The ladder, from $0 to $15,000+
There are seven common ways to get a business valued in Australia, priced from $0 to $15,000 and beyond. All seven are legitimate products in the sense that someone will supply them. They are not remotely interchangeable. The most useful thing to understand before choosing a rung is what each price actually buys — because it is usually not accuracy. It is accountability: who did the work, what evidence sits behind the number, and whether anyone is prepared to sign it.
- ·Rung 1 — DIY rule of thumb: $0. Multiply your profit by an industry multiple you heard somewhere.
- ·Rung 2 — Online calculator: $0. A web form that applies a generic multiple in about two minutes.
- ·Rung 3 — Broker appraisal: $0 — 'free' in the sense that you pay with your contact details and a listing conversation.
- ·Rung 4 — Accountant letter: typically $500–$2,000. A short letter from your own accountant stating a value.
- ·Rung 5 — Online fixed-fee valuation: under $2,000. A signed report from an independent firm working to a fixed, published scope.
- ·Rung 6 — Boutique or specialist valuation firm: typically $5,000–$15,000 for a full report.
- ·Rung 7 — Big-4 or mid-tier accounting firm: $15,000 and up, often well up.
The free rungs: rules of thumb, calculators and broker appraisals
The three free rungs share one feature: nobody stands behind the number. A rule-of-thumb multiple is a genuinely useful sanity check, and for private curiosity it may be all you need — what it can and cannot do is covered properly at /insights/can-you-value-your-own-business. Online calculators automate the same arithmetic with a slicker interface; the calculators we have reviewed concede in their fine print that the output has no professional standing, and the full comparison sits at /insights/business-valuation-calculator-vs-formal-valuation. The broker appraisal is the most interesting free option, because a human does real work on it — but the broker's economics are the listing, not the number, and an appraisal produced to win your mandate is a sales document with a valuation-shaped exterior. It can be a useful data point when you are genuinely preparing to sell (see /services/selling-a-business-valuation for how an independent view fits alongside it), and it is worth nothing in a tax file. None of the three survives ATO review, for the same structural reason: no disclosed methodology, no documented evidence, no independence, no signature.
The paid rungs: from a letter to a big-4 engagement
The accountant letter, typically $500–$2,000, is the traditional first paid rung. Your accountant knows the business, and for genuinely low-stakes internal purposes a letter may be proportionate. Its two problems are independence — the ATO's market valuation guidance expects a valuation prepared by a suitably qualified and independent person, and an accountant valuing their own client strains that expectation — and depth, because a short letter rarely discloses methodology or evidence. The full comparison is at /insights/accountant-letter-vs-valuation-report. The online fixed-fee valuation, under $2,000, is the newest rung: an independent firm using a standardised process, remote delivery and a fixed published scope to deliver a signed report — methodology named and justified, evidence documented, prepared with reference to APES 225 and IVS 104, senior-reviewer signed under an independence statement. Prismi's Essential tier sits on this rung at $1,495 + GST. Boutique and specialist firms, typically $5,000–$15,000, sell senior specialist time: multiple methodologies tested against each other, bespoke scope, deep industry evidence — the right rung when the stakes justify it. Big-4 and mid-tier firms, from roughly $15,000 upward, sell the same substance plus an institutional brand. That brand genuinely matters in board-level disputes, large transactions and litigation. It is wasted money on a suburban trading business with a routine CGT event.
The scorecard: seven options, four questions
Here is every rung scored on the four things that matter: cost, elapsed time, who stands behind the number, and the only question that counts for tax purposes — whether the file behind the number is built to withstand ATO review. One caution before the verdicts: there is no such thing as an ATO pre-approved valuation and no provider on any rung can promise acceptance. The verdicts describe what each product is built to withstand, not a promised outcome.
- ·DIY rule of thumb — $0; an evening; stands behind it: nobody; ATO review: fails. There is no file to review.
- ·Online calculator — $0; two minutes; stands behind it: nobody, and the fine print says so; ATO review: fails.
- ·Broker appraisal — $0; days to two weeks; stands behind it: a broker whose incentive is the listing; ATO review: fails — not independent, methodology rarely documented.
- ·Accountant letter — typically $500–$2,000; one to two weeks; stands behind it: your accountant, valuing their own client; ATO review: rarely holds on its own — usable for low-stakes purposes, thin wherever market value substitution or concession eligibility is actually tested.
- ·Online fixed-fee valuation — under $2,000; two to three weeks; stands behind it: a named valuer signing under an independence statement, working file retained; ATO review: built to hold for straightforward matters within its fixed scope.
