Business valuation calculators
How Much Do I Need from My Business Sale?
Exit Number Calculator
In short
Your exit number is the net capital a sale may need to provide once other dependable income and existing investments are taken into account. It is derived from the annual amount you need from capital, your own return and inflation assumptions, the period the capital must last, any capital you want to preserve, and a contingency.
The right price for your business is partly a personal question. This calculator estimates the net capital a sale may need to provide to support the spending you want for the period you choose.
Part of the business valuation calculators suite from BusinessValuation.co.uk. Your result is saved in this browser, so you can compare it with your other calculator results.
How to use this calculator
Enter the annual income you want, other dependable income, existing investments and the period the sale proceeds must support. The calculator estimates the net capital your business sale may need to provide.
Before you start
Investment returns, inflation, tax and personal circumstances can change materially. This calculation should be reviewed with a regulated financial adviser and tax adviser before decisions are made. No assumptions are supplied for you: every figure below starts at zero so that nothing here can be mistaken for advice.
Indicative capital balance over the period
Each bar shows the indicative opening balance for that year on your own assumptions. This is an illustration of the arithmetic, not a statement that the plan is sustainable or guaranteed.
- Year 1£0
- Year 5£0
- Year 10£0
- Year 15£0
- Year 20£0
- Year 25£0
How to read this result
Your exit number is the net capital the sale may need to provide once other dependable income and existing investments are taken into account. The calculation uses your own return and inflation assumptions to derive a real return, then discounts the annual amount you need from capital over the period you chose, adds the present value of any capital you want to preserve, and applies your contingency. Nothing here is a forecast, a financial plan or a tax calculation, and no return, inflation or tax assumption has been supplied for you. Investment returns, inflation, tax and personal circumstances can change materially: review this with a regulated financial adviser and a tax adviser before making decisions.
Indicative capital balance over the period
- Year 1: opening £0, withdrawal £0, closing £0
- Year 5: opening £0, withdrawal £0, closing £0
- Year 10: opening £0, withdrawal £0, closing £0
- Year 15: opening £0, withdrawal £0, closing £0
- Year 20: opening £0, withdrawal £0, closing £0
- Year 25: opening £0, withdrawal £0, closing £0
Assumption checks
- No effective tax rate was entered, so gross sale proceeds cannot be estimated. Only the net capital requirement is shown.
- Your secure income already covers the spending entered, so no capital is required for income on these figures.
Report warning
- This result is not financial, investment or tax advice. It should be reviewed with a regulated financial adviser and a tax adviser before decisions are made.
Suggested next steps
- Review the return, inflation and tax assumptions with a regulated financial adviser and a tax adviser.
- Compare the net proceeds required with an independent indicative view of what the business may realistically achieve.
- Run the equity value calculator to see how a headline price converts into proceeds after the equity bridge.
- Re-run the calculation with a lower real return to see how sensitive your exit number is.
Your exit number
Net sale proceeds required
£0
- Desired annual spending
- £0
- Annual income already covered
- £0
- Annual amount required from invested capital
- £0
- Real return assumption
- 0.00%
- Capital required for spending
- £0
- Present value of preserved capital
- £0
- Core capital requirement
- £0
- Contingency
- £0
- Total net capital requirement
- £0
- Existing assets deducted
- £0
- Net sale proceeds required
- £0
- Illustrative gross proceeds required
- Tax assumption not entered
- Surplus or shortfall against expected proceeds
- Not entered
- Share of your exit number covered
- Not entered
Before you rely on this
- Investment returns, inflation, tax and personal circumstances can change materially. This calculation should be reviewed with a regulated financial adviser and tax adviser before decisions are made.
- No return, inflation or tax assumptions are supplied for you. Every assumption shown is one you entered.
- This is an indicative planning tool. It is not regulated financial advice, a financial plan or a tax calculation.
Next steps
Your result is above and stays visible. Compare your required exit number with what the business may realistically achieve.
Important information
This calculator provides general, indicative guidance based solely on the information entered. It is not a formal business valuation, tax calculation, legal opinion or recommendation to accept or reject an offer. Actual value and sale proceeds depend on detailed financial, commercial and transaction-specific factors.
