Selling Your Business?
Know What It’s Worth First.
Most UK business owners spend years building a business and weeks negotiating its sale. The number they accept is rarely a reflection of what the business is genuinely worth — it is a reflection of how well the buyer negotiated and how little the seller knew going in.
An independent, ICAEW-grade valuation before you sell changes that. You will know what your business is worth, what is driving the number, and what you will and will not accept — before any buyer sees your numbers.
Free Consultation
Kishen Patel ACA
What Is Your Business Worth?
No obligation. Response within one business day.
ICAEW
Chartered Accountant
3–8x
Typical UK SME EBITDA Multiple
£1,500
Starting Fee — Fixed & Agreed Upfront
Why Every Business Owner Needs a Valuation Before Selling
When you sell a business, you are making the most significant financial transaction of your life. The outcome — the actual proceeds in your bank account — depends on two things: the quality of the business and the quality of your negotiating position. The first is what it is. The second is entirely within your control.
A professionally prepared, signed valuation from an ICAEW Chartered Accountant gives you that negotiating position. It is a document you can put in front of a buyer’s advisers, a corporate finance firm, or a private equity team and say: this is what the business is worth, and this is why. Without it, you are relying on goodwill, instinct, or a broker’s informal estimate — none of which will hold up when a buyer’s due diligence team starts asking hard questions.
The Five Mistakes Sellers Make Without an Independent Valuation
01. Accepting the buyer’s first number
The first offer from a buyer is almost always a test. Without a documented valuation to anchor the discussion, many sellers accept it or negotiate weakly. A signed report changes the conversation.
02. Relying on a broker’s guide price
A broker’s guide price is a marketing figure. It is not a professional valuation, it is not signed, and it will not survive scrutiny from the buyer’s advisers during due diligence.
03. Not understanding normalised EBITDA
A buyer’s team will adjust your reported profit to remove one-off items, above-market owner salary, and non-recurring revenue. If you have not done this yourself, their adjustments will define the earnings baseline — and therefore the price.
04. Confusing enterprise value with equity value
The headline deal price is an enterprise value. What you actually receive — the equity value — depends on net debt, working capital adjustments, and the completion accounts process. Sellers who do not understand this are routinely surprised by the final proceeds figure.
05. Entering the process too late to improve the multiple
The factors that drive the multiple — recurring revenue, management depth, customer diversity — take time to build. A valuation commissioned 18–36 months before exit gives you time to act on the findings.
What an Independent Valuation for Sale Includes
Normalised EBITDA analysis
We reconstruct your EBITDA from three years of audited accounts and management information, making all appropriate adjustments for owner remuneration, one-off costs, and non-recurring items. The result is a clean, defensible earnings figure that represents the true, recurring profit of the business.
Sector multiple benchmarking
We apply current transaction multiples from your sector — drawn from UK and European M&A deal data — to identify the realistic range at which your business would sell. We explain precisely what is driving your position within that range and what would be required to improve it.
Enterprise value and equity bridge
We calculate both the enterprise value and the equity value, modelling the impact of your balance sheet on actual proceeds. This prevents the common situation where a seller agrees a headline price and is then surprised by the proceeds after completion accounts adjustments.
Risk assessment and value driver analysis
We document the factors in your business that a buyer’s due diligence team will focus on — customer concentration, owner dependency, margin quality, recurring revenue, and management capability. Understanding these before a buyer does allows you to address the most significant ones before they become negotiating points against you.
Signed professional report
Every valuation is personally prepared and signed by Kishen Patel ACA, an ICAEW Chartered Accountant. The report is produced to the standard expected by buyers, their advisers, and private equity firms. You can verify the ICAEW membership directly on the ICAEW member directory.
Who This Service Is For
- Owner-managed businesses considering a sale in the next 6 to 36 months
- Founders who have received an unsolicited approach and want to know if it is fair
- Business owners in a structured sale process who need an independent valuation for negotiation
- Partners or shareholders who disagree on the value of the business and need an objective opinion
- SME owners who want to understand what their business is worth before appointing a broker or M&A adviser
Fixed Fee. No Surprises.
Every valuation is priced on a fixed-fee basis, agreed in writing before any work begins. Fees start from £1,500 plus VAT for straightforward businesses and are agreed based on the size and complexity of the assignment. There are no hourly rates, no scope creep charges, and no bill at the end that was not agreed upfront.
Independent. Qualified. Accountable.
Why ICAEW qualifications matter when selling your business
The letters ACA after a valuers’s name are not a badge — they are a standard. ICAEW Chartered Accountants are bound by professional ethics, continuing education requirements, and regulatory oversight. When an ICAEW member signs a valuation report, they are putting their professional registration on the line.
Regulated by ICAEW
Our valuations are prepared by an ICAEW-regulated Chartered Accountant. This means professional indemnity, ethical standards, and accountability — not just a number on a page.
Big Four-trained methodology
Our approach to normalised EBITDA, multiple selection, and risk analysis reflects the methodology used in institutional M&A — applied at an SME fee level.
Personally signed
Every report is personally prepared and signed by Kishen Patel ACA. Not a template. Not delegated. Your report is done by the same adviser you spoke to at the start.
Defensible under scrutiny
Our valuations are prepared to withstand challenge from a buyer’s corporate finance team, HMRC, or a court. The methodology is documented, the assumptions are explained, and the conclusion is supported.
Common Questions
Selling Your Business FAQs
Before You Sell
Know your number.
Negotiate from strength.
No obligation. Fixed fees from £1,500. ICAEW Chartered Accountant. Response within one business day.