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.
The results of your business valuation can determine:
…and so much more.
This is why it’s so important you have a trusted business valuation consultant to deliver an accurate valuation and a stellar service.
In this article, I explain why Eton is that business valuation consultant. I also provide four alternative business valuation consultants for hire just in case we’re not a fit for you right now.
There’s no shortage of business valuation consultants on the market, from Big 4 firms to small specialized teams and everything in between.
How do you know where to place your trust?
From my 15 years experience in the valuation industry and as a business founder, these are the four factors I’d consider:
If you were to go to the hospital, you would trust what the nurses and doctors did. That’s because they have credentials to prove their expertise.
While not a matter of life and death, business valuators are the same. We have different types of professional accreditations to indicate specialization and level of expertise in the valuation field.
You only want to consider business valuation consultants with professional accreditation.
For example, at Eton our valuators have the following:
You also have to consider the consultants track record in the industry.
These are all part of what makes the valuator trustworthy. If they have client testimonials you can look there for proof of value and demonstrated experience.
At Eton, we’ve been in the business valuation business since 2010. Ever since then, our team has conducted over 3,000 business valuations for hundreds of venture-backed startups and high-growth companies.
When it comes to business valuations, speed is as important as accuracy. This is because the valuation is often prompted by a need and that need has a timeline.
Standard business valuations should be completed in no more than 10-14 days.
A quality firm will be able to deliver sooner if needed but may charge additional costs.
If the valuation firm insists it will take months, they probably don’t have the resources or expertise required to complete your valuation. Or as with larger firms, they have too many bureaucratic processes holding up progress.
Business valuation is a service that should come with an excellent client experience.
You and other key stakeholders should be able to ask questions and get answers quickly as well as be guided through the entire process. That way you feel supported and confident in the results of the valuation.
In this article, I’ll go into how Eton excels in these areas. And I’ll introduce you to four other trusted business consultants in the US.
Here are my top 5 recommendations at a glance:
Below, I’ll go into why these business valuation consultants made the cut as the most trustworthy, high quality firms around.
At Eton, our valuators take the experience from their time at the Big 4 and combine it with the attention to detail and client care of a small boutique firm.
Every service we provide is bespoke to our clients’ needs. We give our undivided attention to ensure we complete each valuation in a timely manner while ensuring accuracy.
Here’s how we stack up against the 4 main factors you should consider when hiring a business valuation consultant:
| Factor 1: Professional Accreditations | Our team is Big 4 trained (Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PwC) with the following accreditations: 1. ASA (Accredited Senior Appraiser) 2. CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) 3. CVA (Certified Valuation Analyst) 4. CPA (Certified Public Accountant) |
| Factor 2: Industry Experience | We’ve completed 3000+ business valuations in our 15 years as a firm. And in that time we’ve specialized in all types of valuations, from 409A valuations to Mergers & Acquisitions. |
| Factor 3: Time to Completion of Valuation Services | Our valuation process takes no more than 10 days. But we can also do it in as little as one (for an additional fee). |
| Factor 4: Responsiveness and Attentiveness to You, the Client | We pride ourselves on providing fast, helpful, and fair advice for our clients. As the founder, I’m always on hand to provide my expertise and our valuators will explain the valuation in detail as many times as you or other stakeholders (like your board of directors) need. |
Now I’ll explain the types of valuations we do, the process we follow, who we work with, and our standard costs.
Business valuations are complex; some valuation cases more than others. So, it’s important to choose a provider who has navigated those complexities before and can guide you through the process with ease.
At Eton, our team has completed various types of business valuations, including:
As we stated before, our valuation process takes no more than 10 days from receipt of your documents. This applies no matter the complexity of the valuation.
If you need the valuation sooner, we can complete it in as little as one day. Expedited services do come at an additional cost.
Here’s what our 10-day valuation process looks like:
Day 1: Information Collection
Once we have all of your documents (financial and business information), we’ll get to work reviewing them to make sure nothing’s missing and that we understand your business inside out.
Day 2: Valuation Modelling & Analysis
Next, our expertise really comes into play as we analyze your cap table, business stage and more.
We’ll get started crafting your valuation and determining what methodologies are required to accurately value your business.
Day 3-7: Valuation Prepared
The next stage sees us working hard to apply those methodologies and crunch numbers.
Day 8: Draft Report Delivered; Client Review & Return
Once we’ve finished and given the valuation an internal review, we’ll send the draft report to you. This includes the methods we followed, assumptions we made, data we used, and a conclusion.
You’ll need to review it and let us know if there are any adjustments needed.
This usually happens on a call where we can answer your questions in real-time and address concerns.
Most clients sign off at this stage but occasionally a second version of the valuation is needed.
Day 10: Final Valuation Confirmed & Delivered
Finally, we’ll revise the draft and get you to sign-off on the outcome.
Beyond this 10-day service, you’ll get ongoing audit support and we’ll always be on hand to explain the valuation and answer any questions.
We work with businesses of all shapes, sizes, and stages from early-stage start-ups to fast-growing scale-ups and established corporations.
Here are some examples:
Clients often come recommended to us by their lawyers or by other clients who have seen our work and trust us to deliver accurate valuations with excellent service.
Here are some of the experiences our clients have had. And one further example:
A standard business valuation with limited complexity will cost between $5000 and $10,000. But they can reach price tags up to 100,000.
Don’t let that number scare you though, it probably won’t be the case.
In truth, it’s hard to put a number on a valuation without seeing exactly what’s needed and for whom. That’s why all of our quotes are custom.
Want to know more about standard business valuation costs? Check out our article: Business Valuation Services Cost
If Eton doesn’t feel like a fit, the first recommendation I’d make is for valuationresearch.com, or VRC.
VRC is an independent global valuation firm that has been focusing on valuations and advisory services since 1975.
They operate across multiple locations, including major cities in the U.S.
Their in-house valuation services cover businesses, equity and debt securities, loans, derivative instruments, structured products, intangible assets, fixed assets, and real estate.
My one word of caution is that due to their size and scope, you may not get much attention or the hyper-specialization your valuation requires.
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Teknos Associates is a valuation firm specializing in emerging growth companies and their venture capital backers, focusing on industries like information technology, life sciences, alternative energy/cleantech, and blockchain technology/cryptocurrency.
Their services include:
I like that Teknos is so specific about who they work with. It saves businesses who don’t fit that criteria time and effort they could spend assessing relevant firms.
If you do find you fit their criteria and specialty, Teknos is worth the consideration. However if you don’t or if you find they’re turnaround time is too long, you can get in touch with me here.
Aranca is a comprehensive global research, analytics, and advisory firm that also handles some business valuation services.
They specialize in global clients because they are based outside of the US. For some, this is an advantage. While for others, the time difference and misalignment in working hours can prove difficult.
Business valuations are such a high-touch service that requires fast responses. So US based businesses may struggle to get the face-time and attentiveness they need to feel confident in the valuation.
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Kroll is a global firm that specializes in risk and financial advisory solutions.
Their expertise includes valuation, compliance and regulation, corporate finance and restructuring, cyber risk management, investigations and disputes, digital technology solutions, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) advisory.
They have decades of experience in the industry you can count on.
However, they are a very large firm. And that means it will feel very corporate to work with them. If you want high-touch service focused on you as more than just a name on their client roster, we recommend going with someone smaller.
| Experience | Time to completion | Customer service | Cost | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eton VC | Big 4 trained financial analysts with experience across all business valuation types | Extremely fast (10 days or less) | 10/10 | Affordable (starting at $5000) |
| 2 | VCR | Over 300 U.S.-based professionals and an international network of nearly 1,500 valuation experts | Moderate timeline | 7/10 | Unknown |
| 3 | Teknos | Experience valuing businesses in information technology, life sciences, alternative energy/cleantech, and blockchain technology/cryptocurrency | Moderate timeline | 8/10 | Unknown |
| 4 | Aranca | Experience valuing companies from around the world | Slow | 6/10 | Unknown |
| 5 | Kroll | Has strong experience in retail and real-estate industry valuations | Slow | 7/10 | Unknown |
Have questions about business valuation consultants? I answer them below:
Yes, a business valuation is beneficial in several circumstances.
These include:
The party responsible for paying for a business valuation often depends on the context in which the valuation is being conducted:
Generally, a basic valuation might take a few weeks, while more complex situations could take several months.
How long it takes depends on a few factors:
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.
