· BUSINESS VALUATION · EXIT PLANNING · SUCCESSION · DISPUTES
A Defensible Answer to What Your Business Is Worth
Business value often becomes uncertain until a sale, dispute, or succession forces the question. Archer Lewis delivers valuations that hold up in negotiations, legal proceedings, and IRS scrutiny.
Our Approach
A defensible number, grounded in analysis.
Business valuation draws on financial history, industry benchmarks, market conditions, and the specific characteristics of your business to arrive at a defensible, documented value. That number matters enormously when you're selling, bringing in a partner, planning your estate, navigating a divorce, or responding to an IRS challenge. Archer Lewis conducts valuations prepared by specialists who understand the standards, the methodologies, and what it takes to defend the result when it counts.
What's Included
Valuation services for every situation that requires one
Business valuation isn't one-size-fits-all. The purpose, the standard of value, and the level of documentation required vary by situation. We match the engagement to what you actually need.
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Exit & Sale Valuation
Know what your business is worth before you enter a sale process, so you negotiate from an informed position, not a guess.
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Estate & Gift Tax Valuation
IRS-defensible valuations for estate planning, gifting of business interests, and estate tax returns.
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Succession Planning Valuation
Establish a fair value for ownership transfers to family members, partners, or key employees.
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Shareholder Dispute Valuation
Independent, defensible valuations for buy-sell disputes, divorce proceedings, and shareholder disagreements.
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SBA & Financing Valuation
Lender-required valuations for SBA loans and other financing transactions that require third-party business value documentation.
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Purchase Price Allocation
Post-acquisition allocation of purchase price to acquired assets, required for financial reporting and tax purposes.
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Minority & Marketability Discounts
Defensible discount analysis for minority interests and lack of marketability, critical for estate, gift, and litigation purposes.
The value of your business affects your taxes, your estate, and your exit.
A poorly supported valuation can lose credibility in a negotiation, invite an IRS challenge, or produce an unfair result in a legal dispute. Archer Lewis prepares valuations to professional standards, documented to withstand scrutiny from buyers, the IRS, and the courts.
Talk to a Valuation Specialist
Common Questions
What business owners ask about valuation.
Revenue multiples are a starting point, not a conclusion. A defensible valuation accounts for profitability, growth trajectory, customer concentration, management depth, industry conditions, and dozens of other factors that move the number significantly from a simple multiple. When the valuation is used in a transaction, legal proceeding, or tax filing, it has to hold up to scrutiny. A multiple estimate won't.
Most valuations take three to six weeks from the time we have complete financial information. Complex businesses, litigation timelines, or tight deal schedules can affect the timeline. We communicate clearly at the start about what we need and how long it will take.
Typically three to five years of financial statements, recent tax returns, a current balance sheet, and information about your business operations, customers, and industry. We provide a complete document request list at the start of the engagement.
Fair market value is the standard most commonly used for tax purposes: the price a hypothetical willing buyer and seller would agree on. Fair value is used in shareholder disputes and certain legal contexts and may produce a different result. The right standard depends on the purpose of the valuation.
Sometimes, but not always. A valuation prepared for estate planning may not be appropriate for a sale negotiation, and vice versa. We discuss the intended use at the start of every engagement to make sure the valuation is prepared to the right standard for its purpose.
