---
title: "Business Valuation Before You Buy in Sydney"
url: https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/services/buying-a-business-valuation/
description: "An independent valuation before you buy a business in Sydney: what it is worth to a buyer, what the accounts really show and what the price should cover."
updated: 2026-11-15
---

# Check the price before you buy a business in Sydney.

## Your fixed fee

- Your fee is put in writing first and does not move with the value.
- A second valuer checks each report before signing.
- The working file stays on record for ten years.
- The report carries the name of the valuer who [signs it](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/about/).

The asking price is the seller’s opinion. Before you sign, get an independent view of what the business is worth to a buyer, and of what the figures in the sales pack leave out.

Fee guide

Under $2 million of turnover: $1,495 + GST, signed report in 2 business days. $2 million to $3 million of turnover: $2,495 + GST, signed report in 3 business days. $3 million to $10 million of turnover: $3,495 + GST, signed report in 3 business days. Above $10 million we quote the fee in writing and agree the delivery date with you first. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received.

Get my fixed fee[See every fee](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/fees/)

- $1,495 + GST The fixed fee where turnover is below $2 million, put in writing before we begin
- 2 business days From payment and complete information to a signed small-business report
- 32 York St Our Sydney office, in the CBD. Most of the work is done from your documents and a call
- 10 years How long the working file behind each report is kept Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received.

A pre-purchase valuation tests an asking price against the evidence. Buyers in Sydney ask for one before signing a contract, before paying a deposit, or when a lender or an investor wants an independent figure. The report works out what the business reliably earns once the seller’s adjustments have been checked, values it on that footing, and lists what would change the answer: a short lease, one customer who brings in much of the revenue, an owner the business cannot run without. It is a valuation. It is not a check of the legal or tax position, which stays with your lawyer and your accountant.

## Why a buyer needs a figure of their own

A business for sale usually comes with a sales pack that shows an "adjusted" profit. The seller’s wage is added back, so are costs said to be private or one-off, and the asking price is a multiple of the result. Every dollar added back lifts the price, so each one deserves a second look from someone who is not selling.

These are the questions a valuation puts to the pack:

- If the owner’s pay is added back, who does that work after you buy, and at what cost?
- Were the one-off costs really one-off, or do they turn up most years?
- Does the profit hold month by month, or only in the year that is shown?
- What happens to sales when the owner is no longer there?
- How old is the equipment, and what will replacing it cost?

The signed report is $1,495 + GST where turnover is below $2 million, ready in 2 business days, and $2,495 + GST from $2 million to $3 million, ready in 3 business days. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received.

Get my fixed fee[See every fee](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/fees/)

## Market value, and what the business is worth to you

The report gives market value: what an informed buyer in general would pay, not what a particular buyer could do with it. You may have plans that make it worth more to you. A second site to share staff with, a product you can sell to its customers, costs you know how to cut.

Those gains come from what you bring, and whether to pay the seller for them is your decision. The valuation gives you the base to decide from, so you know how much of the price is for the business as it stands and how much is for your own plans.

## What moves the price of a business you are buying

Earnings set the starting point. Risk decides how much a buyer should pay for them. In most purchases the risk comes down to a short list, and the report deals with each item on it:

- The lease: the years left, the options, the rent reviews and whether the landlord will agree to the transfer
- Reliance on a few customers, or on one supplier
- Key staff, and whether they are likely to stay
- Licences and approvals the business cannot trade without
- Stock, debtors and creditors at settlement, which decide how much cash you need on day one

## Buying the assets, or buying the company

In a purchase of the business you take the assets you agree to take: goodwill, equipment, stock and usually the lease. In a purchase of shares you take the company, with everything it owns and everything it owes, known or not.

The price for one is not the price for the other. The report says which is being valued and shows the steps between the two, so an offer for "the business" and an offer for "the shares" can be compared on the same footing. What protection you need in the contract is for your lawyer.

## How buyers use the report

To decide what to offer, and where to stop. To show a seller which of their figures does not hold up, with the evidence, which is a stronger position than simply offering less. To give a business partner, an investor or a lender an independent view. And to give your accountant values for the goodwill, the equipment and the stock when the price is split in the contract.

Lenders have their own rules about valuations and some use their own panels. Ask yours what it will accept before you engage us.

In New South Wales

## Buying in New South Wales: duty, the lease and the licences.

These are the points particular to this state that a buyer in Sydney usually runs into. Your lawyer handles each of them. A valuer needs to know about them because each one bears on the price.

### What duty is charged on

Revenue NSW says transfer duty is not payable on the goodwill, intellectual property, statutory licences or debtors of a business. Duty is payable where the purchase includes land or an interest in land, such as a lease. Fixtures are treated as an interest in land. Goods are dutiable when they are bought in the same agreement as other dutiable property, though some, such as stock-in-trade and vehicles registered for road use, are excluded.

