Hi, I’m Chris Walton, author of this guide and CEO of Eton Venture Services.
I’ve spent much of my career working as a corporate transactional lawyer at Gunderson Dettmer, becoming an expert in tax law & venture financing. Since starting Eton, I’ve completed thousands of business valuations for companies of all sizes.
Read my full bio here.
In the past 15 years, my team has completed 5,000+ annual business valuations for small businesses, venture-backed startups, high-growth individuals, private equity funds, and more.
In this article, we’ll introduce you to our approach to valuations and also provide six alternate annual valuation service providers for you to consider hiring.
Here are five factors I’d consider when hiring an annual valuation service provider:
Let’s look at each one in turn:
How quickly can the company deliver a valuation? For time-sensitive tasks like M&A or tax planning, a fast turnaround is crucial.
Ask about the company’s typical turnaround times and if they offer expedited services at additional costs.
As a standard, even a complex business valuation shouldn’t take more than two weeks.
Speed is important, but not at the cost of accuracy. An incorrect valuation can lead to legal penalties, court disputes, and even imprisonment.
Make sure the provider is known for precise and reliable valuations. To do so, check their credentials, and look for any certifications or industry recognition.
aluations can be complex, and having a provider who offers excellent customer support can be the difference between a nightmarish scenario and a smooth, stress-free experience.
Look for a team that’s responsive and willing to answer your questions and guide you through the process.
What do past clients say about the company?
Research whether the company has substantial unbiased reviews, testimonials, or case studies. This will be your best source of information on how reliable they are and the quality of their service.
If possible, you can even reach out to past clients via LinkedIn or email to ask about their experience with the firm.
The complexity of valuations and legal requirements can vary greatly by industry.
Some valuators are comfortable doing 409 valuations but lack the experience required for M&A valuations—many do both, like us at Eton.
Make sure the firm has experience in your specific industry, and check for case studies or examples of similar work they’ve done.
Here are my top picks for annual valuation service providers:
|
# |
Company |
Years of Experience |
Specializations |
Time to Completion |
Based in |
|
1 |
Eton Venture Services |
20 |
Businesses of all sizes from startups and mid-sized companies to private equity and large corporations. |
10 days or less |
Austin, Texas, USA |
|
2 |
Venture Valuation |
25 |
Life sciences valuation, particularly biotech, pharma, and medtech. |
3 to 5 weeks |
Switzerland, with offices worldwide including USA |
|
3 |
Exit Equity |
19 |
Valuations for manufacturing, technology, and eCommerce businesses. |
15 to 45 hours |
Edmonds, Washington, USA |
|
4 |
Neumann Associates |
33 |
Valuation and sale of privately held, mid-market firms. |
Unknown |
New Jersey, USA |
|
5 |
Teknos Associates |
16 |
Tech-focused valuation provider |
Unknown |
San Francisco, California, USA |
|
6 |
Houlihan Lokey |
52 |
Financial advisory services |
Unknown |
Los Angeles, California, USA |
|
7 |
Aranca |
21 |
Global valuations |
Unknown |
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
|
💡 TL;DR: Why Choose Eton? Choose Eton for experienced consultants from top firms at a fraction of the cost. We offer quick and reliable annual business valuations that can stand up to audits. Plus, we provide great customer service and aim to be your long-term partner. |
That’s us! I acknowledge that I’m a little biased here, so we’re going to be as transparent as possible below about our valuation services and how they work.
At Eton, we deliver fast, affordable, always-compliant business valuations (including 409As) for all types of companies from startups to private equity.
Here’s why you should choose us:
1. Experience
We’ve got more than 20+ years working with businesses of all stages and have delivered 3000+ audit-defensible valuations.
2. Expertise
Our consultants are as pedigreed as those at Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PwC—because we hired them.
The difference between us and those household name consultants? We offer the same quality at a fraction of the cost and in a fraction of the time.
3. Customer Service
I make myself available to all of our clients for calls. The clock doesn’t run and no question is off limits.
Having worked at the Silicon Valley Law Firm, Gunderson Dettermer, I can share all my secrets on business valuations.
Because of our exceptional customer service, most of our clients are long-term partners with us and we’ve helped them with business valuations throughout several years.
I’m really proud of the work we do at Eton and the level of service we provide our clients.
