--- title: "Partner Buyout Valuation Melbourne | Fixed Fee" url: https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/services/partnership-buyout-valuation/ description: "Buying out a business partner or shareholder in Melbourne? One independent valuation both sides can use. Signed, from $1,495 + GST." updated: 2026-11-10 --- # Buying out a partner or co-owner in Melbourne? One value both sides can rely on, from $1,495 + GST. Business Valuations Melbourne values partner and shareholder buyouts 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 One report for both sides 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 buyout valuation sets out A buyout valuation sets the market value of the interest that changes hands when one owner buys another out: a partner joining or leaving a practice, or a shareholder or unit holder in a private company or trust selling to a co-owner. Business Valuations Melbourne values the specific interest under the specific agreement, deals with goodwill head on, and gives both sides one supportable figure their accountants can build the tax position around. [See a sample report (52 pages, PDF)](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/business-valuations-melbourne-sample-valuation-report.pdf) ### Agreement price and market value, side by side | Price basis | In the report | | Value under the agreement's formula | Stated | | Market value | Stated | | The gap between them | Stated | Where the two differ, the report gives both. What the report sets out - Agreement basis: the formula the owners signed. - Market value: can replace the price for tax if not at arm's length. - The gap: stated, so the advisers deal with it. ### Practice goodwill and personal goodwill | Goodwill | What it rests on | | Practice goodwill | Systems, premises, recall, recurring work, contracts and licences held by the entity | | Personal goodwill | One person's effort and relationships, licences held personally | | Restraint of trade | Checked against the goodwill being bought | Pay only for goodwill that survives any one person leaving. What the report sets out - Practice goodwill: stays when one person leaves. - Personal goodwill: leaves with the individual. - Restraints: do they protect what is being bought? ### Whether a discount applies | Situation | Starting point | | The agreement rules out discounts | Pro rata share of the whole firm | | A passive stake on the open market | Control and marketability discounts | | The agreement is silent | The facts decide | A 20% interest is not automatically worth 20% of the firm. What the report sets out - Agreement rules discounts out: a pro rata share. - Open market: discounts for control and marketability. - Agreement silent: the facts decide, and the report says why. ### Market values for each position | Position | Market values for | | Leaving partner | Each share of an asset disposed of, goodwill included | | Small business CGT concessions | The $6 million test and the active asset test | | Incoming partner | The cost base, including goodwill and work in progress | Applying the tax law is your accountant's job. What the report sets out - Leaving partner: disposes of a share of each asset. - Division 152: eligibility can depend on market values. - Incoming partner: the payment sets the cost base. We are not a registered tax agent and give no tax or legal advice. ## Why independent One independent figure instead of two partisan ones. Our fee is set before we start and never depends on the result. Every report is independently reviewed by a suitably qualified business valuer. | | Two partisan valuations | One independent valuation | | Engaged by | Each side, for its own figure | The firm, jointly | | The report | A different one for each side | The same report for both | | A target figure? | Ask to see the instructions | Declined | ### One figure for both sides Read the detail The alternative to one independent valuation is two partisan ones: a high figure from the person leaving and a low one from the person staying. That is two fees and a gap still to negotiate. One valuation, engaged jointly, with both sides getting the same report, gives the negotiation a fixed point. Our fee is set before we start and never depends on the result, and the conclusion comes from the method and the evidence, not from whoever signed the engagement letter. If either side asks us to reach a target figure, we decline on those terms. That is what makes the figure usable by both sides, and defensible if the ATO reviews the deal. ## How it works Four 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. - ### Pay and upload Before you engage, we tell you exactly which documents we need. - ### 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. ## When a buyout needs a valuation Joining, retiring, death or incapacity, or a transfer between owners. Read the detail - A new partner or shareholder buying in - A founding partner or shareholder retiring - A death or permanent incapacity that triggers the agreement - A transfer between existing partners, shareholders or unit holders - A deadlock where one owner has to buy the other out A partner's share, or a parcel of shares in a family company, has no open market to price it. So a valuation is needed whenever one changes hands: a new partner buying in, a founder retiring, a death or permanent incapacity that triggers the agreement, or a transfer between existing owners. Rules of thumb, such as a figure per dollar of recurring fees for an accounting firm or a multiple of billings for a clinic, were never built to price a fraction of one firm under one agreement. Both sides need a market value of that interest, at that date, from someone with no interest in which way it lands. ## The detail behind the numbers Agreement price ### When the agreement and market value differ The owners signed the formula. The ATO did not. Read the detail Many partnership deeds, shareholders' agreements and unit holders' agreements set a price formula: a multiple of average profits, book net assets, the capital account, or a "fair value" set by the firm's accountant. Between the owners, that formula generally binds; they signed it. The ATO did not. For tax, the deal is measured against market value, and where the parties do not deal at arm's length, market value can replace the agreed price (section 116-30). A formula price below market can still leave the outgoing owner with a gain worked out at market value. Old formulas make it worse: one written twenty years ago may bear no relation to what the firm is worth now. Where the two differ, our report gives both figures and the gap between them, so the lawyers and accountants deal with it on purpose. Goodwill ### Goodwill: does it stay with the firm or leave with the person? Practice goodwill separated from personal goodwill. Read the detail The hardest question in a practice buy-in is whether the goodwill belongs to the practice or to the people in it. A clinic with good systems, its own premises, patient recall, employed staff and a name patients come back to has goodwill that transfers. A practice that is really one practitioner's personal effort has very little. In