Selling a Melbourne business? Know what it is worth before you list it. From $1,495 + GST.

Most small and medium businesses sell on a multiple of maintainable earnings, so the earnings figure carries most of the price. We restate what the owner draws to the market cost of the role, put rent paid to a related landlord on market terms, take out genuine one-off income and costs, and add back private expenses only where the paperwork proves them. A buyer's due diligence team will rebuild the same schedule line by line. Every add-back it cannot prove becomes a reason to cut the price late in the deal. Our schedule shows each adjustment with its evidence, and flags the doubtful ones rather than burying them.

Market value is the price a willing but not anxious buyer and seller, both fully informed, would agree. It is the figure the $6 million test uses and the yardstick for judging offers. A particular buyer may pay more because of what the business is worth to them: a rival removing competition, or a group buying your contracts, staff or licences. That premium is real but belongs to that buyer only, so it cannot anchor a campaign. Your asking price is a negotiating position. It usually sits near the top of the supportable range, with room to give ground without leaving what the evidence supports. The report gives the range and the most supportable point inside it.

For many owners the small business CGT concessions in Division 152 are worth more than anything won across the table. One way in is the maximum net asset value test: the net value of the CGT assets of you, entities connected with you, your affiliates and entities connected with them must be no more than $6 million just before the CGT event (section 152-15). Net value means market value less related liabilities and certain provisions, and the $6 million is not indexed. The other way in is the small business entity test, aggregated turnover under $2 million. From the income year that includes 1 July 2027, the 50% active asset reduction uses a $10 million turnover test instead (section 152-205); the other concessions keep $2 million. Because the values are tested just before the contract is made, a group near the limit may have options while the sale is still being shaped, and few once it is signed. The report sets out the net asset figures next to the range. We are not a registered tax agent: your accountant confirms eligibility and applies the concessions.

The same headline price can leave you with quite different amounts depending on the structure. In an asset sale the entity sells the business, and the price is split across goodwill, plant, stock and other intangibles; buyers and sellers often argue that split as hard as the price. If a company owns the business, the money lands in the company and another step is needed to get it to you. In a share sale you sell your shares directly, the buyer takes on the company's history, and its due diligence goes deeper. The concession tests also apply differently, including whether what you sell is an active asset (section 152-40). We value the business the same way under both structures so you and your accountant compare like with like. Which structure to choose is tax and legal advice for your accountant and lawyer.

Buyers of Melbourne businesses range from owner-operators buying a job, to a nearby competitor, to an interstate group adding a site. Each reads the numbers differently, so the report shows how the value is built rather than just the answer. The lease often matters as much as the earnings. A cafe in a strip shopping centre in Carlton or a clinic on a Glen Waverley main road is only worth what a buyer can keep trading from, so the remaining term, the options and the rent against the market all feed the value. Retail tenancy disputes in Victoria are heard by VCAT, and most claims other than rent recovery or an injunction need a certificate showing mediation was tried first. If the business owns its premises and both are sold together for more than $1 million, the State Revenue Office will generally want a valuation of the land by an API certified practising valuer or an REIV sworn valuer, and goods sold with the land can be dutiable. We value the business; a property valuer values the land; your lawyer or the SRO confirms the duty.