When to get a valuation: it's not just about the CGT reset

The 2027 transition has given most private business owners a deadline they did not choose. It is not the only moment a defensible value earns its fee — and in several of the others, timing matters even more.

The deadline everyone has: 30 June 2027

For most private companies the transition pins a market value to 30 June 2027, and that value has to be defensible long after the date has passed. Do the work in the year before, not the month after. Valuations depend on records, and records get harder to assemble the further you move from the period they describe.

The moments with no deadline and real consequences

• Succession: a generational handover is easier to plan, fund and explain when the value of the business has already been established.
• A shareholder or partner exiting: the cheapest valuation is the one done before positions harden.
• Disputes and family law: a signed report carries weight that an opinion does not.
• Capital, lending and insurance: lenders and insurers ask for a value, and a defensible one shortens the conversation.
• Estate planning and buy-sell agreements: an agreement is only as good as the valuation mechanism behind it.
• An approach you did not expect: a buyer with a cheque is a poor moment to start thinking about what the business is worth.

Why timing is the whole game

A valuation prepared in calm conditions, with records in order and nobody on the other side of the table, costs less and says more than the same report produced under negotiation. It also gives you options: the earlier you know the number, the more time you have to improve it before anyone else sees it.

Whatever the reason you need one, the honest first step is the free indicative range — a few minutes, no cost, no obligation.