- ·Boutique or specialist firm — typically $5,000–$15,000; three to six weeks; stands behind it: a senior specialist; ATO review: built to hold, including higher-stakes and contested matters.
- ·Big-4 or mid-tier firm — $15,000+; four to eight weeks or more; stands behind it: a partner and an institutional brand; ATO review: built to hold — the real question is whether your matter needs the brand premium.
Why price and defensibility are not the same axis
The instinct is that defensibility rises smoothly with price. It does not — the relationship is a step function. The first three rungs cost nothing and are worth nothing under review. The step change happens between roughly $500 and $2,000, where a number first acquires the three things a reviewer looks for: a named methodology, a documented evidence base and an accountable signature. From about $5,000 you are buying depth and seniority — more methodologies, more evidence, more experience against pressure — which higher-stakes matters genuinely need. Beyond $15,000 you are substantially buying brand. That shape means value for money for compliance purposes peaks in the middle of the ladder. For the large population of straightforward matters — a single trading entity, clean financials, an uncontested current-date CGT event — a signed fixed-scope report does what the $10,000 report does where it counts, and skips the depth the matter does not need. The mistake at the bottom of the ladder is paying nothing and getting nothing. The mistake at the top is paying for defensibility your matter will never call on. Both mistakes are common; only the first one generates amended assessments.
Match the purpose to the cheapest rung that works
Start with the purpose, not the price. For each of the common reasons people ask this question, this is the cheapest option that actually does the job:
- ·Sale curiosity — a calculator or rule of thumb. Nothing rides on the number, so free is the right price.
- ·Actually selling — a broker appraisal plus an independent check. A signed fixed-fee report gives you a negotiating floor that the broker's listing-hungry number does not.
- ·A CGT event (sale, transfer, restructure) — an online fixed-fee signed report, from $1,495 + GST, for straightforward matters; step up a tier where the value is large or the position is likely to be examined.
- ·A family or related-party transfer — never a free rung. Market value substitution under s 116-30 ITAA 1997 puts the value itself under scrutiny, so a signed independent report is the minimum and dual methodology is often warranted.
- ·Small business CGT concessions — a Defensible-tier or boutique engagement. The $6m net asset value test is among the most reviewed positions in Australian tax; this is not where you economise.
- ·A dispute (shareholder, partnership, family law) — a boutique or specialist firm with expert-report experience. Every cheaper rung is wasted money, because the other side's expert will pull a thin report apart.
- ·Bank finance — ask the lender what it accepts before buying anything. Often a signed fixed-fee report suffices, and paying $10,000 where the lender accepts a $1,500 report is the ladder's most avoidable overspend.
General information, not tax advice
The CGT, market value substitution and small business concession references above are general information, not tax advice. Prismi prepares independent valuations; we are not registered tax agents, and whether a particular rung — or a particular valuation purpose — is right for your circumstances is a question for your accountant. What a valuation report can do is give them sound evidence to work with; it cannot tell you how the ATO will treat your matter, and no provider on any rung of this ladder can promise that outcome.
Where Prismi sits on the ladder
Single methodology, fixed scope, senior-reviewer signed under an independence statement. For straightforward, uncontested matters. 10–14 business days.
Dual methodology with cross-check, normalised earnings and sensitivity analysis. The right tier for most trading businesses with goodwill and add-backs. 15–25 business days.
Triple methodology and a complete evidence file for higher-value or review-prone matters, including concession claims. 25–35 business days.
Structured range analysis with the most supportable position concluded, for complex, contested or adviser-led matters. 30–45 business days.
The honest trade-off, and where to go next
Transparency has to cut both ways, so here is what the affordable end of our ladder does not do. The Essential tier is priced where it is because the scope is fixed, not because the work is thinner — a single methodology, applied properly and signed properly. That fixed scope is also its boundary: it does not test multiple methodologies against each other, and it is not suited to contested matters, family law, or anything carrying realistic ATO-dispute risk. Those matters need Comprehensive or above, and pretending otherwise would put a cheap report in exactly the kind of file where cheap reports fail. Surcharges are equally fixed: retrospective valuations add $495 per historical date, additional entities $750 each, rush turnaround 30% — all set at engagement and never contingent on the outcome. If you want the full anatomy of what drives valuation fees across the market, the cost hub at /insights/business-valuation-cost-australia breaks it down; the fixed-scope product itself is set out at /services/cheap-business-valuation-australia; and if you are weighing a low price against a nagging doubt, /insights/are-cheap-business-valuations-worth-it gives you the five-minute inspection. The best-value rung is not the free one. It is whichever paid rung matches your purpose — so the number only has to be paid for, and stand up, once.