The ValuEdge platform was built by credentialed appraisers who have collectively completed thousands of business valuations across every major industry. Our methodology is grounded in professional standards - specifically, the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and the Business Valuation Standards of the American Society of Appraisers - and applied through a technology platform that dramatically reduces the time and cost of producing a high-quality report without sacrificing rigor.
Every valuation begins with data. Through the ValuEdge platform, clients provide three to five years of historical financial statements (income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements), along with information about the business's industry, customer profile, management team, competitive position, and growth trajectory. The platform guides you through this process with a structured questionnaire that takes most clients 15 to 30 minutes to complete.
Our team reviews all submitted data for consistency and completeness before the analysis begins. If questions arise - about unusual line items, large year-over-year swings, or missing periods - a ValuEdge specialist reaches out to gather clarifying information. We do not proceed to analysis with incomplete or inconsistent data, because the quality of the output depends entirely on the quality of the inputs.
Private company financials are almost never "clean" from a valuation perspective. Owner compensation is frequently above or below market. Discretionary expenses - personal vehicles, family salaries, travel - often flow through the P&L. Non-recurring items like litigation settlements, one-time gains, or extraordinary losses distort the earnings picture. Our appraisers systematically identify and adjust for each of these items to arrive at a normalized EBITDA that reflects the true earning power of the business as it would operate under a hypothetical third-party owner.
This normalization step is often where the most significant value is identified - or where inflated owner expectations are appropriately calibrated. An owner who has been running $400,000 per year through the business as personal expenses may have been thinking of his EBITDA as $600,000 when it is really closer to $1,000,000 on a normalized basis. Alternatively, an owner who believes his company earns $2M in EBITDA may find that after adjusting for above-market rent paid to a related-party landlord, normalized EBITDA is closer to $1.6M.
With normalized financials in hand, our appraisers apply the recognized approaches to value. For most operating businesses, this means a combination of the income approach (discounted cash flow or capitalization of earnings) and the market approach (guideline public companies and/or guideline transactions). The weight given to each approach depends on the quality and availability of market data, the stability of the company's earnings, and the purpose of the valuation.
The income approach requires developing a discount rate using the build-up method - incorporating the risk-free rate, equity risk premium, industry risk premium, size premium, and company-specific risk adjustments. We draw on published data sources including Duff & Phelps Cost of Capital Navigator and industry-specific benchmarks to ensure our discount rates reflect current market conditions. The market approach requires identifying and screening a set of comparable companies or transactions from proprietary databases, calculating the relevant valuation multiples, and applying appropriate adjustments for differences in size, growth, and risk.
Every ValuEdge report is reviewed by a credentialed appraiser - an ASA or CFA - before it is delivered. This review ensures that the methodology is appropriate for the engagement, the assumptions are well-supported, and the final conclusions are internally consistent. The report includes a clear explanation of the approaches used, the key assumptions and their basis, the concluded value range, and a summary of the factors that most significantly influence the conclusion.
Reports are typically delivered within 24 to 48 hours of completing the data intake process. They are written in plain language designed to be understood by business owners, attorneys, and financial advisors - not just other appraisers. If you have questions after receiving your report, a ValuEdge specialist is available to walk you through the findings and answer any questions about the methodology or conclusions. Our goal is not just to deliver a number, but to ensure you understand what drives your business's value and what you can do to improve it.
Schedule a call with a ValuEdge expert and get your report within 24–48 hours.
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