Independent Business Valuation UK | Why Not Use Your Accountant? | Consult EFC
Home › Independent Business Valuation UK
Authority · Valuation Standards

“Can’t My Accountant
Just Do This?”
Independent vs Accountant Valuation

It’s the most common question we hear — and it’s a fair one. Your accountant knows your business inside out. So why would you need anyone else to value it? The answer comes down to one word: independence. And what that independence is actually worth when a buyer, a lender, or HMRC is sitting on the other side of the table.

Written by Kishen Patel, BFP ACA ICAEW Chartered Accountant Updated April 2026

“Your accountant knows your business. That’s precisely the problem.”

Get an Independent Valuation See the Comparison

Contents

01 What an accountant’s valuation actually is 02 What independence actually means 03 Side-by-side comparison 04 When independence is non-negotiable 05 When your accountant can help 06 What ICAEW independence means in practice 07 Frequently asked questions

What an Accountant’s Valuation Actually Is

Your accountant is a trusted professional who has prepared your accounts, advised on your tax position, and probably knows your business almost as well as you do. That relationship is genuinely valuable — but it creates a specific problem the moment a valuation is required for a high-stakes purpose.

When your accountant prepares a valuation of your business, they are doing so as your adviser. Their professional duty is to you. Their knowledge of your business is inevitably shaped by years of conversations, context, and — in most cases — a natural inclination to see the business favourably. None of this is dishonest. It is simply the natural consequence of an ongoing advisory relationship.

The result is a valuation that may be technically competent but cannot, by definition, be described as independent. And independence is not a nice-to-have. In many situations, it is the entire point.

The conflict of interest is structural, not personal

It is important to be clear: this is not a criticism of accountants, and it is not a suggestion that your accountant would behave improperly. The issue is structural. An adviser who has a continuing relationship with a client — who invoices that client regularly and whose relationship depends on that client’s goodwill — is not in a position to produce a valuation that is, and can be seen to be, independent of that relationship.

A buyer’s solicitor will know this. HMRC will know this. A judge will know this. The value of the number depends on who produced it, under what conditions, and with what accountability for the outcome.

What Independence Actually Means

An independent valuation is one produced by a qualified professional who has no financial or advisory relationship with either party in a transaction — and who is prepared to stand behind their conclusion if it is challenged.

This has three practical components:

1
No conflicting relationship
The valuer is not your existing accountant, your solicitor, or anyone else with a continuing financial interest in your affairs or the outcome of the valuation.
2
Documented methodology
The valuation is not a figure on a letter — it is a documented conclusion that sets out the methodology, the comparable data used, the adjustments made, and the assumptions applied. Every step can be interrogated.
3
Professional accountability
The valuer is regulated by a recognised professional body — in our case, the ICAEW — and is accountable for the quality and integrity of their work. They can be challenged, and they accept that accountability.

Side-by-Side: Your Accountant vs an Independent Valuer

This table sets out the key differences in a format that matters when you’re deciding which approach to take:

Your Accountant Independent Valuer
Relationship to you ✖ Existing adviser — ongoing fee relationship ✔ No prior relationship — engaged for this purpose only
Perceived by buyers as ✖ Your adviser — not a neutral party ✔ An objective third party — credible to challenge
Accepted by HMRC ✖ Rarely — subject to challenge without independence ✔ Yes — when properly documented and from a qualified body
Usable in legal proceedings ✖ Generally not — conflicts of interest undermine weight ✔ Yes — can be used as expert evidence
Market comparable data ✖ Limited — based on general knowledge, not live deal data ✔ Current — drawn from live transaction databases and sector benchmarks
Normalisation objectivity ✖ May favour client — adjustments made by someone who knows you ✔ Neutral — adjustments tested against what a buyer would accept
Buyer negotiation strength ✖ Weak — buyer’s advisers will immediately discount it ✔ Strong — provides a defensible anchor for price negotiations
Professional accountability ✖ Accountable to you as client — not to the valuation’s recipients ✔ Accountable to ICAEW standards — the conclusion must be defensible
EMI share scheme compliance ✖ Not automatically accepted — HMRC requires proper independence ✔ HMRC-grade — agreed valuations that protect employees from tax risk

When Independence Is Non-Negotiable

There are specific situations where the independence question stops being a preference and becomes a requirement. In these scenarios, a valuation from your existing accountant will either be challenged, ignored, or rejected outright.

Selling your business

Any sophisticated buyer — or their corporate finance adviser — will dismiss a valuation produced by your own accountant. It carries no weight as an anchor for price. An independent valuation gives you a credible, documented figure to open negotiations with and defend under scrutiny.

HMRC disputes and tax events

HMRC is specifically trained to identify and challenge valuations that lack independence. For inheritance tax, CGT events, and PAYE/NIC disputes over share awards, a valuation that cannot demonstrate proper independence will be rejected, triggering a full HMRC valuation — which almost always produces a higher figure.

Shareholder disputes

When shareholders disagree on value — in a buyout, a divorce, or a dispute — the valuation must be seen as independent of all parties. A valuation from one shareholder’s accountant will be immediately attacked by the other side, and rightly so. Courts require expert evidence that can withstand cross-examination.