Check out a testimonial below:
We deliver fast, accurate business valuations across a variety of areas, including:
Our business valuation process is fast, efficient, and comprehensive. It takes 10 days from the receipt of company documents no matter the type or complexity of the valuation.
Here’s an overview of what that process looks like and your involvement:
Day 1: Information Collection
Once we have all of your documents, we review them to make sure we understand your business inside out.
We’ll request further information if we find anything is missing that we may need to come to an accurate valuation.
Day 2: Valuation Modelling & Analysis
Next, we analyze your cap table, business stage, and more. We’ll start crafting your valuation and determine what methodologies are required to accurately value your business.
Where possible, our CFAs apply multiple methodologies to reach the most accurate result.
Day 3-7: Valuation Prepared
At this stage, we’ll apply those methodologies.
Day 8: Draft Report Delivered; Client Review & Return
After we’ve given the valuation an internal review, we’ll send the report to you for review.
At this stage, you’ll need to let us know if you need any changes. We’ll also get on a call where we can answer your questions and address your concerns.
Day 10: Final Valuation Confirmed & Delivered
Finally, we’ll revise the draft and get you to sign-off on the outcome.
Beyond these 10 days, you’ll get ongoing audit support. We’ll happily explain the valuation and answer any questions to anyone you need us to.
We work with businesses across industries and of all sizes from your local mom-and-pop shop to a scaling startup and established corporations.
Here are some of our clients:
And this is the experience they have:
|
Why I recommend them: For their specialization and unique licensing database specific to the life sciences industry. |
Venture Valuation is a top choice for life sciences valuation, particularly in biotech, pharma, and medtech. They work with both companies as well as investors.
Their key services include company and product valuation, using tailored risk assessments and valuation methods. They also offer monitoring and NAV reporting of portfolio companies to investors.
Their detailed valuation process takes 3 to 5 weeks and includes a workshop led by experts.
A special part of their service is Biotechgate. This database, launched in 2003, has extensive information on life science companies, their assets, licensing opportunities, deals, and financing.
It provides detailed data that helps clients understand market trends, compare with competitors, and find licensing and financing opportunities.
📚 You might also like: 7 Top Healthcare Valuation Firms in 2024
|
Why I recommend them: For their deep expertise in business valuations in manufacturing, technology, and eCommerce industries. |
Exit Equity is a well-known M&A and business valuation firm. They help lower middle market business owners with exit planning, valuation, and advisory services on both the buy and sell side.
Apart from M&A help, Exit Equity offers business valuations in three core industries:
A typical business valuation at Exit Equity takes between 15 and 30 hours, at times up to 45 hours, depending on the complexity of the situation.
Exit Equity is the only female-owned M&A advisory firm in the Pacific Northwest and is highly respected, often getting new clients through referrals.
📚 You might also like: 7 Top M&A Consultants for Hire in 2024
|
Why I recommend them: For their extensive experience and reputation in providing business valuations for estate planning, IRS issues, partnership conflicts, and financing needs. |
Neumann & Associates, LLC is a top M&A advisory and valuation firm that specializes in the valuation and sale of privately held mid-market companies.
They have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau for 20 years and have completed over 5,000 business valuations. And they have worked on more than $250 million in closed deals.
Their main services include thorough business valuations and deal-making. Deal making involves creating detailed marketing documents, finding and pre-qualifying the right investors, and helping clients through due diligence until the deal is closed. Their database of over 100,000 investors is a valuable resource that helps connect clients with the best investment opportunities.
Neumann Associates also does valuations for estate planning, IRS issues, partnership conflicts, and financing needs.
They offer a no up-front fee structure, earning their fees only when a transaction is successful.
|
Why I recommend them: For their deep industry knowledge in technology, life sciences, blockchain, and other growth sectors. |
Teknos Associates is a valuation firm that specializes in technology, life sciences, blockchain, and other growth sectors.
It provides services in corporate advisory, tax compliance, financial reporting valuation services, and litigation support.
Based on the testimonials on their website, Teknos seems to be a fast and reliable business valuation provider that goes out of their way to build strong, long-term relationships with their customers.
Some of Teknos’ past clients include Roblox, Thomvest, and Acuant, although I only found a handful of testimonials on their website. I advise you to further do your due diligence and research more about the firm.
