--- title: "Buying a Business Valuation Melbourne | Fixed Fee" url: https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/services/buying-a-business-valuation/ description: "Buying a business in Melbourne? We test the asking price and the add-backs before you sign. Independent, signed report from $1,495 + GST." updated: 2026-11-10 --- # Buying a business in Melbourne? Test the asking price first. From $1,495 + GST. Business Valuations Melbourne tests asking prices for buyers from $1,495 + GST, with a small-business report in 2 business days. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. Get a fixed fee Annual turnover $1,495 + GST Signed report in 2 business days. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. Fee From $1,495 + GST Signed by The valuer responsible Independent Checks the vendor's numbers Our valuers have valued businesses since 2014 Get a fixed feeCall 03 8375 4177 - The fee is fixed before we start, and it is never tied to the answer. - No referral fees from brokers or advisers. - The working file behind your report is retained for ten years. ## What you get ### What a valuation before you buy checks A valuation before you buy a business answers two questions: is the asking price supported by the evidence, and how should the price be split across what you are buying. Business Valuations Melbourne rebuilds the earnings from the vendor's own records, tests the multiple against market evidence, and values the parts of the business so your accountant and lawyer can settle the contract schedule. We act for nobody in the sale, and the fee is fixed before we start. [See a sample report (52 pages, PDF)](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/business-valuations-melbourne-sample-valuation-report.pdf) ### Illustrative Executive summary Concluded value $1.60m $1.52m $1.71m Supportable range The report shows where the asking price falls. In this example - Concluded value: $1.60m, the most supportable point. - Supportable range: $1.52m to $1.71m. Illustrative only. The figures are constructed for this example and are not a client's. ### Illustrative Normalisation and maintainable earnings | Reported EBITDA, FY2026 | | 840,000 | | Add back: owner salary as paid | | 95,000 | | Less: market cost of owner role | | (180,000) | | Add back: one-off legal costs | | 22,000 | | Less: related-party rent to market | | (31,000) | | Normalised EBITDA | | 746,000 | Rebuilt from the records, not the vendor's adjusted figure. In this example - Owner pay: replaced with the cost of employing someone. - One-offs checked against earlier years; rent against market. - Normalised EBITDA: 746,000, from 840,000 reported. Illustrative only. The figures are constructed for this example and are not a client's. ### Purchase price allocation | Line | How it is valued | | Plant, vehicles and stock | Market value | | Restraint of trade | A commercially realistic amount | | Goodwill | The residual | Market value evidence for each line. What the evidence covers - Identifiable assets: valued first. - Goodwill: the residual. We provide the market value evidence; your accountant and lawyer apply it. ### Earn-out scenarios | Targets | A deal that looks fair on the headline | | Easy to hit | Can be dear | | Hard to hit | Can be cheap | The effective price and multiple in each outcome. What the report models - Easy targets: a fair-looking deal can be dear. - Hard targets: it can be cheap. ## Why independent The asking price is where the vendor starts. An independent valuation is the check on an anxious buyer. Every report is independently reviewed by a suitably qualified business valuer. | | The vendor's figure | Our valuation | | Add-backs | The vendor's claims | Checked against the records | | Ledger behind each add-back? | Ask to see it | Traced line by line | | Evidence for the multiple? | Ask to see it | Compared with market evidence | ### The asking price is where the vendor starts Read the detail The price in the information memorandum is the vendor's opening move, often set from a broker appraisal written to win the listing. Before you sign, you need to know whether that price holds up, and how the contract should spread it across the assets. Most buyers only ask the first question. The second matters too, because the split written into the contract sets your depreciation on plant, the cost base of the goodwill you will one day sell, and, where land is part of the deal, what the State Revenue Office looks at. Market value assumes a buyer who is willing but not anxious. A buyer who has already fallen for a business is anxious by definition, and an independent valuation is the check on that. ## How it works Three steps to your signed report. - ### Send the form We reply within one business day. You do not need any documents to start. - ### A short call We confirm the package, the fixed fee and the delivery date. - ### Your signed report 2 business days for a small business. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. ## What it costs A fixed fee by turnover. Fixed fees by annual turnover | Annual turnover | Fee | | Under $2 million | $1,495 + GST | | $2 million to $3 million | $2,495 + GST | | $3 million to $10 million | $3,495 + GST | | Over $10 million | Quoted in writing | Get a fixed fee → Business Valuations Melbourne's fees are set by the annual turnover of the business: $1,495 + GST under $2 million, $2,495 + GST from $2 million to $3 million, $3,495 + GST from $3 million to $10 million, and a written quote above $10 million. A small-business report arrives in 2 business days and a medium or large report in 3 business days; above $10 million we agree the delivery date before work begins. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. Defined add-ons | +$495 | Retrospective valuation date per historical date | | +$795 | Each additional entity per entity | Read the detail Each extra entity is +$795 and each past valuation date is +$495, both agreed at engagement. Everyone pays the same published fee, and it never moves with the value we reach. A signed business valuation report from Business Valuations Melbourne is $1,495 + GST for a business with annual turnover under $2 million, delivered in 2 business days; $2,495 + GST for turnover between $2 million and $3 million, delivered in 3 business days; $3,495 + GST for turnover between $3 million and $10 million, delivered in 3 business days; and above $10 million the fee is quoted in writing before work starts, with the delivery date agreed before commencement. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. ## Before you sign Ask for the add-back schedule and the ledger behind it. ### What to ask the vendor for Read the detail - Financial statements and tax returns for the last three to five years - Management accounts for the year to date - The information memorandum and the vendor's add-back schedule - The general ledger behind each add-back - Payroll records, including owner and family wages - The asset register and depreciation schedule - The premises lease, any options, and the key customer and supplier contracts - Revenue by customer, to show concentration - The draft contract, including any proposed price split and earn-out terms ## The detail behind the numbers Earnings ### Add-backs, and the earnings that are left Add-backs kept only where the records support them. Read the detail Nearly every information memorandum shows an "adjusted EBITDA" built on add-backs: the owner's wage, family members on the payroll, one-off legal bills, cars, rent paid to a related landlord. Some are fair. Many are not, and at any multiple the difference is real money. We rebuild maintainable earnings from the financial statements, tax returns, payroll and the general ledger behind each add-back, rather than taking the adjusted figure on trust. The owner's pay is replaced with what it would cost to employ someone to do the job. Claimed one-offs are checked against earlier years. Related-party rent is compared with market rent. Revenue is checked for reliance on a few customers, contracts about to expire and an owner the customers follow. The result is usually lower than the memorandum, sometimes higher, and always traceable line by line. Asking price ### Is the asking price right? Above the range: grounds to negotiate. Read the detail Once the earnings are rebuilt, the price can be tested. We compare the multiple it implies with industry evidence and comparable sales, adjusted for this business's size, growth, customer spread and how easily it moves to a new owner. The report gives a supportable range and a concluded value, and shows where the asking price falls against them. If the price sits above the range, you have evidence-backed grounds to negotiate. If it sits inside, you go ahead knowing that, which helps when a lender asks the same question. Price split ### How the contract splits the price A split chosen to suit one side gets questioned. Read the detail In an asset purchase the contract splits the price across plant and equipment, stock, intangibles, any restraint of trade and goodwill. That schedule shapes your tax from settlement day: the cost of each depreciating asset under Division 40, and the cost base of the goodwill when you sell. Vendors and buyers often want different splits. A vendor relying on the small business CGT concessions may lean towards goodwill; a buyer usually wants supportable value on plant. A split chosen to suit one side is the kind the ATO and the State Revenue Office question. We provide the market value evidence for each line; your accountant and lawyer apply it. - Identifiable assets, such as plant, vehicles and stock, valued first at market value - Goodwill as the residual, consistent with the value of the business as a whole - Any restraint of trade priced at a commercially realistic amount - The contract schedule, the asset register and the valuation checked against each other Earn-outs ### Earn-outs: what the price really is Easy targets can make a fair-looking deal dear. Read the detail A price with an earn-out is a fixed payment plus a right that depends on how the business trades after you take over. We model the earn-out across realistic outcomes so you can see the effective price, and the multiple, in each. A deal that looks fair on the headline can be dear if the targets are easy to hit, and cheap if they are hard. Where the arrangement is a look-through earnout right under Subdivision 118-I, the tax treatment changes for both sides. We value the