### The split of the price has to be real

Where a purchase covers both dutiable and non-dutiable assets, Revenue NSW says the split of the price should reflect the value of each, and that evidence of value may be required even where buyer and seller are at arm’s length. Where they are related, it says an independent valuation of the land and of the business assets may be needed. We value the business assets. Land is a job for a property valuer.

### The lease and the licences

For a retail lease, the NSW Small Business Commissioner says the tenant must ask the landlord in writing for consent to assign the lease. A liquor licence is transferred by application, and the regulator says a transfer does not become effective until provisional approval has been provided. The value assumes that the lease and the licences reach the buyer, and the report states those assumptions.

## What the valuer will ask you for.

Nothing is needed to ask for your fee. Once you go ahead, these are the records we usually ask for, sent through our secure client portal.

- The sales pack or information memorandum, and the asking price
- Three years of the seller’s accounts and tax returns
- Monthly sales and profit for the last two years, if the seller will give them
- The seller’s list of add-backs, with whatever supports each one
- The lease, or its key terms
- A list of staff and what each one does
- An equipment list with ages
- Whether you are buying the assets or the shares, if that has been decided

## Buying a business: questions we are asked.

### How do I know whether the asking price is fair?

By testing the profit it is based on. Most asking prices are a multiple of an adjusted profit that the seller has worked out. A valuation checks each adjustment, looks at how steady the profit has been and how much of it depends on the present owner, and values the business on what is left. The gap between that figure and the asking price is what you negotiate over.

### My accountant has looked at the figures. Do I still need a valuation?

They answer different questions. Your accountant checks whether the figures are right and what the tax position is. A valuation asks what those figures are worth to a buyer: how risky the earnings are, what the market pays for earnings like them and what the lease, the staff and the customers do to the answer. The two pieces of work sit side by side.

### Will my lender accept your valuation?

That is up to the lender. Each one has its own rules, and some will only use valuers from their own panel. Ask before you engage us. Even where the lender orders its own, an independent view is worth having first, because the lender’s concern is its security and yours is the price.

### Is stamp duty payable when I buy a business in NSW?

It depends on what the purchase includes, and your lawyer will confirm it. In general, Revenue NSW says transfer duty is not payable on goodwill, intellectual property, statutory licences or debtors, and is payable where the purchase includes land or an interest in land. Goods can be dutiable when they are bought in the same agreement as other dutiable property, such as land.

### What if the seller will not hand over the records?

Then the report says what was provided, what was not, and how far the conclusion can be relied on as a result. A seller who will not show monthly figures or support for the add-backs is telling you something. Whether to make an offer conditional on seeing the records is a point for your lawyer.

### Can you value a share of a business I am buying into?

Yes. Buying in as a partner or a shareholder raises the same questions, plus two more: what rights the share carries, and what the agreement says about getting out again. The report values the share you are being offered, not just a proportion of the whole, and says what it assumes about those rights.

Valuations that often sit beside this one

- [Valuations for selling a business in Sydney](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/services/selling-a-business-valuation/)
- [Business valuations for NSW duty](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/services/nsw-duty-valuation/)
- [Share and unit valuations in Sydney](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/services/share-and-unit-valuation/)
- [Every valuation service](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/services/)

Where in Sydney

- [Sydney CBD](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/areas/sydney-cbd/)
- [North Sydney and the North Shore](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/areas/north-sydney-and-north-shore/)
- [Parramatta and Western Sydney](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/areas/parramatta-and-western-sydney/)
- [Eastern Suburbs](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/areas/eastern-suburbs/)
- [Inner West and South Sydney](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/areas/inner-west-and-south-sydney/)
- [Northern Beaches](https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/areas/northern-beaches/)

## 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.

- [Business purchases (transfer duty)](https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/taxes-duties-levies-royalties/transfer-duty/understanding-transfer-duty/business-purchases), Revenue NSW
- [Transferring your lease](https://www.smallbusiness.nsw.gov.au/help/common-questions/transferring-your-lease), NSW Small Business Commissioner
- [Transfer a liquor licence](https://www.nsw.gov.au/business-and-economy/liquor-and-gaming/liquor-licensing/apply-manage/transfer), Liquor & Gaming NSW

Ask a valuer

## Tell us about the business.

A few lines is enough. A valuer replies within one business day with the package that fits, your fixed fee in writing and a delivery date.

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/)

Page last reviewed on 15 November 2026. Business Valuations Sydney, 32 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000.

Signed reports from $1,495 + GST. One fixed fee, in writing, before work starts.

Get my fixed fee

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Business Valuations Sydney · 32 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000 · https://businessvaluationssydney.com.au/start/