How this calculation works
- Real return = ((1 + nominal return) ÷ (1 + inflation)) − 1
- Capital for income = present value of the annual shortfall over the chosen period at the real return
- Exit number = capital for income + present value of capital to preserve − existing investments, plus contingency
- Required sale value = exit number grossed up for your assumed tax and cost rate
Worked example: retirement at 60, 30-year horizon
| Annual income needed | £90,000 |
|---|---|
| Dependable other income (pensions, rent) | £34,000 |
| Annual shortfall from capital | £56,000 |
| Assumed nominal return / inflation | 5.0% / 2.5% |
| Real return used | about 2.4% |
| Existing investments available | £250,000 |
| Indicative net capital required from the sale | about £950,000 |
Change the real return by one percentage point and the capital required moves materially. That sensitivity, not the headline figure, is the reason to review these assumptions with a regulated adviser.
What each input means
- Annual income needed
- Your target household spending in today's money.
- Other dependable income
- State and private pensions, rental income and other reliable sources.
- Return and inflation assumptions
- Your own assumptions. None is supplied for you, and both drive the result heavily.
- Period
- How long the capital must last.
- Capital to preserve
- Any sum you want intact at the end of the period.
- Existing investments
- Capital already available outside the business.
- Contingency
- A margin for unexpected costs or weaker returns.
How to read the result
The result is the indicative net capital the sale may need to provide, and the gross sale value that implies on your tax and cost assumption. It is a planning figure, not a financial plan, and not a valuation of your business.
What can materially change the result
- Return and inflation assumptions, which dominate the outcome.
- Length of the period the capital must support.
- Personal tax on sale proceeds and on investment income afterwards.
- Other dependable income actually being dependable.
- Health, care costs and family commitments.
Limitations
- It is not financial advice, not a cash-flow plan and not a tax calculation.
- It applies no statutory tax rate or relief.
- It does not model investment volatility or sequencing risk.
When this calculator is appropriate
Use it to frame a conversation with a regulated financial adviser, and to sanity-check whether your target sale value and your personal needs are aligned.
When it is not appropriate
Do not make retirement, pension or investment decisions on this output alone.
Bottom line
Your retirement number and your business valuation are different figures. Work out the first before you judge whether the second is enough.
Questions owners ask
- What is an exit number?
- It is the net capital you need a business sale to provide, after other dependable income and existing investments, to support the spending you want for the period you choose.
- Should I use enterprise value or personal sale proceeds?
- Personal net proceeds. Enterprise value sits well above what reaches you, because cash, debt, debt-like items, working-capital adjustments, costs, deal structure and tax all come between the two.
- Why are investment return and inflation shown separately?
- Because what matters is the real return, the return after inflation. Entering both separately makes the assumption visible rather than buried in a single figure.
- Does the calculator include tax?
- Only if you enter an effective tax rate. Rates and reliefs change, so nothing is assumed. Without a rate, only the net capital requirement is shown.
- What counts as existing investable assets?
- Assets genuinely available to fund the plan, such as pensions accessible in the period, ISAs, investment portfolios and cash. The home you live in is normally excluded.
- Should pension income be included?
- Include pension income you can rely on as secure annual income. Do not also count the underlying pot as an investable asset, or you will double-count it.
- What if I want to preserve capital for my family?
- Enter the amount you want to remain at the end of the period. It is discounted back using your real return assumption and added to the requirement.
- Is this regulated financial advice?
- No. It is an indicative planning calculation based only on the figures you entered.
- Who should review the result?
- A regulated financial adviser for the return, inflation and drawdown assumptions, and a tax adviser for the tax position on a disposal.
Related reading
Retirement and exit planning valuation
We produce the valuation side of the picture so your financial adviser can plan against a defensible range.
Where owners usually go next
- Target Exit Value Calculator
Convert the capital you need into an earnings target for the business.
- Equity Value Calculator
Check what an offer would actually leave in shareholders' hands before tax.
Written and reviewed by Tony Vaughan, founder and lead adviser, BusinessValuation.co.uk.·Last reviewed: September 2026·How we produce these figures
Talk your figures through with us
A free initial consultation with our team, then a short written indicative range where the situation warrants it. No obligation.