arrangement and document the scenarios; your tax adviser confirms how the earnout rules apply. Melbourne ### Buying in Melbourne: the lease, the land and the SRO You are buying the right to keep trading there. Read the detail Most small businesses for sale in Melbourne trade from leased premises, whether a strip shop in Yarraville or Brunswick or a unit in a Dandenong South or Laverton North industrial estate. What you are really buying is the right to keep trading there, so the lease term, the options, the rent against market and the landlord's consent to assign all bear on the value. Retail tenancy disputes in Victoria go to VCAT. If the deal includes the freehold, Victoria's position matters. The SRO says the Duties Act does not charge duty separately on the sale of a business, but goods sold with land can be dutiable, and its ruling DA-029 notes that the split in a contract may not reflect what the land is worth. Where land and business together cost more than $1 million, it requires a valuation of the land. A property valuer values the land; we value the business; your lawyer or the SRO confirms the duty. Check too that the costs you are buying reflect the business's Victorian payroll tax and WorkSafe premiums at your expected wage bill. ## What it costs One report covers the price test, the earnings rebuild and the evidence for the contract split. ## Common questions. ### Do I need a valuation before buying a business? No law requires one. But the asking price and its add-backs are the vendor's claims. An independent valuation checks both against the records and the market before you commit, and a lender may ask for the same evidence. ### How does the price split affect my tax? It sets the cost of depreciating assets under Division 40 and the cost base of the goodwill under Division 110, and where land is part of the deal it is part of what the SRO looks at. We provide the market value evidence for each line; your accountant applies it. We do not give tax advice. ### Are vendor add-backs legitimate? Some are. A genuine one-off cost, or an owner paid above the market rate, can properly be added back. Each one needs to be traced to the records and checked against earlier years. We keep the add-backs the evidence supports, drop the rest, and say why. ### Is there stamp duty on buying a business in Victoria? The SRO says the Duties Act does not charge duty separately on the sale of a business. Land, and goods sold with land, are a different matter. Your lawyer or the SRO confirms the duty on your deal; if a valuation is needed, tell us when you enquire. ### How is an earn-out treated? Where it qualifies as a look-through earnout right under Subdivision 118-I, payments are taken into account as they are made rather than valued at the start. Other arrangements are treated differently. We value the earn-out under documented scenarios; your tax adviser confirms which treatment applies. ## Related services [Selling a business · Melbourne Pre-Sale Business Valuation Melbourne](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/services/selling-a-business-valuation/)[Victorian duty · Landholder duty Business Valuation for Stamp Duty and Landholder Duty, Victoria](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/services/business-valuation-for-stamp-duty/)[Shares and units · Melbourne Share and Unit Valuation Melbourne](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/services/share-unit-valuation/) Sources - [Income Tax Assessment Act 1997](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A05138/latest/text), Federal Register of Legislation - [Market valuation for tax purposes (guide)](https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=SGM/market_val), Australian Taxation Office - [Revenue Ruling DA-029: transfers of land and business](https://www.sro.vic.gov.au/about-us/laws-legal-cases-and-rulings/public-rulings/transfers-land-and-business), State Revenue Office Victoria - [Evidentiary requirements: transfer of land and business and/or goods](https://www.sro.vic.gov.au/buying-property/land-transfer-stamp-duty/managing-duty-transactions/evidentiary-requirements-manual/transfer-land-and-business-andor-goods), State Revenue Office Victoria - [Duties Act 2000 (Vic), authorised version (ss 7(3A), 10, 20, 71, 79, 83, 86)](https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/acts/duties-act-2000/141), Victorian Legislation - [Retail and commercial leases](https://www.vcat.vic.gov.au/case-types/retail-and-commercial-leases), Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Talk to a valuer ## Tell us what you need valued. A fifteen-minute call confirms the package, the fixed fee and the delivery date, before you commit to anything. 03 8375 4177 Mon to Fri, 9am to 5:30pm Melbourne time Send the form and we reply within one business day. No documents needed to start. Last reviewed 10 November 2026 by Business Valuations Melbourne, Level 7, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne. Fixed fee from $1,495 + GST, confirmed in writing before we start. Call 03 8375 4177Get a fixed fee --- Business Valuations Melbourne · Level 7, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 · 03 8375 4177 · https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/start/