“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” — Peter Drucker
The Value Behind the Value
A business valuation isn’t just about preparing for a sale. It’s about understanding one of the most important assets in your financial life — and using that knowledge to make better decisions.
Whether you’re building a succession plan, exploring charitable strategies, updating a buy-sell agreement, or simply curious about where you stand, an objective valuation can provide the clarity and confidence you need. We don’t use back-of-the-envelope estimates or broad industry rules. Instead, we tailor each valuation to your business’s structure, performance, and planning goals — so you’re working with numbers that actually mean something.
It’s not just about what your business is worth. It’s about what that value allows you to do next.
Our Valuation Process, at a Glance
Integrated with Your Financial Plan
We don’t treat valuation as a standalone service. It’s designed to complement your retirement, estate, and tax planning — giving you a clearer view of your total financial picture.
Objective, Defensible Results
Our process provides a well-reasoned, clearly documented valuation that stands up to outside scrutiny — helpful for partner discussions, estate planning, and long-term transitions.
Collaboration with Your CPA or Attorney
We coordinate with your existing advisors to ensure the valuation aligns with your legal and tax strategy, keeping all the moving pieces connected.
Tailored to Your Business Structure
We don’t use cookie-cutter models. Each valuation is customized to reflect your company’s size, industry, ownership structure, and specific planning needs — so the results are relevant and actionable.
Useful Well Before a Sale
Even if you’re not selling anytime soon, a valuation supports buy-sell agreements, gifting strategies, and retirement readiness — so you’re never caught unprepared.
Built for Closely Held Businesses
We specialize in helping owners of private, closely held businesses — including service firms, family-owned companies, and real estate entities — get clarity on what they’ve built.
Supporting Owners at Every Stage
You don’t need to be ready to sell to benefit from a business valuation. In fact, many of the most impactful decisions — like retirement timing, succession planning, or charitable giving — rely on knowing your number well in advance.
At Suttle Crossland, we work with closely held business owners across industries, including professional services, real estate partnerships, and family-run enterprises. Some clients are exploring transitions to family or key employees. Others are preparing for an eventual sale or building personal net worth statements to support broader financial planning. Whatever the scenario, we bring structure and objectivity to the conversation.
A business valuation often reveals opportunities, identifies gaps, and helps guide conversations with advisors, partners, and future stakeholders.
Integrated with Your Plan
A standalone valuation can answer the question, “What’s it worth?” But when paired with the rest of your financial picture, it can answer much more powerful ones:
What can I afford to do next? What happens if I step back? What legacy will I leave behind?
That’s why we build valuations to integrate seamlessly with your broader plan. Whether we’re already helping with investment strategy, retirement planning, or estate coordination — or stepping in just for this project — our process is designed to connect with the people and strategies already in place.
We also collaborate closely with your CPA, attorney, and other professionals when needed, ensuring that the valuation serves the full scope of your financial, legal, and tax considerations.
Why It Matters
Your business may be your most valuable asset — but without a clear valuation, it’s hard to plan around it with confidence.
We often meet business owners who are planning for retirement, updating an estate plan, or revisiting a buy-sell agreement. And in many cases, they’re working with numbers based more on instinct than analysis. That’s where problems begin.
Without a current valuation:
- You might underestimate what you can afford in retirement
- Your estate plan could miss key gifting or tax opportunities
- Your buy-sell agreement may be outdated or unenforceable
- Your family could be left guessing in the event of an unexpected transition
With a clear, tailored valuation, you don’t just get a number — you gain clarity, leverage, and peace of mind. It’s not about selling your business. It’s about knowing what it’s worth to you, and how that fits into everything else.
Frequently Asked Questions
In many cases, yes — but it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.
Business valuations aren’t just for exit planning. They can play a meaningful role in retirement modeling, estate and tax strategies, gifting decisions, and partner transitions. Even if you’re not preparing to sell anytime soon, having a current valuation can make a surprising difference in the quality of your planning.
We often work with clients who want to explore “what-if” scenarios — stepping back from day-to-day operations, bringing in a family member, or simply understanding how the business fits into their total net worth. A valuation gives you something concrete to plan around.
Most of our valuations fall between $2,500 and $5,000, but the exact cost depends on the nature of your business, the complexity of your ownership structure, and the depth of analysis required.
If you’re operating a relatively straightforward service business, the cost may be on the lower end. If you’re managing multiple entities, have recent partner changes, or need a more detailed review of financials, we’ll likely need more time — and that can affect the price. We’ll walk through this with you ahead of time so you have a clear sense of what’s involved before we begin.
Yes, we do.
While many clients engage us for broader planning or investment management, we also offer business valuations as a standalone service. Whether you’re preparing for a transition, updating a buy-sell agreement, or simply want a clearer picture of what your business is worth, we’re happy to help — no ongoing advisory relationship required.
If it’s a good fit, we’ll provide a clear scope and fixed fee up front so you know exactly what to expect.
We primarily work with privately held businesses — including professional service firms, real estate partnerships, and family-owned companies.
If your business is closely held and makes up a meaningful part of your financial picture, there’s a good chance we can help. And if we’re not the right fit, we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction.
There’s no hard rule here — it really depends on what you’re using it for.
If the valuation is tied to a buy-sell agreement, estate planning, or a charitable gifting strategy, it’s important to keep it reasonably current. For many of our clients, that means refreshing it every 2–3 years. But if your business has changed significantly — in revenue, ownership, or structure — it may be worth updating sooner.
Some clients prefer to update valuations on a more regular schedule, especially if they’re approaching a transition or considering multiple planning strategies. Others only revisit when there’s a trigger event. We can help you decide what makes the most sense in your case.
No.
Our valuations are intended for financial planning and strategic decision-making — not for litigation, IRS reporting, or regulatory compliance. If you’re navigating a divorce, Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) creation, or a legal dispute where a certified appraisal is required, we’ll need to bring in a third-party valuation expert with specific credentials.
That said, many clients find our valuations more than sufficient for internal decision-making, succession discussions, or coordinating with their estate planning attorney or CPA. And if a formal valuation is needed, we’re happy to help manage that process and connect you with a qualified provider.
Yes, and we often do.
In our experience, a business valuation works best when it’s integrated with your legal and tax strategy. That’s why we’re happy to coordinate directly with your CPA, estate attorney, or other advisors to make sure everything fits together. Whether we’re aligning it with a gifting strategy, syncing with a buy-sell agreement, or updating a financial plan, we aim to make the valuation a useful tool — not just a document that sits in a drawer.
If you’re already working with a professional team, we’ll adapt our process to fit smoothly into the work you’re doing with them.
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