By Bruce McGechan, CVA — Fealty Business Valuations · Last reviewed 16 September 2026
For a private business valuation, ask for a fixed fee tied to a named report standard. A time-and-materials estimate from an accounting firm can be perfectly reasonable. It’s still a forecast, though, and if the job runs long you pay for the extra hours.
What each type of provider charges is covered in how much a business valuation costs in NZ. This article is about how the quote is built and what to check before you sign. If you’re not yet sure you need a valuation at all, start with when do you need a professional business valuation?
In September 2026 I checked the valuation pages of three national and mid-tier accounting firms. None of them publishes a fee. The specialist valuers I found who do publish (me included) all price as a fixed fee, and the lowest published price I found was $1,250 for a short report on a small business.
The reasons for the range are mostly sound. A firm often can’t see the size of the job until it opens the books: three entities instead of one, related-party rent, a shareholder current account that hasn’t been reconciled in years.
Its costs move with partner and staff hours, so billing on time matches how it spends money. A valuation at a firm can also grow into tax or restructuring advice, which is hard to price on day one.
So you’ll usually get an estimated range and a line saying work is billed on time. That’s an honest answer. (Brokers price differently again; their appraisals are free, for reasons I set out in business valuation vs broker appraisal.)
An open-ended fee has no ceiling. The estimated range is a forecast, and nothing about a range caps the final bill.
Scope creep does most of the damage. Each addition is reasonable on its own: another entity, a second meeting with the other shareholder, a list of questions from their accountant, a draft revised after comments. Each one is billed.
A fixed fee is an hours estimate the valuer has agreed to wear. I build mine by adding up the hours each stage takes for a given report standard: merging several years of accounts, normalising them, ratio analysis, applying the approaches, writing up and review. Then I allow for the jobs that run long, because some always do.
That’s why the purpose of the report moves my fee and turnover mostly doesn’t, a point this cost article explains. A fixed fee still has edges.
It assumes the information arrives in usable form and the scope stays where the engagement letter put it. A good letter says what happens when either assumption fails.
The report standard drives the hours more than anything else. NACVA describes a calculation engagement as one where “the client and member agree to specific valuation approaches, methods, and the extent of selected procedures”.
A Conclusion of Value goes further. The valuer considers all three approaches and documents every assumption, so a hostile reader can test it.
The extra hours go on work a Calculation leaves out: site visits, director interviews, evidence behind each adjustment and footnotes ready for cross-examination. In court the valuer is an expert witness with “an overriding duty to assist the court impartially” under Schedule 4 of the High Court Rules 2016, and the report is written for that duty.
The expensive mistake is buying a Calculation for a matter that later goes to court. NACVA’s own guidance says a court “may attribute less weight to a calculation of value”, so you end up paying for the higher standard as well. If a dispute is a real possibility, say so when you ask for the quote.
These questions cover most of the fee risk, whichever pricing model you’re offered. Get the answers in writing before any work starts.
– What’s included, and what’s listed as excluded?
– What triggers a variation, and is it priced hourly or as a fixed add-on?
– If the scope changes, will you tell me before doing the extra work?
– Who pays for a second valuation date? Under s 2G of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976, property is valued at the date of the hearing unless the court decides otherwise, so a relationship property report can need updating.
– Are expert witness time and replies to the other side’s valuer included?
Why won’t an accountant give me a fixed price for a business valuation? Usually because they can’t see the size of the job until they’ve opened the books, and their costs move with partner and staff hours. Most will give an estimated range. Ask what would push the fee to the top of it.
Is a fixed fee valuation lower quality? The pricing model decides who carries the overrun risk. Quality comes from the report standard and the valuer, so check the standard named in the engagement letter and the credential behind the signature.
What isn’t included in a fixed fee valuation? That depends on the valuer, which is why the engagement letter matters. The exclusions I’d look for are extra entities, a second valuation date, expert witness time and responses to another valuer’s report.
Can a Calculation of Value be upgraded to a Conclusion of Value? Usually some of the analysis carries over. The procedures the Calculation left out still have to be done and paid for, so ask the valuer to price the upgrade before you commission the Calculation.
Who pays if the valuation date changes? Whoever the engagement letter says. If it’s silent, expect the second date to be billed as new work. Settle it up front, especially in a relationship property matter, where the hearing date sets the value.
Fealty’s valuations are fixed-fee, priced by report standard, with inclusions set out in the engagement letter. See pricing and what’s included.
Sources: NACVA, Standards and Ethics FAQ Library; High Court Rules 2016, Schedule 4; Property (Relationships) Act 1976, s 2G; published fees and service pages of New Zealand valuation providers and accounting firms, checked 16 September 2026.
This article is published for general information. It isn’t legal or financial advice.
About the Author
Bruce McGechan, CVA — Fealty Business Valuations
Bruce McGechan is a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA), credentialled by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA), and a Certified M&A Advisor. He has valued 90 privately held New Zealand businesses across many sectors. Based in Palmerston North and working nationwide, he prepares independent valuations for shareholder buyouts, succession and pre-sale planning, and relationship property and shareholder disputes. His work applies NACVA professional standards to New Zealand conditions — local transaction evidence, NZ tax settings, and the thin-market realities of owner-operated and mid-market companies.
Talk to Bruce: 021-245-8881