--- title: "Business Valuation Questions, Answered for Sydney" url: https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/questions/ description: "Plain answers to what Sydney owners ask about a business valuation: cost, timing, who signs it, what New South Wales adds, and what happens after the report." updated: 2026-11-15 --- # Business valuation questions, answered for Sydney. The questions owners, accountants and lawyers put to us most often, each answered in its first sentence. If yours is not here, ask a valuer. - Cost and timing - The report - Working with us - Courts, estates, tax and duty in New South Wales - What we do not do ## Cost and timing ### What does a business valuation cost in Sydney? A signed report costs $1,495 + GST for under $2 million, $2,495 + GST for $2 million to $3 million, $3,495 + GST for $3 million to $10 million of annual turnover. Above $10 million the fee is quoted in writing first. The fee is fixed before work starts and does not depend on the value. [Fees and add-ons in full](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/fees/) ### What can add to the fee? Two things, both agreed when you engage us: a valuation at a past date ($495 for each date) and a further entity to be valued ($795 each). If a property valuer arranged through us values property at the same date, $300 comes off the business valuation fee. There are no hourly rates. ### How quickly can I have the report? A small business report is signed in 2 business days and a medium or large one in 3 business days. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. Above $10 million of turnover the delivery date is agreed with you before work starts. ### Is there a charge to ask for a fee? No. Asking for your fee and the first call with a valuer are free, and neither commits you to anything. ## The report ### What do I actually receive? A signed written report that gives one concluded value and the range around it, explains the method and the evidence, and lists every assumption and limitation. It is written so that someone other than you can follow it. [How we work](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/about/) ### Who signs it? The valuer responsible for your job signs it, after a second suitably qualified business valuer has reviewed it. Your engagement letter names the signing valuer before any work starts. ### What is the valuation date? It is the single day the value is struck at, and it is set by the purpose: the day of a sale, a death, a transfer or a tax event, or simply today. A value at one date says nothing certain about another, which is why a past date is priced as its own piece of work. ### Can one report be used for two purposes? Sometimes, but not by default. A report is written for the purpose named in it, and the purpose can change the date, the basis of value and what is being valued. Tell us every use you have in mind when you ask for your fee, so the report can be scoped to cover them. ## Working with us ### What do you need from me? Nothing to get your fee. To do the valuation we usually ask for three years of financial statements and tax returns, current management accounts, the main contracts and leases, and the ownership documents. You upload them through our secure client portal. ### Do I have to come to your office? No. Most valuations are done from your records and a call. If you would like to meet, we do so by appointment at our York Street office in the Sydney CBD. ### Can my accountant or lawyer instruct you? Yes. They can brief us on your behalf, receive the report and put questions to the valuer. We give no tax, duty or legal advice, so their advice and our valuation sit side by side. ### Do you value businesses outside Sydney? Yes, anywhere in New South Wales, at the same fee and in the same time. The work is done from financial records and a conversation with the people who run the business. [Sydney areas we cover](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/areas/) ## Courts, estates, tax and duty in New South Wales ### Which court hears a shareholder dispute in Sydney? Usually the Supreme Court of NSW or the Federal Court, both of which sit in the Law Courts Building at Queens Square. A claim that a company is being run oppressively is brought under Part 2F.1 of the Corporations Act 2001, and the orders a court can make include an order that one shareholder buy out another. The Act does not say how the shares are to be valued, which is where valuation evidence comes in. [Shareholder dispute valuations](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/services/shareholder-dispute-valuation/) ### Is a valuation needed for probate in NSW? The estate has to be given a value. A grant of probate is made by the Supreme Court of NSW, an inventory of the property of the person who died is attached to the grant, and the filing fee depends on the sworn gross value of the estate. Whether a formal valuation is needed is a question for the estate’s lawyer. Where the estate includes a business or shares in a private company, an independent valuation gives the executor a figure with the reasons behind it. [Estate and probate valuations](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/services/estate-and-probate-valuation/) ### Does the ATO decide who can value a business for tax? The ATO’s guide on market valuation says that, for tax purposes, whether a valuation is acceptable usually depends on the valuation process and not on who carried it out, and that Australia has no formal admissions board for business valuers. The guide sets out what it expects a valuation report to cover, including the purpose, the valuation date, the information relied on, the methods chosen and a declaration of independence. [Tax and CGT valuations](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/services/cgt-and-tax-valuation/) ### When does tax law use market value in place of the price actually paid? For capital gains tax, market value can take the place of the actual amount where nothing was paid, or where the amount was more or less than market value and the two sides did not deal with each other at arm’s length (section 116-30 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997). A transfer within a family, or between an owner and their own company, is the usual example. Whether the rule applies in your case is a question for your accountant. [Restructures and related-party transfers](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/services/restructure-and-related-party-valuation/) ### Is duty payable when a business is sold in NSW? It depends on what is in the sale. Revenue NSW says duty is not payable on goodwill, intellectual property, statutory licences or debtors. It is payable where the sale includes land or an interest in land, and a lease is one of its examples. Goods such as equipment become dutiable when they are sold in the same agreement. Where one price covers both kinds of asset, Revenue NSW asks that the split reflect what each is worth, and it can ask for evidence of value. [Valuations for NSW duty](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/services/nsw-duty-valuation/) ### Is duty payable on a transfer of shares in a private company in NSW? Your lawyer can confirm the position for your transfer. In general terms, duty on transfers of marketable securities was abolished in New South Wales from 1 July 2016. Landholder duty can still apply. Revenue NSW charges it where a company or unit trust holds land in New South Wales worth $2 million or more before any mortgage is counted and a buyer acquires a significant interest. For acquisitions on or after 1 February 2024 it sets that at half or more of a private company, and at one fifth or more of most private unit trusts. The duty is worked out on the land holdings and goods, not on the value of the shares. [Share and unit valuations](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/services/share-and-unit-valuation/) ## What we do not do ### Do you value property? No. We value businesses, shares and units. Land and buildings are valued by a property valuer in New South Wales, and where a job needs both the two valuations can be prepared to the same date. ### Do you prepare valuations for family law? Not from this practice. Valuations for separation and family law proceedings are prepared by our dedicated family law practice, Family Law Valuations (familylawvaluation.com.au). ### Do you give tax or legal advice? No. We are not a registered tax agent or a law firm. We provide the valuation; your accountant or lawyer advises on what it means for your tax, your contract or your case. ### Is your report an expert witness report? No. The fixed-fee report is written for advice, negotiation and settlement. Evidence for a court or tribunal is a separate engagement, scoped and priced in writing before it starts. ## Where the rules on this page come from This page describes the rules in general terms. It is not legal, tax or duty advice: your lawyer or accountant advises on how a rule applies to you. - [Corporations Act 2001, Part 2F.1 (sections 232 and 233)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A00818/latest/text), Federal Register of Legislation - [Equity Division and its lists](https://supremecourt.nsw.gov.au/about-us/equity-division.html), Supreme Court of NSW - [Law Courts Building, Queens Square](https://supremecourt.nsw.gov.au/about-us/courthouses/law-courts-building.html), Supreme Court of NSW - [Contact the NSW registry](https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/contact/registries/nsw), Federal Court of Australia - [Probate](https://supremecourt.nsw.gov.au/wills-probate.html), Supreme Court of NSW - [Practice Note SC EQ 07, Probate and Family Provision List](https://supremecourt.nsw.gov.au/documents/Practice-and-Procedure/Practice-Notes/equity-practice-notes/current/SC_Eq_7-14.6.24.pdf), Supreme Court of NSW - [Filing fees as at 1 July 2026](https://supremecourt.nsw.gov.au/documents/Forms-and-Fees/FEES/Fee-Schedules/Fees_1_July_2026.pdf), Supreme Court of NSW - [Market valuation for tax purposes](https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?DocID=SGM/market_val&PiT=99991231235958), Australian Taxation Office - [Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, section 116-30](https://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=PAC/19970038/116-30), ATO legal database - [Business purchases (transfer duty)](https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/taxes-duties-levies-royalties/transfer-duty/understanding-transfer-duty/business-purchases), Revenue NSW - [2014 State budget: abolition of various duties](https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/help-centre/resources-library/budget/budget-201406), Revenue NSW - [What is landholder duty](https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/taxes-duties-levies-royalties/transfer-duty/landholder-duty/what-is-landholder-duty), Revenue NSW Ask a valuer ## Still have a question? Put it in the form. A valuer answers within one business day, and there is no charge for asking. Small Business Valuation $1,495 + GST The package for turnover below $2 million: a signed report in 2 business days. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. Larger than that? The fee steps up with turnover. [See every fee](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/fees/) --- Business Valuations Sydney · 32 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000 · https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/start/