Indicative Business Value Summary
Get a clearer indication of what your business may be worth
Upload your detailed accounts, including the profit and loss account, or enter the figures manually. We will identify your EBITDA, highlight possible adjustments and provide an immediate indicative value range, followed by a practical summary report by email.
In short
A UK SME is usually valued at maintainable adjusted EBITDA multiplied by a sector range. This tool rebuilds your EBITDA from figures you confirm, applies our published range for your sector and size, and shows an indicative enterprise and equity value on screen, before asking for any contact details.
Two ways to start
Upload my accounts (temporarily unavailable while additional security checks are completed): up to four PDF, XLSX or CSV documents, such as three years of full statutory accounts plus current management accounts or a forecast. We find turnover, operating profit, depreciation, amortisation, interest, tax, cash, borrowings and possible add-backs, and show each figure with its source page and a confidence level for you to correct. Enter my figures manually: type the same figures in yourself. Both routes use the same calculation, so identical figures give an identical result.
Information you will need
- One to three years of turnover, gross profit and operating profit, with year ends.
- Depreciation and amortisation for each year.
- Director and shareholder pay, pension contributions and any one-off or personal costs.
- Current cash, and borrowings including finance leases and hire purchase.
- Optionally, a current-year forecast, kept separate from actual results.
How EBITDA and possible add-backs are assessed
Reported EBITDA is operating profit plus depreciation and amortisation. Possible add-backs are costs that a new owner would not bear, such as director pay above a market replacement salary, a one-off legal claim or a relocation. Each is shown with its amount, source and reason, and you must confirm, amend or reject it. The bridge from reported operating profit to indicative adjusted EBITDA is shown in full. Read more in our adjusted EBITDA calculator.
How the value is calculated
Maintainable EBITDA is the latest completed year's confirmed adjusted EBITDA; earlier years are shown as trend information, and a latest year more than 20% away from the average of the two before it is flagged as volatile with lower confidence. We apply the published range for your sector from the UK SME valuation multiples guide, using the band for EBITDA under or over £1m. Six fixed, weighted factors, each scored 1 to 5, set the position between 10% and 90% of the range: recurring revenue (20%), customer concentration (20%), owner dependency (20%), management depth (15%), three-year EBITDA trend (15%) and quality of financial information (10%). Enterprise value is then adjusted for cash and borrowings to reach equity value, with a sensitivity table. Forecasts are shown separately as potential value, never as achieved. Full detail is in our valuation methodology.
Example output (fictional)
A fictional Midlands engineering firm with turnover of £4.1m, operating profit of £520,000, depreciation of £80,000 and a confirmed £60,000 of excess director pay has indicative adjusted EBITDA of £660,000. The published range for engineering businesses under £1m of EBITDA is 3.5x to 5.5x. Strong management and 55% contracted revenue, offset by a 25% largest customer, place it slightly above the midpoint, giving an indicative enterprise value of roughly £2.9m to £3.3m. With £400,000 of cash and £250,000 of borrowings, the indicative equity value is about £3.0m to £3.5m.
What the summary report contains
- Page 1: your indicative value, adjusted EBITDA, enterprise and equity value ranges and confidence level.
- Page 2: financial performance, actual and forecast figures, and the EBITDA bridge.
- Page 3: how the value was calculated, the sector range, positioning factors and sensitivity.
- Page 4: saleability and what buyers will look at.
- Page 5: how a business sale works, from preparation to completion.
- Page 6: recommended next steps for your business.
Limitations
This report provides an automated indicative valuation based solely on information supplied and confirmed by the user. The information has not been independently verified, and no due diligence, quality of earnings review, market testing or professional judgement has been undertaken. Possible EBITDA adjustments have not been independently approved. The result is not a formal valuation, an offer, a guarantee of sale price, or legal, tax, accounting or investment advice. It must not be relied upon for HMRC, court, shareholder dispute, EOT, EMI, lending or other formal purposes. Actual business value and sale proceeds may differ materially. A professional adviser-led valuation may reach a different conclusion.
Security and privacy
Uploads are accepted only as PDF, XLSX or CSV, checked from their actual content, and rejected if they contain macros, scripts or embedded files. They are read once on our servers over an encrypted connection, then discarded; they are never stored, emailed, logged or sent to analytics, and the automated reading service does not keep or train on them. Reports are held in private storage, reachable only through a seven-day link, and deleted when that link expires. See our privacy policy.
Who prepared this
The methodology and wording were prepared by Tony Vaughan, founder and lead adviser at BusinessValuation.co.uk. Last reviewed September 2026. For quicker, single-question tools, see the calculator suite.
Frequently asked questions
How much is my business worth in the UK?
For most profitable UK SMEs, buyers start from maintainable adjusted EBITDA and apply a multiple that reflects the sector, size and risk. This tool does exactly that with the figures you confirm: it rebuilds EBITDA, applies our published sector range, positions you in it using ten short questions, then bridges enterprise value to equity value using your cash and debt. The result is an indication, not a formal valuation.
Can I get a business valuation from my accounts?
You can get an indication. Upload up to three years of full accounts with a detailed profit and loss account, plus management accounts or a forecast if you have them. We read the figures, you check and correct every one, and only then is anything calculated. Abbreviated, filleted or micro-entity accounts usually do not contain enough profit and loss detail, so you would enter the figures manually instead.
Is this an AI valuation?
No. Automated reading is used only to find figures in your documents and suggest possible add-backs, which you must confirm. The valuation itself is calculated by fixed, published rules and our sector multiple ranges. The same figures entered manually produce exactly the same result.
How are EBITDA and possible add-backs assessed?
Reported EBITDA is operating profit plus depreciation and amortisation. Possible add-backs, such as director pay above a replacement salary, one-off professional fees or exceptional legal costs, are listed with their amount and source, and you confirm, amend or reject each one. Nothing is added automatically, and an adviser or buyer may take a different view.
Do I have to give my email address to see the result?
No. Your indicative value appears on screen first. Your details are only needed if you want the 4 to 6 page summary report emailed to you, and you can also send a copy to your adviser.
What happens to the accounts I upload?
They are checked, read once and discarded when the request finishes; we never store them, email them or put them in analytics. If you ask for the report, only your contact details and broad bands (such as the EBITDA band) are kept with your enquiry, and the report is deleted when its seven-day link expires.
Can I use this for HMRC, a dispute, an EOT or a bank?
No. For tax, court, shareholder disputes, employee ownership trusts, EMI option schemes, lending or any formal purpose you need a professional, adviser-led valuation. The report explains when that is appropriate.
When was this tool last reviewed?
The calculation rules, wording and safeguards were last reviewed in September 2026.
Ready to understand what your business is really worth?
Book a no-obligation call with Tony Vaughan. UK-wide, plain-English advice.