📚 You might also like: 10 Top Startup Advisory Service Providers | Build Your Board
|
Why I recommend them: For their expertise and global reach in financial advisory and corporate valuation services. |
Known for its expertise in financial advisory services, Houlihan Lokey provides valuation services across many different industries.
With over 400 experts around the world, they provide accurate valuations for private and public companies, portfolio companies, intangible assets, and complex financial instruments.
They specialize in three key valuation services:
Generally, Houlihan Lokey is known for its ability to meet tight deadlines and provide timely, accurate valuations, but I couldn’t find exactly how long their business valuations take.
They have offices in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia, including important locations like Brazil, Dubai, Hong Kong, India, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
Due to their size and industry experience, their business valuation services may cost more than at a boutique firm like Eton.
|
Why I recommend them: For their diverse market insights and global expertise. It makes them perfect for businesses needing international valuation services. |
Aranca is a comprehensive global research, analytics, and advisory firm that also handles some business valuation services.
They work with everyone from startups to the Fortune 500, private equity and global financial firms, and have completed 2000+ valuations to date.
These are the key valuation services they offer:
Based outside the US, they understand global markets and have a lot of international experience. This gives them unique insights and expertise that benefit global clients.
However, for US-based businesses, the time difference and misalignment in working hours can prove difficult. Business valuations are such a high-touch service that requires fast responses.
US businesses may struggle to get the face-time and attentiveness they need to feel confident in the valuation. In that case, I recommend you to check out the other picks above for US-based service providers.
Have more questions about annual valuation services? I answered them below:
A valuation team is very important in business and finance. Their main job is to figure out how much a company, asset, or investment is worth.
Here are some key things they do:
Financial Analysis: They look at financial statements like balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements to see how healthy a company is financially. They also use financial ratios to check profitability, liquidity, leverage, and efficiency.
Market Research: They study the industry to understand market trends, competition, and regulations. They also compare the company to its peers to see how well it’s performing.
Valuation Methods: They use different methods to determine value, such as Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis, Comparable Company Analysis, Precedent Transactions Analysis, and Asset-Based Valuation.
Risk Assessment: They identify market, operational, and financial risks that might affect value and use sensitivity analysis to see how changes in key assumptions impact the valuation.
Reporting and Presentation: They prepare detailed reports and presentations to summarize their findings and communicate the results to management, investors, and regulatory bodies.
Compliance and Standards: They make sure valuations comply with accounting standards like IFRS and GAAP, and meet regulatory requirements for reporting and disclosure.
Strategic Advisory: They support mergers and acquisitions (M&A) by providing valuation help, including fairness opinions and deal structuring. They also help investors make informed decisions and advise companies on strategies like divestitures, restructurings, and raising capital.
Ongoing Monitoring: They regularly update valuations to reflect changes in the business environment or company performance and track how actual performance compares to valuation assumptions and forecasts.
A standard business valuation, especially those for small businesses with limited complexity, will cost between $5000 and $10,000.
But in some complex cases, they can cost up to $100,000.
The exact price depends on what valuation method is required, the complexity and size of your business, and the purpose behind the valuation.
No matter your size, there are some instances where your business valuation is more likely to exceed $10,000:
If you’d like a complete breakdown of the cost, please read this article: Business Valuation Services Cost: How Much Is Normal in 2024
The duration of a business valuation typically varies based on the complexity of the business, but it can take anywhere from 3 days to a few weeks.
At Eton, our business valuations generally take 10 days, but we can do it as short as you need for an expedited fee. This fast turnaround is ideal for urgent needs like mergers, acquisitions, or tax planning.
Working with Eton means you get the individualized attention that Big-4 firms can’t provide.
We pride ourselves on offering personalized service, ensuring that your specific needs are met with care and precision.
At Eton, you’ll have direct access to me, the CEO, who will personally oversee your project, providing expert guidance and support throughout the entire process.
This level of dedicated attention and direct communication sets us apart from larger firms.
When you’re ready, get in touch with us here!
Schedule a free consultation meeting to discuss your valuation needs.
Chris co-founded Eton Venture Services in 2010 to provide mission-critical valuations to venture-based companies. He works closely with each client’s leadership team, board of directors, internal / external counsel, and independent auditor to develop detailed financial models and create accurate, audit-proof valuations.
