Updated 8 October 2026
What does your business do?
This sets the range buyers typically pay in your industry.
Choose an industry and a type of business.
What does the business earn?
Use your tax return or profit and loss. Figures exclude GST. The earlier year is optional but gives a steadier result.
Enter revenue, net profit and owners' pay for the latest year, then answer both questions.
What would a buyer see?
These move the price within your industry's range.
How much does the business depend on you?Answer all four questions.
On this page
Small businesses in Australia are priced on a multiple of maintainable profit, not on revenue or assets. The calculator does three things a broker or valuer would do in a first meeting.
It works out profit to one working owner. Your net profit plus your salary and super, interest, depreciation and one-off costs, less a market wage for any second owner who works in the business. Two years are weighted two to one toward the latest year, so one unusual year does not set the price.
It applies your industry's range. Each industry carries a typical multiple range for owner-run businesses, drawn from recorded sales and published calculators, and shown against the full spread of recorded sales in that category so you can see where you sit.
It adjusts for what buyers pay for. Years trading, how much the business depends on you, customer concentration, recurring revenue, the profit trend and the size of earnings each move the multiple by a percentage. The result is a range, a midpoint, and a list of the changes that would move your number.
Worked example
A cafe with $1.2m revenue, $95,000 net profit after paying its owner $120,000, and a prior year of $80,000 shows profit to one working owner of about $207,000 weighted. At a 1.5x to 3.0x range the indicative value is $310,000 to $620,000, before stock. If the owner steps back from day-to-day work the midpoint moves by more than $100,000.
These are the ranges the calculator uses for owner-run businesses, on profit to one working owner. They sit inside the full spread of recorded sales in each category, which runs from well under 1x for businesses sold for their assets to 5x or 6x for the strongest businesses in the pool.
| Industry | Typical range | Market evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cafés, restaurants and takeaway | 1.5x to 3.0x | Recorded business sales and published calculators |
| Food and liquor retail | 1.5x to 3.0x | Recorded business sales and published calculators |
| Retail (non-food) | 1.5x to 3.0x | Recorded business sales and published calculators |
| Automotive | 2.0x to 3.5x | Recorded business sales and published calculators |
| Transport and logistics | 2.0x to 3.5x | Recorded business sales and published calculators |
| Trades, maintenance and property services | 2.0x to 3.5x | Recorded business sales and published calculators |
| Hair, beauty, fitness and personal services | 1.5x to 2.5x | Recorded business sales and published calculators |
| Professional services | 2.5x to 4.0x | Recorded business sales and published calculators |
| Accounting, financial and insurance services | 3.0x to 5.0x | Published calculators and adviser benchmarks |
| Health and allied health | 3.0x to 5.0x | Published calculators and adviser benchmarks |
| Education and childcare | 2.5x to 4.0x | Published calculators and adviser benchmarks |
| Accommodation | 2.0x to 3.5x | Recorded business sales and published calculators |
| Manufacturing | 2.5x to 4.0x | Recorded business sales and published calculators |
| Wholesale and distribution | 2.5x to 4.0x | Recorded business sales and published calculators |
| Technology and IT services | 3.0x to 5.0x | Published calculators and adviser benchmarks |
Sale data from the Australian Institute of Business Brokers' Bizstats database shows average EBITDA multiples for sub-$5m transactions between 2021 and 2024 of 2.3x to 2.7x across food retail, food wholesale and small food manufacturing. Mid-market deals sit higher: Grant Thornton's Dealtracker puts SME EV/EBITDA at about 5x to 6x, rising roughly one turn with each size bracket. The calculator flags businesses earning over $1m a year because they usually sell above the ranges here.
Reported profit is rarely the figure a business sells on. A buyer rebuilds it to show what they would earn.
The same adjustments appear in the metrics worth tracking well before a sale, because a clean set of accrual accounts is itself a value driver.
Owner dependence is the largest single factor for small businesses. Data from Value Builder's survey of 14,000 owners found average offers of 2.9x profit where the founder knew every customer by name and 4.5x where the owner was removed from customer service. The calculator moves the multiple by up to 20% each way on this question.
Customer concentration is priced as risk. A largest customer over 30% of revenue usually means a lower multiple and often a deferred or earn-out component. Recurring revenue under contract or subscription earns a premium over one-off work. Trend matters because buyers weight the latest year and discount a falling one. Size matters because larger earnings attract more buyers and bank finance.
Stock and equipment
Walk-in walk-out prices usually include plant and equipment and exclude stock, which is counted and paid for on top at settlement. The calculator treats stock the same way and uses your equipment value as a floor, because a business earning less than its equipment is worth is sold for the equipment.
Protecting value also means protecting the assets that produce it and having the right structure in place before a buyer looks.
An online range is a starting point for a conversation about selling. It is not a valuation. You need a signed report prepared under APES 225 Valuation Services when the number will be relied on by someone else: a court in family law or a partner dispute, the ATO for the small business CGT concessions, a restructure or stamp duty, or a bank or buyer in a transaction. The ATO also expects a report to state the purpose, the valuation date, the methods used and a cross-check, with enough detail to replicate the result.
Formal valuations consider working capital, the lease, contracts, key staff, surplus assets and debt, and reconcile at least two methods. Where shareholder loans are involved the report ties into Division 7A treatment. Our business accountants and tax accountants work from the same workpapers, so the valuation and the tax outcome are planned together.
Run the calculator, then book a call. We'll go through your figures, tell you what a formal valuation would involve and what it costs, and show you what to fix before you sell.
Book a call Business accounting servicesIt gives a range, not a price. The calculator applies the multiples buyers typically pay in your industry to your maintainable profit and adjusts for the things that move a sale price. It cannot see your lease, your contracts, your customer list or your working capital. A formal valuation does, and it is what you need for family law, tax or a dispute.
Most owner-run businesses sell for between 1.5 and 4 times profit to one working owner, with hospitality and retail at the lower end and health, professional and financial services at the upper end. Larger businesses with management teams sell on higher multiples. Stock is normally paid for on top.
It is net profit with the owner's salary and super, interest, depreciation and one-off costs added back, leaving a market wage in place for any second working owner. Brokers also call it PEBITDA or seller's discretionary earnings. It is the figure most small business sales are priced on.
A buyer is paying for profit that continues after you leave. If customers only deal with you, or the business stops when you take leave, part of that profit walks out with you and buyers price that risk in. Documented systems, trained staff and shared customer relationships lift the multiple.
For family law, partner disputes, a shareholder buy-in or exit, a restructure, the small business CGT concessions, Division 7A or stamp duty. These need a signed report prepared under APES 225 Valuation Services that states the purpose, the valuation date, the methods and the evidence, and that can be defended if challenged.
No. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is sent to us unless you ask for the breakdown by email, and then we only receive the summary you see on screen along with your contact details.
About the author. Mike Wilczynski is a Chartered Accountant with CA ANZ, a Certified Property Valuer certified by the Australian Valuers Institute and a registered tax agent (TPB 17532009). He is Managing Director of National Accounts, an Adelaide chartered accounting and advisory firm, and prepares business and property valuations for sale, tax, family law and SMSF purposes.
General information only and not financial, tax or valuation advice. Indicative ranges are not a valuation or an offer and should not be relied on for any transaction, tax position or legal matter. Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.
