Business valuation calculator

What is your business worth—and what could be holding it back?

See an indicative value range, what’s pushing it up or down, and which numbers are worth getting clearer on. Clearer numbers help you plan for a sale, improve profitability, or make your next decision with confidence.

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1

Start with your business numbers

Use the same 12-month period for revenue and earnings. Approximate figures are fine to start.

Example business

We’ve filled in $5M revenue, $750K annual EBITDA, and 10% growth to show how this works. Replace them with your figures.

Total sales over your last 12 months, in US dollars. You can type 5m or 850k.

How would you like to enter earnings?

Earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization. This is not revenue, cash in the bank, or the amount you take home.

Help me find EBITDA

Start with net income on your annual profit-and-loss statement. Add back interest expense, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Ask your accountant to confirm the figures and any one-off adjustments.

Owner pay and discretionary expenses need careful treatment. Smaller owner-operated businesses are often valued on seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE) instead, which is a different measure.

Annual revenue growth

Your last 12 months compared with the 12 months before.

2

What would a buyer worry about?

These are the risks buyers most often discount for. Answer for your business today; “I’m not sure” widens your range instead of counting against you.

Does the business rely on you for sales, delivery, or key relationships?

Would customers and staff carry on normally if you stepped away for a few months? Buyers pay less when value could leave with the owner.

Does your largest customer account for more than 20% of revenue?

Use the last 12 months. Losing a large customer would hit earnings hard, so buyers treat it as a risk.

Does most of your revenue come through one channel?

For example, one marketplace, retailer, distributor, referral partner, or ad platform.

Is demand in your market unusually volatile?

For example, highly cyclical, driven by commodity prices, or dependent on one regulation or trend.

3

How confident are you in your numbers?

Buyers, lenders, and your own team need numbers they can trust. Gaps here lower the bottom of your range, because buyers price in what they can’t verify.

Do your accounting and sales reports agree?

For the same dates and definition of revenue, can your team explain any differences?

Can you see which customers, products, or services generate the most profit?

Use whichever view matters for your business, with the relevant costs included.

Can your team get these answers without you or a spreadsheet scramble?

Think about whether someone else could produce the same reports while you were away.

Optional: repeat-customer metrics

Add these if you have repeat or subscription customers and track them. Known values adjust your range; “I don’t know” and “Not applicable” leave it unchanged.

Net revenue retention

Revenue this year from last year’s customers, divided by what those same customers paid last year. Include lost customers and upsells; exclude new customers. It can exceed 100%.

Customer lifetime value / acquisition cost

Expected gross profit over a customer’s lifetime divided by the cost to acquire that customer.

Example business

Indicative enterprise value

$2.2M–$3.0M

$750,000 annual EBITDA × 3.0×–4.0×

Indicative enterprise value $2.2M–$3.0M.

A rule-of-thumb range for privately held businesses, not an appraisal or sale price. Enterprise value is before debt, cash, deal fees, and taxes.

A shared link includes your figures and answers. Share only with people you want to see them.

What’s shaping your range

  • Starting point: $750.0K EBITDA × 3.3×$2.5M
  • Revenue growth+$150.0K
  • Middle of your range$2.6M

Answer the questions in step 2 to see what could be holding your value back.

Each extra point of EBITDA margin would add about $238.5K to the middle of your range.

Beyond the valuation

What would help you trust your numbers?

0 of 7 questions answered

Answer the questions to see where clearer numbers could help. You can continue even if you don’t know your earnings.

Make your numbers easier to use

Review your revenue, customer, and margin reporting with Stackless. See what you can already back up with data and where better reporting would help.

Review my business reporting

Start with a conversation about your reporting. No need to share financial figures to book a call.

Example business value

$2.2M–$3.0M

Methodology

How the estimate works

  1. 1

    Start with annual earnings

    Enter annual EBITDA directly or as a percentage of revenue, for the same 12 months. If you don’t know earnings, you can still see which risks and reporting gaps to look at first.
  2. 2

    A starting multiple for your size

    Businesses with larger earnings usually sell for a higher multiple of them. The starting point rises gradually from 2.5× EBITDA at $250K to 6× at $10M and above. These are general rules of thumb for privately held businesses, not benchmarks for your industry.
  3. 3

    Adjusted for what buyers look for

    Revenue growth, EBITDA margin, and, where relevant, customer retention move the multiple up or down. Owner dependency, customer concentration, a single sales channel, and a volatile market reduce it by 25%, 15%, 10%, and 10%.
  4. 4

    Uncertainty widens the range

    The range starts 15% either side of the midpoint. Each “I’m not sure” and each reporting gap lowers the bottom of the range, because buyers price in what they can’t verify. Knowing your numbers narrows it.
  5. 5

    Understand the limits

    Industry, deal terms, assets, and owner compensation all affect what a buyer will pay. Smaller owner-operated businesses are often valued on seller’s discretionary earnings (SDE) instead. A valuation adviser can choose the right method for your business.
  6. 6

This educational estimate is not a formal valuation, market appraisal, or financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. Calculations run in your browser. Shared links include the figures and answers you enter.

How confident are you in the numbers behind your decisions?

Stackless brings your business data together so you can understand profitability, track performance, and answer important questions with confidence. Start with the reporting that would help you most.

Review my business reporting