What drives a business valuation fee, and why no firm publishes a price

Why there is no published fee scale

No UK statute or professional body sets a fee scale for business valuation, and no reputable firm publishes one, because the same company can be valued in a morning or over six weeks depending on what the report must do. A figure to inform your own thinking carries almost no liability. A figure HMRC will agree, or one a judge will prefer over the other side's expert, carries a great deal. Firms price the liability as much as the arithmetic.

The variables that actually move it

Purpose and audience

The single largest driver. See the table on the home page for what each purpose requires. An expert report for court is a different product from a formal report for a sale, which is different again from an indicative figure.

The quality of the financial information

Clean, timely statutory accounts with a clear trading history are cheap to work with. Missing management accounts, mixed personal and business expenditure, related-party transactions and inconsistent revenue recognition all add hours before any valuing starts.

Structure

A single trading company is simpler than a group with intercompany balances, a holding company and dormant subsidiaries. Partnerships and LLPs bring their own questions about capital accounts and profit shares.

What the company owns

Property inside a business is normally valued separately by a surveyor. RICS maintains valuation standards for that work, known as the Red Book, alongside its Valuer Registration scheme; the current edition of RICS Valuation - Global Standards became effective on 31 January 2025 (RICS valuation standards). Expect two fees where there is real estate, not one.

Whether the value will be challenged

A number nobody disputes is cheaper than a number two sides are paid to attack. Disputes add disclosure requests, meetings of experts, supplementary reports and, sometimes, a day in court.

The owner's role

Where the business depends on one person, the valuer has to reason about what a buyer is actually acquiring. That is analysis, and analysis is time.

Why we publish no multiples here

You will find sector multiples quoted freely online. We do not publish them, for a specific reason: a multiple is a summary of transactions that happened to other companies, with different customers, contracts, margins and dependencies, usually with the price allocation and earn-out terms stripped out. Applied to your company it produces a number that feels authoritative and that no buyer, inspector or judge is obliged to accept. HMRC's own manual describes valuing unquoted shares as "a highly technical matter which requires specialist knowledge" and warns its own staff not to negotiate values without the specialist team (CG59540, updated 13 August 2026). If HMRC will not shortcut it, a web page should not either.

How to get two comparable quotes

1. State the purpose first, not the company. "Valuation of a 12 per cent minority holding for a shareholder dispute" gets a usable quote; "how much to value my company" does not.
2. Say what the output must be: an indicative figure, a formal report, or an expert report under Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules.
3. Say what financial information exists and how current it is, including whether management accounts are available.
4. Ask whether the fee is fixed or time-based, and what triggers additional time.
5. Ask specifically what is excluded: property valuation, meetings, supplementary reports, correspondence with HMRC, court attendance.

Business valuation is not a reserved activity in the UK, so anyone may offer it. That makes credentials and relevant experience more important, not less. ICAEW, the chartered accountancy body, runs a Valuation Community for members working in this field (icaew.com), and for the property element RICS operates its Valuer Registration scheme.