EMI share scheme approvals

EMI options require an agreed valuation with HMRC before options are granted. If the valuation is later found to be inaccurate — because it lacked independence or rigour — employees may face unexpected income tax and NIC charges on their options. The cost of getting this wrong falls on the people you were trying to reward.

Fundraising and lending

Institutional investors and lenders conducting due diligence want to see a valuation they can rely on — not one that was produced by your own team. An independent valuation accelerates the process and reduces the risk of a last-minute renegotiation when the investor’s own advisers produce a different number.

Ready for an independent valuation?

Our ICAEW-qualified team delivers fully independent, documented valuations that buyers, lenders, and HMRC accept. Fixed fee. 7–10 working day turnaround.

When Your Accountant Can Genuinely Help

To be fair to the question — there are circumstances where your accountant’s input is not just acceptable but genuinely valuable. It is important to distinguish these from the high-stakes situations above.

Your accountant is well-placed to help with…

Preparing your accounts and normalisation schedules for the valuer
Structuring your personal tax position before a sale
Providing you with a rough internal sense-check of value
Working alongside the independent valuer to provide information
Reviewing the transaction documents after the valuation is agreed
Advising on pension contributions and pre-sale distributions

Your accountant should not be the valuer when…

The valuation will be seen by a buyer, lender, or investor
HMRC may scrutinise or challenge the figure
The valuation will be used in any legal or dispute context
An EMI share scheme is being implemented
You need to negotiate a defensible number with a counterparty
Multiple shareholders with competing interests are involved

What ICAEW Independence Means in Practice

The ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) is the UK’s pre-eminent professional body for accountancy. ICAEW members are bound by ethical standards that include specific requirements around independence, objectivity, and the management of conflicts of interest.

When a valuation is produced by an ICAEW member acting as an independent valuer — rather than as an ongoing accountant — several things follow:

  • The valuer must disclose and manage any potential conflicts before accepting the engagement
  • The valuation must be prepared to the standard that could withstand professional scrutiny, including HMRC challenge
  • The conclusions must be supported by documented methodology, not simply asserted
  • The valuer accepts professional accountability for the quality and integrity of their work
  • HMRC recognises ICAEW-qualified valuers as competent to provide specialist valuations for tax purposes

At Consult EFC, we act exclusively as independent valuers — not as your ongoing accountant. We have no prior relationship with your business, no commercial interest in a particular outcome, and no continuing engagement that could compromise our objectivity. Every valuation we produce is prepared to a standard we would be comfortable defending at HMRC or in Court.

ICAEW Chartered Accountant
Kishen Patel, BFP ACA — ICAEW Chartered Accountant

All Consult EFC valuations are delivered personally by Kishen Patel — an ICAEW Chartered Accountant with specialist experience in UK SME transactions. Every valuation is independent by design: we do not act as your ongoing accountant, and we never will.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes — and that’s precisely the challenge. Knowing your business well is an advantage in many contexts, but it introduces bias in the context of valuation. Your accountant may unconsciously apply more generous normalisation adjustments, apply a higher multiple than the market supports, or simply produce a number they know you’ll be pleased with. None of this may be intentional — but it is the natural consequence of a long advisory relationship. An independent valuer comes to the business fresh, with no prior assumptions and no relationship to protect.

Yes — and more often than most business owners expect. HMRC has experienced valuers who specifically review valuations submitted in the context of tax events, EMI approvals, and inheritance tax filings. Where they identify that the valuer is the taxpayer’s own accountant, they will often challenge both the independence of the process and the specific assumptions applied. This frequently results in a protracted correspondence, a revised valuation, and additional tax. An independent, properly documented valuation from a qualified body is substantially less likely to attract challenge — and far easier to defend if it does.

It can cost more than a letter from your accountant, yes. However, the relevant comparison is not cost versus cost — it is risk versus risk. A valuation that is challenged by HMRC, dismissed by a buyer, or successfully attacked in a shareholder dispute can cost an order of magnitude more than the fee for a proper independent valuation. Our valuations are fixed-fee and we are transparent about pricing from the outset. For most UK SMEs, the cost is a small fraction of the value at stake.

Absolutely — and this is often the ideal approach. Your accountant is well placed to help prepare the financial information we need: normalised accounts, management accounts, and background on the business. We then produce the independent valuation from that base, without that prior relationship affecting our conclusions. The roles are complementary, not in competition. Many of our clients’ accountants refer them to us specifically because they recognise that independence is what the situation requires.

Our standard turnaround is 7–10 working days from receipt of the financial information we need. For HMRC EMI valuations, we manage the submission process and the typical HMRC turnaround after submission is 2–3 months. We will always give you a realistic timeline at the outset and flag if anything is likely to affect it. We do not provide indicative figures before completing our analysis — the value of an independent valuation is its integrity, and that cannot be rushed.

Get a Valuation Buyers and HMRC Will Accept

Fixed fee. Partner-led. ICAEW qualified. Delivered in 7–10 working days. No prior relationship. No conflicts. No compromises.

Related Guides