accounting and law firms, recurring compliance work behaves differently from advisory relationships that follow one partner. In the trades, contracts, prequalifications and licences held by the entity transfer; those held personally do not. A buyer should pay only for goodwill that survives any one person leaving. We separate practice goodwill from personal goodwill, test the split against the evidence, and check whether the restraint clauses actually protect what is being bought. Discounts ### Discounts on a partner's or shareholder's share Some agreements rule discounts out. Read the detail A 20% interest is not automatically worth 20% of the firm. On an open market, a fraction with no control and no ready buyer would attract discounts for both. But most buy-ins and buyouts are not open-market sales. They happen inside a working firm whose agreement creates the market: continuing owners obliged to buy, a set share of profits, a seat at the table. Some agreements rule out discounts and require a pro rata share of the whole firm's value. Where the agreement is silent, the facts decide. Someone buying full partner rights and a full profit share is not in the shoes of a passive buyer of a minority stake. Our report says whether a discount applies here, how large, and why. Tax ### The tax position your accountant will document Supportable rather than convenient. Read the detail For CGT, each partner is treated as owning a share of each partnership asset (section 106-5), so a retiring partner disposes of those shares, goodwill included. Where the parties are related or not dealing at arm's length, market value can apply, which is why the value has to be supportable rather than convenient. The retiring partner may look to the small business CGT concessions in Division 152, where eligibility can depend on market values through the $6 million test and the active asset test. The incoming partner's payment sets their cost base in what they acquire (section 110-25), including any amount for goodwill and work in progress. Our report gives the accountant the market values for each position. We are not a registered tax agent and give no tax or legal advice. Melbourne ### Melbourne buyouts: the agreement, the Act and the courts Start with the document that governs the interest. Read the detail Much of this work in Melbourne is professional practices, such as medical and dental clinics, accounting firms and engineering consultancies, plus family companies and unit trusts in the trades and manufacturing. Start with the document that governs the interest. For a partnership it is the deed, read with the Partnership Act 1958 (Vic), the Victorian statute your lawyer will look to where the deed is silent. For a company it is the constitution and any shareholders' agreement; for a unit trust, the trust deed and any unit holders' agreement. If a company buyout turns into a dispute, section 1337B of the Corporations Act puts it in the Supreme Court of Victoria or the Federal Court. We value under the agreement's basis when instructed and show market value beside it. ## Documents we need, and the fee Start with the agreement and its valuation, exit and restraint clauses. Read the detail Start with the agreement, including its valuation, exit and restraint clauses. The rest of the list is below, and we confirm it before you engage. - The partnership deed, shareholders' agreement or unit holders' agreement, with the valuation, exit and restraint clauses - Financial statements and distribution history for the last three to five years - Management accounts for the year to date - Each owner's earnings, drawings and capital or loan account balances - Work-in-progress and debtor ledgers (professional practices) - Client, patient or contract concentration figures - Earlier admissions or exits and the prices used - Licences, prequalifications and key contracts, and who holds them ## Common questions. ### How do you value a partner's or shareholder's share? We value the whole firm first, usually on capitalised maintainable earnings for a trading business, with asset-based methods tested where relevant. Then we value the interest itself in light of the agreement, the rights it carries, and whether discounts apply on the facts. The report concludes at the most supportable point in the range. ### Does the partnership agreement override market value? Between the owners, the agreement's price formula generally binds. For tax, the deal is measured against market value, and section 116-30 can substitute market value where the parties do not deal at arm's length. Where the two differ, the report gives both. ### Do I pay CGT when I leave a partnership? Leaving is a disposal of your share of each partnership asset, goodwill included. The small business CGT concessions may reduce or remove the gain, but eligibility depends on tests that use market values. Your accountant applies the law; the valuation supports the values. ### Should I pay for goodwill when buying into a clinic? Only for goodwill that stays with the practice: its systems, name, recall, premises and staff. Not for personal goodwill that leaves with an individual practitioner. A proper buy-in valuation separates the two. ### Can both sides use the same report? Yes, and that is the usual way. The firm engages us jointly, both sides get the same report, and the conclusion comes from the method and the evidence. The fee is fixed before we start and never depends on the result. ## Related services [Shareholder disputes · Melbourne Shareholder Dispute Valuation Melbourne](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/services/shareholder-dispute-valuation/)[Shares and units · Melbourne Share and Unit Valuation Melbourne](https://businessvaluationsmelbourne.com.au/services/share-unit-valuation/) Sources - [Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 s 106-5: partnerships](https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=PAC/19970038/106-5), ATO legal database - [Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 s 110-25: cost base](https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=PAC/19970038/110-25), ATO legal database - [Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 s 116-30: market value substitution rule](https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=PAC/19970038/116-30), ATO legal database - [Small business CGT concessions: eligibility overview](https://www.ato.gov.au/businesses-and-organisations/income-deductions-and-concessions/incentives-and-concessions/small-business-cgt-concessions/small-business-cgt-concessions-eligibility-conditions/cgt-concessions-eligibility-overview), Australian Taxation Office - [Market valuation for tax purposes (guide)](https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=SGM/market_val), Australian Taxation Office - [Partnership Act 1958 (Vic)](https://legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/acts/partnership-act-1958), Victorian Legislation - [Corporations Act 2001 (ss 232, 233, 254B, 1337B)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00818/latest/text), Federal Register of Legislation 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/