Business valuations for Melbourne estates and family succession.
For executors, beneficiaries, and the lawyers and accountants handling a deceased estate or a handover to the next generation. A signed value of the business, shares or units at the date that matters. From $1,495 + GST.
The whole price list.
One question decides your fee: what does the business turn over in a year? Find your row, read the price. Up to $10 million nothing else changes it; above that, the fee is quoted in writing before work starts.
Turnover under $2m
Small Business Valuation
Fixed in writing before we start
- Delivery
- 2 business days
Turnover $2m to $3m
Medium Business Valuation
Fixed in writing before we start
- Delivery
- 3 business days
Turnover $3m to $10m
Large Business Valuation
Fixed in writing before we start
- Delivery
- 3 business days
Turnover over $10m
Business Valuation over $10 million
Fixed fee quoted before we start
- Delivery
- Agreed before we begin
Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. We tell you exactly what that information is before you engage.
The only things that change the price
- +$495Retrospective valuation date per historical dateA value as at a past date is a separate piece of work: it is built on the evidence that existed at that date.
- +$795Each additional entity per entityA second entity is a second set of financials to work through and a second conclusion to support.
- −$300Business and property together off the business valuation feeWhen one or more properties are valued to the same date by a property valuer, arranged through us. Applies once per engagement.
There are no disbursements, no printing or sundries charges, and no billing for emails or phone calls. Any add-on is agreed at engagement, never added afterwards.
When a matter needs more than this
The fees above buy a signed report built on the single approach the facts best support. Some matters need more than that: a conclusion cross-checked against a second and third methodology, with a deeper evidence file behind it. That is the report to order when the number carries real ATO review or dispute risk, when a position sits close to a threshold such as the $6m maximum net asset value test, or when you expect the value to be examined rather than simply filed.
A more comprehensive engagement is scoped and quoted separately, above the published fees. The fee is still fixed in writing before any work begins, the same as every engagement on this page. Tell us the purpose at enquiry and we will tell you which one you need before you pay for either.
Talk through a complex matterBusiness valuation fees range from $1,495 + GST to $3,495 + GST. Over $10 million the fee is quoted in writing before work starts.
In short
An estate or succession valuation gives the market value of a private business, or shares or units in one, that forms part of a deceased estate or is passing to the next generation. Business Valuations Melbourne values the interest at the date that matters, usually the date of death for an estate, and signs a report the executor, lawyer and accountant can rely on for distributions, tax and the estate file.
Why an estate needs a business value
When someone dies owning a business, or shares or units in a family company or trust, the executor has to know what that interest is worth. It affects how the estate is divided where beneficiaries share it, whether one beneficiary takes the business and pays out the others, and what the tax records show. For CGT, a gain or loss on death is generally disregarded (section 128-10), but the value can still matter later: for shares or units the person acquired before 20 September 1985, a beneficiary's cost base starts at their market value on the day of death (section 128-15). A supportable value avoids arguments between beneficiaries and gives the accountant a figure to keep on file.
Probate in Victoria and the business interest
In Victoria, an application for a grant of probate or administration is made to the Supreme Court of Victoria, and the application includes an inventory of the deceased's assets and liabilities. Shares in a family company, units in a trading trust or a sole trader's business are assets like any other, but they have no quoted price. The executor's lawyer decides what the inventory needs. Where they, the beneficiaries or the accountant want a figure that will stand up, we value the interest as at the date of death.
Valuing at the date of death
Estate valuations are usually done after the fact: the date is the date of death, which may be months before anyone calls us. We value on the information that was known, or reasonably foreseeable, at that date, and say so in the report. What happened to the business afterwards, good or bad, does not change the value at the date of death. Each past valuation date is +$495, agreed at engagement.
Succession while the owner is alive
Handing a business to a son or daughter, or moving shares to the next generation through a family trust, is often a gift or a transfer between related parties. For CGT, giving an asset away is treated as receiving its market value (section 116-30), so a valuation at the transfer date is usually part of the plan. Gifts of shares and units are covered at Share and Unit Valuation Melbourne, and transfers to a family trust or company at Related-Party Transfer Valuation Melbourne. Your accountant and lawyer design the plan; we provide the value.
What the executor's file receives
- ·The interest valued, the date, and the market value definition used
- ·The value of the business, the step to the shares or units, and the value of the holding
- ·The method, with the reasons for it
- ·The evidence, assumptions and information relied on, including what was known at the date
- ·A supportable range as well as the concluded value
- ·An independence statement and the signature of the valuer responsible
Fees
We work with the estate's lawyer or accountant, or directly with the executor. 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. 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.
Common questions.
Do you work with executors and estate lawyers?+
Yes. We work within the instructions the executor or the estate's lawyer or accountant gives us, and deliver a signed report for the estate file.
Can you value a business at a date of death in the past?+
Yes, on what was known or reasonably foreseeable at that date, without hindsight. Each past valuation date is +$495.
Is CGT payable when the business passes to a beneficiary?+
A capital gain or loss on death is generally disregarded (section 128-10), but the value at death can set a beneficiary's cost base for some assets. Your accountant applies the rules; we provide the value.
Do you value property in the estate?+
No. Real property is valued by a property valuer. We value the business, shares or units, and can match the valuation date.
- ·How to apply for a grant of probate or administration, Supreme Court of Victoria
- ·Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, Federal Register of Legislation
- ·Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 s 116-30: market value substitution rule, ATO legal database
- ·Market valuation for tax purposes (guide), Australian Taxation Office
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 4177Mon to Fri, 9am to 5:30pm Melbourne time
Send the form and we reply within one business day. No documents needed to start.
Small Business Valuation
$1,495 + GST
For a business with annual turnover under $2 million. Signed report in 2 business days. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. The fee is fixed in writing before we start and never tied to the outcome.
Larger business? Tell us in the form and we recommend the right package. All fees
Last reviewed 10 November 2026 by Business Valuations Melbourne, Level 7, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne.