The price we quote is the price you pay — fixed in writing before any work begins.

A fixed fee business valuation from Prismi costs from $1,495 + GST (Essential, single methodology, for straightforward compliance matters) up to $3,995 + GST (Comprehensive, dual methodology), $8,995 + GST (Defensible Valuation File, triple methodology) or $12,995 + GST (Valuation Range & Scenario Review) for more complex or contested matters. The fee is fixed in writing at engagement, before any work begins, and any change to it requires your agreement. The only add-ons are published too: retrospective dates +$495, additional entities +$750, rush +30%.

What a fixed fee business valuation costs

A Prismi fixed fee business valuation costs from $1,495 + GST (Essential), $3,995 + GST (Comprehensive), $8,995 + GST (Defensible Valuation File) or $12,995 + GST (Valuation Range & Scenario Review). These are the same prices we quote by email, the same prices in the engagement letter, and the same prices on the invoice. Every Prismi fee is fixed in writing at engagement, before any work begins, and it is not contingent on the valuation outcome — a fee structure that matters for independence as much as it matters for your budget.

• ·Essential — from $1,495 + GST. Single methodology, senior-reviewer signed, delivered in 10–14 business days. For straightforward compliance matters.
• ·Comprehensive — from $3,995 + GST. Dual methodology with cross-check, 15–25 business days. The most common tier for restructures and related-party transfers.
• ·Defensible Valuation File — from $8,995 + GST. Triple methodology, 25–35 business days. For higher-value matters and elevated ATO review risk.
• ·Valuation Range & Scenario Review — from $12,995 + GST. Structured range and scenario analysis, 30–45 business days. For contested or threshold-sensitive positions.
• ·Defined add-ons — retrospective valuation +$495 per historical date; additional entities +$750 each; rush delivery +30% of the base fee. There are no disbursements, no 'sundries', and no per-email billing.

How hourly-billed valuation engagements blow out

The hourly model does not blow out because anyone is dishonest. It blows out because the price is discovered rather than agreed. The engagement starts with an estimate — often a wide range — and the structure of time billing means the final invoice tends to land at the top of that range or beyond it. First, scope discovery: if the valuer finds a second share class, a related-party loan book or an entity nobody mentioned, that additional work is typically billed as it arises, on top of the original estimate. Second, partner review: most engagement structures require a senior signature before a report can go out, and that review time is generally billed at a senior rate. Third, the 'further information required' loop: under time billing, each additional round of follow-up questions can generate further billable time at the valuer's end and, if your accountant is fielding the requests, potentially at yours too. Published Australian data on valuation fees is limited, but the broad market spans roughly $2,000 for a basic desktop estimate up to $80,000 or more for expert-witness and court-grade work, with $5,000–$15,000 more typical of indicative or preliminary valuations than of a full, senior-reviewed report — so a like-for-like full report at a traditional hourly-billing firm can sit well above that band once scope, review and query time are added. On an hourly engagement, the number on the final invoice is often the first time the client sees the total price. We compare the two engagement models line by line at /resources/fixed-fee-vs-hourly-valuation-engagements.

What makes a fixed fee genuinely fixed

A fixed fee is only honest if the scope is fixed first. Each Prismi tier defines the scope before we quote: a defined document request list, a set number of methodologies tested (single, dual or triple by tier), a defined report structure, senior review priced into the fee rather than billed on top, an independence statement, and a working file retained for 10 years. Because the scope is defined up front, the price can be too — and because the fee is settled at engagement and is not contingent on the concluded value, the number in the report is driven by the evidence rather than by the billing model. That is the structural difference between a fixed fee and an hourly estimate: one is a price for a defined piece of work, the other is a forecast of effort that nobody is bound by.

What happens if your matter is more complex than quoted

Some matters genuinely turn out to be more complex than they first appear — an undisclosed second entity, a class structure the shareholder register did not reveal, a retrospective date that emerges once the CGT event is properly identified. When that happens on a Prismi engagement, the work pauses and the re-scope conversation happens with you, before any further work is done. You see the revised fixed fee in writing, and you decide: proceed at the revised fee, narrow the scope to fit the original quote, or stop altogether. That is the structural feature of a fixed-fee engagement: under time billing, added complexity is typically priced as it is discovered, so it is common for a client to learn about it via the invoice rather than beforehand. On a Prismi engagement, the re-scope conversation happens before the work, not after it.

The honest trade-off: what Essential does not cover

A fixed price is only useful if you know what it buys, so here is the limit stated plainly. Essential (from $1,495 + GST) is a single-methodology report. It tests the approach the facts best support, documents the evidence and reasoning, and carries a senior reviewer's signature — but it does not cross-check the conclusion against a second or third methodology. That makes it well suited to straightforward, compliance-driven matters, and poorly suited to anything likely to be contested: family law property settlements, shareholder disputes, matters with realistic ATO-dispute risk, or positions that sit close to a threshold such as the $6m maximum net asset value test. Those matters need the methodology cross-checks that Comprehensive and the Defensible Valuation File carry, and we will say so at enquiry rather than sell you a report that cannot do the job. Fixed fee should mean a scope you chose deliberately — not a scope you discovered too late was too thin.

Which tier we recommend, and when to step up

A straightforward single-entity CGT event with clean financials and no dispute risk sits comfortably at Essential. Restructures under Subdivisions 122-A and 328-G, related-party transfers and Division 7A matters generally warrant Comprehensive, because related-party positions attract closer review and benefit from a dual-methodology cross-check. Small business CGT concession claims, values near an eligibility threshold and higher-value matters warrant the Defensible Valuation File. Contested positions and scenario-sensitive matters belong at the Valuation Range & Scenario Review. If you are unsure, tell us the facts and we will tell you the tier — and we will recommend down as readily as up, because nothing in a fixed-fee model rewards over-scoping. That is another structural difference from time billing, where a bigger scope is always a bigger invoice. This is general information, not tax advice — whether a particular restructure or transaction falls within these provisions is a question for your tax adviser; we prepare valuations only and are not a registered tax agent.

Who fixed-fee suits — and the rare matters that need bespoke scoping

Fixed-fee pricing works because most tax-purpose valuations are structurally similar: a defined entity, a defined date, a defined purpose, a known document set. Compliance-driven CGT events, restructures and rollovers, related-party transfers, Division 7A matters and retrospective engagements all fit this shape, which is why we can publish the price before we have met you. A small number of matters genuinely cannot be scoped from a menu — expert witness work running to a court timetable, multi-jurisdiction groups, or disputes where the document set itself is contested. For those we prepare a bespoke scope, and we say so at enquiry, with the same discipline: a written fixed fee for each defined stage, agreed before that stage begins. If you are comparing providers, the fee-structure questions that reveal how an engagement will really be billed are at /resources/questions-to-ask-about-valuation-fees.