ICAEW Company Sale Valuations
Know What Your Business Is Worth Before You Sell.
Independent, defensible exit valuations for UK SME owners — whether you're approaching the market, fielding an unsolicited offer, or preparing for an MBO. Partner-led by an ICAEW Chartered Accountant. Fixed fee, no broker incentive to talk up the number.
Brokers earn a percentage of the sale. We don't. That changes the number.
The biggest financial decision of an SME owner's life shouldn't be priced by the person earning commission on the transaction. Three reasons UK owners get an independent valuation first.
Know your floor before any conversation
Once you've spoken to a buyer, you've anchored. An independent valuation tells you the EBITDA multiple your sector actually trades at — and the floor below which you should walk away.
Defensible against buyer due diligence
Buyers use Big Four-trained advisers to grind the price down at DD. An ICAEW-Chartered valuation built on the same methodology gives you a number you can defend line by line — not a broker's headline.
Reveal the value gap before you waste the cycle
Most SMEs that go to market unprepared discover a gap between what they want and what the market will pay — after 6 months of due diligence. A valuation today shows the gap, and exactly which levers (margin, customer concentration, recurring revenue) close it.
Three steps. 5–10 days. Partner-led throughout.
No handoffs to junior analysts. No template output. Every sale valuation is prepared and signed off personally by an ICAEW Chartered Accountant.
Submit your details
Send 3 years of accounts and a short note on the business. We confirm scope and fixed fee within one business day.
Triangulated valuation
We apply three independent methods: comparable-company EBITDA multiples, precedent transaction multiples, and a DCF. Sector benchmarks are sourced from live transaction data, not textbook averages.
Signed exit report
You receive a board-ready valuation report with the price range, the assumptions behind each method, and a short list of value-improvement actions ranked by impact on multiple.
A complete, buyer-ready company sale valuation pack.
- ✓Defensible valuation rangeLow, central and high EV and equity values, with the assumptions and sensitivities behind each — the way a buyer's adviser will read it.
- ✓Three methodologies triangulatedComparable-company multiples, precedent transactions and DCF — sourced from live UK M&A data, not generic textbook ranges.
- ✓Normalised EBITDA bridgeAdd-backs, one-offs and owner remuneration normalised in a transparent bridge — the single most-contested figure in any DD process.
- ✓Value-driver scorecardCustomer concentration, recurring revenue %, gross margin trend, management depth — scored against UK SME benchmarks with a multiple impact per driver.
- ✓Pre-exit improvement planRanked list of value-improvement actions, with the EBITDA-multiple impact of each, so you can decide what's worth doing before going to market.
- ✓Board pack & adviser briefPlain-English board summary, plus a brief your corporate finance adviser or M&A lawyer can work from on day one.
Kishen Patel — ICAEW Chartered Accountant, BFP ACA
Kishen has over 12 years across Big Four audit (Deloitte), investment banking and corporate advisory. He founded Consult EFC to give SME owners the same calibre of financial thinking their buyers' advisers bring — without paying Big Four rates or a broker's commission.
Every sale valuation is prepared and signed personally. No analyst stack. No template report. The same person who quotes you is the person who walks you through the number and how a buyer will pick it apart.
Owners who wanted the real number before going to market.
The work was handled entirely professionally. Kishen kept us informed at every stage and the report was exactly what our advisers needed.
We needed a valuation that would hold up under outside scrutiny. Kishen delivered a report that was called one of the most rigorous our advisers had seen from an SME.
We used an online tool before speaking to Consult EFC. The difference was night and day. The figure was materially higher and fully defensible.
What owners ask before instructing us.
Aren't brokers free? Why pay for a valuation?
Brokers earn a percentage of the sale and so are incentivised to give you a high number to win the mandate — then prepare you for the lower number at DD. An independent ICAEW valuation, paid for as a fixed fee, gives you the real range before you commit to anyone.
How is a sale valuation different from an EMI or probate valuation?
EMI and probate valuations are deliberately conservative — designed to minimise tax. A sale valuation reflects what a strategic or PE buyer would actually pay, including synergy premia and the EBITDA multiples currently trading in your sector. Same firm, fundamentally different methodology.
What multiple will my business trade at?
It depends on sector, recurring revenue, growth rate, customer concentration and management depth. UK SMEs typically transact at 4–8x normalised EBITDA, with software, healthcare and specialist services achieving higher and people-dependent service firms lower. The valuation report shows your specific range with reasoning.
Should I get a valuation before responding to an unsolicited approach?
Yes. The single most expensive mistake in SME M&A is engaging with a buyer before knowing the floor below which the deal isn't worth doing. A 5–10 day valuation pays for itself many times over in the first negotiation.
How long does a company sale valuation take?
We typically deliver a signed report in 5 to 10 business days once we have your accounts. For unsolicited offers we can compress to 5 business days where needed.
How much does a company sale valuation cost?
We quote a fixed fee up-front, from £1,950 + VAT for a single-entity SME of standard complexity. Groups, recent acquisitions or pre-exit planning add-ons are quoted separately. No hourly charges, no success fee.
Know the number before you talk to a buyer.
- Fixed fee, quoted within one business day
- Report in 5–10 business days
- Three valuation methods triangulated — not a broker headline
- Partner-led from quote to signed report — no junior analysts
- Confidential. Used by SME owners across the UK.
Prefer to talk? +44 7767 629 008 · info@consultEFC.com