few minutes. After that, the work runs between us and your client, and you stay informed as far as your client allows.

1. 01You talk to your client firstWhether a valuation is the right tool is your call as their adviser. If it is, ask for their written consent to share the matter with you.
2. 02You send the referralThe referral form takes the entity, the interest, the purpose, the valuation date and the approximate turnover, plus your confirmation of consent. No documents go through the website.
3. 03We confirm scope and fee in writingWe confirm with your client what is being valued, why and as at what date. The fixed fee and scope go into an engagement letter. Complex matters are quoted in writing first.
4. 04Documents arrive through a secure linkYour client, or your office with consent, uploads records through the secure upload link on the matter, working from one information list built for the engagement.
5. 05The valuer does the workThe work is done by a suitably qualified business valuer at Valuation Group: analysing the records, adjusting earnings for one-off and owner-related items and selecting the method that fits. Software helps organise information; the valuer makes every judgement and signs the report.
6. 06Your client confirms the factsBefore the final report, your client signs a representation letter confirming the information supplied.
7. 07The report is deliveredYour client receives the report and, with consent, so do you. Delivery is 2 business days for turnover under $2 million and 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.

Client consent and who sees what

We only share a client's matter with the referring accountant with the client's written consent. That covers the status, the documents and the report.

We hold to this even when you made the referral and are on the call. It is your client's business and their information, and written consent keeps the position clear if anyone later asks who saw what. The consent step sits in the referral form. With it, you can:

• see where the matter sits;
• upload documents on your client's behalf through the secure link;
• receive a copy of the final report.

Without it, we deal with your client alone. We can also sign a confidentiality undertaking before sensitive documents are shared.

Independent of you and your client

We are independent of you and of your client. Nobody involved has a stake in the number, and our fee is fixed before we start, whatever value we reach.

That is what makes the report useful to you. If the 30 June 2027 value is questioned years later, or a co-shareholder disputes a buy-out price, a report from a valuer with no connection to the outcome is generally better supported than a figure prepared inside the client's own team. And you are not left defending a number you were asked to produce.

You keep the client relationship, the tax advice, the choice of method and the return. We listen to what you know about the business, but the conclusion is the valuer's alone. A partner agreement covers pricing and process, never the outcome.

We value. You advise. Your client decides.

The 30 June 2027 workload

The CGT reforms are why many firms are thinking about valuations now. From 1 July 2027, the 50% CGT discount for individuals and trusts (including partners' shares of partnership gains) is generally replaced, for gains that build up after that date, by cost base indexation for inflation, and Australian resident individuals pay at least 30% tax on those capital gains, with some exceptions. Australian resident individuals, and trusts with at least one eligible beneficiary, holding relevant assets are generally treated as having sold and reacquired them at market value just before 1 July 2027, so the date that matters is 30 June 2027. Growth up to then generally keeps the 50% discount on an eventual sale.

Three things temper the workload. The new rules do not require a formal valuation report, and once the Government finalises its apportioning method (still a draft at the time of writing) a client may be able to choose it instead, generally with the return for the year of sale. A company's own assets are generally outside the transitional rule (pre-1985 assets aside), although its individual or trust shareholders may be affected. And the small business CGT concessions continue where the conditions are met. Whether a client needs a valuation is your decision with them.

Triaging your client list

1. Who holds the interest? Australian resident individuals and trusts with at least one eligible beneficiary are within the transitional rule; a company generally is not for its own assets (pre-1985 assets aside), though its individual or trust shareholders may be.
2. Is a sale, transfer, buy-out or restructure plausible after 1 July 2027?
3. Has the business built material goodwill, or is it growing fast? The wider the gap between cost base and value, the more the split may matter.
4. Would the Government's apportioning method, once finalised, serve this client as well as evidence of market value? That tax judgement is yours.
5. Could the small business CGT concessions change the picture?
6. Will the records to 30 June 2027 be complete enough to support a value?

Once you have a list, we can quote it in one go.

Timing and capacity

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. So the work for a whole client list tends to bunch into the months after the date. What can be done now is everything except the final number: confirming the entities and interests in scope, mapping the structure, agreeing fees and getting the records in order.

For more on the rules, see our CGT business valuation 2027 page and the article on valuation or apportionment.

Fees and partner benefits

We charge one fixed fee of $999 + GST for a full valuation report on one business or ownership interest with annual turnover under $10 million. Larger and more complex matters are quoted in writing. We never bill by the hour.

Fixed fee, confirmed in writing before we start. No hourly billing and no surprises. 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.

Delivery is 2 business days for turnover under $2 million and 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. Tell us your deadline and we will tell you on the call whether we can meet it.

Partner benefits

Accountants who sign a partner agreement with us pay the same fixed fee for their clients: there is no deeper discount, rebate or referral fee. What changes is the service: priority scheduling around 30 June 2027, batch handling for several clients, and status updates with each client's written consent. The report is the same full valuation report. The Accountant Partner Program page covers eligibility.

Several clients at once

For a list of clients, send one bulk quotation request with the number of clients, their structures, the turnover mix and the valuation dates. We return a written schedule of fees and timing. Each client still gives their own consent. The bulk valuations page has the detail.

What your client receives

A full valuation report for one business or ownership interest: the agreed subject and date, the purpose, the method and why it fits, the supporting analysis, the key assumptions and the review.

We value whole businesses, private company shares, units in unit trusts, partnership interests and goodwill. We do not value residential property, vehicles or personal assets.

Guided by APES 225 Valuation Services. We say up front whether an engagement is a full valuation or a limited-scope calculation, and we never present a calculation as a full valuation report.

Australia has no formal admissions board for business valuers, and the ATO says a valuation's acceptability usually depends on the process behind it. The ATO can confirm a valuation through a private ruling (you pay any valuation fees it incurs), and it may review any value that affects your tax. No valuer can promise how the ATO or a court will treat a report. What we provide is a reasoned, documented report you can rely on. A report for tax or commercial purposes is not a court expert report: court work is a separate engagement with its own fee, and family law matters go to our dedicated family law practice, Family Law Valuations.

Three ways to start

Pick the one that matches what is on your desk.

• One client now: send a single referral with your client's consent, using the form below.
• A standing arrangement: apply to become an accountant partner.
• A list of clients: request a bulk quotation.

Prefer to talk it through first? Call 0433 475 518 (Mon to Fri, 9am to 5:30pm AEST) or email valuations@valuationgroup.au. Please do not email client documents: they come through the secure link once a matter is open.