Four calculators

Calculators for buying or selling a business

Each calculator works on figures you type in, and nothing you enter leaves the page. The sale multiples show what buyers paid for businesses, by country and sector.

Running the business? The pricing, sales and operating calculators are on the tools page.

Calculator

Get your numbers on the same basis as the deals

Sale multiples apply to earnings worked out in a set way. This calculator takes the figures from your accounts and puts them on the same basis as the deals, then sets them against your sector. Nothing you enter leaves this page.

For a quick range first, see where yours would sit.

Use your last full financial year, or the latest 12 months to a recent month end. The deals are priced on past earnings, so use actual figures from the accounts.

Revenue$ millionSales for the year, before GST and after discounts, rebates and returns. Leave out one-off income, such as insurance payouts or a grant that will not recur. Leave out costs you recharge at cost, and interest or dividends received.Net profit after tax$ millionThe bottom line of your profit and loss. If it includes a gain or loss on selling assets, take that out first.Income tax expense$ millionThe tax line just above net profit. Use the expense the accounts show, even where the tax paid in the year differs.Interest paid$ millionInterest on loans, overdrafts and leases, often called finance costs. If interest received sits in the same line, take it off.

Depreciation and amortisation$ millionOften in the expenses list, or in the notes to the accounts. Include amortisation of goodwill and other bought intangibles, and depreciation of right-of-use assets if your accounts show them.

How do your accounts show rent?

Rent on premises, vehicles and equipment can appear in two ways. Pick the one your profit and loss uses.

As rent, in the expensesAs depreciation and interest on leasesNot sure

Most deals here count rent as an expense, inside EBITDA, as accounts did before 2019. Since then large businesses count a lease as an asset and a debt, so rent shows as depreciation and interest instead. If your accounts show rent as an expense, nothing changes. If they show leases as assets, the calculator takes the year's lease payments off your EBITDA, so it matches the deals. Then leave lease debts out of net debt in the exit value bridge.

Many recent deals do not say which basis they used. For a business with a large rent bill, such as a shop, a clinic or a restaurant, read the comparison as rougher.

Add-backs a buyer may accept$ millionOwner costs and one-offs that a buyer may take out of the expenses. Sort them in the add-backs sorter, then bring the accepted total here.Open the add-backs sorter

Net debt (optional)$ millionBorrowings less cash, from the balance sheet. Leave out lease liabilities, so the figure matches the deals' basis.Your sectorPick the sector closest to how your business earns most of its revenue.

These multiples come from deals mostly of A$10 million or more. Small owner-run businesses often sell on the owner's earnings, called seller's discretionary earnings, and at a lower multiple. For those, a business broker's figures are a better guide.

Calculator

Where would the value at exit come from?

Enterprise and equity value today and at exit, on multiples you choose, split into EBITDA growth, the change in multiple and lower net debt. Nothing you enter leaves this page.

NowEBITDA$ million a yearYour multiple of EBITDAtimesNet debt (debt less cash)$ million

At exitEBITDA growth% a yearYears to exityearsYour assumed exit multipletimesNet debt at exit$ million

Where to find your multiples: a broker's appraisal, recent sales of businesses in your sector, or listed peers' multiples less a discount for being private. Put in your own.

EBITDA at exit: $9.7m, which is $8m grown at 5% a year for 4 years.

Enter your multiple for today and at exit to see the values.

This is arithmetic on the multiples you enter. It is not a valuation, and it says nothing about what a buyer would pay.

What moves your multiple. A buyer pays for what it can check. Is the growth proven? Do a few customers carry the revenue? Does the business run without its owner? Can you produce the numbers a buyer will ask for? The check for selling a business asks these and 20 more.

What businesses sold for, by sector

Median multiples of EBITDA for Australian businesses that were bought. Each sector links to its detail.

Sector	Median (times EBITDA)	Deals

Listed companies in Australia, New Zealand and Canada traded at 12.0 times EBITDA in January 2026. They usually trade higher than private businesses sell for.

All sectors, sizes and the method

For businesses sold through a broker, see small business sales. They use the owner's net return, so they do not compare with the table above.

To test the multiple you put in, see what businesses sold for, by country and sector.

The formula. Enterprise value is EBITDA times the multiple. Equity value is enterprise value less net debt. EBITDA at exit is today's EBITDA grown at your rate for the years to exit. The EBITDA gain is valued at today's multiple; the change in multiple is valued on exit EBITDA; lower net debt adds to equity dollar for dollar. The three add up to the change in equity value.

Goes with the deal check for selling a business.

Reference

What did businesses in your sector sell for?

Pick a sector, then narrow it by years or by deal size. Each line gives the median deal. From ten deals up it also gives the middle half. A narrower pick shows once enough deals sit inside it.

MarketMultiple ofSectorYears announcedDeal size (enterprise value)

Calculator

Which of your add-backs will a buyer argue with?

Your proposed EBITDA add-backs, sorted by how a buyer's diligence team tends to treat each kind, with the question it asks. Nothing you enter leaves this page.

Reported EBITDA$ thousand

Add-back 1$ thousand

Usually accepted, with evidence. A buyer asks: What will running the business cost under new owners, fees to shareholders included?

Add-back 2$ thousand

Contested. A buyer asks: Is the dispute over?

Add-back 3$ thousand

Usually rejected. A buyer asks: Have they shown up in the accounts yet?

Reported$4,000k

With the usually accepted$4,250k

With the contested too$4,370k

With every add-back$4,670k

$420k of your add-backs are the kind a buyer's team argues with or takes out.

Due diligence reports call these adjustments management's own judgement. The labels say how such items tend to be treated, not what a buyer will accept.

The formula. Reported EBITDA, plus the add-backs usually accepted with evidence, then the contested ones, then the ones usually taken out. The tool adds up what you enter; it does not judge any line.

Goes with the checks for selling a business, which open with the deal checks.

Calculator

How much of your revenue rides on a few customers?

The share of revenue from your largest customer, your top five and your top ten, the concentration index, and what a buyer asks about it. Nothing you enter leaves this page.

Total revenue last year$ thousandYour largest customers' revenue, $ thousand, one a line

Largest customer16.8%

Top 545.2%

Top 1058.2%

Your largest customer is 16.8% of revenue, and your top ten are 58.2%.

The Herfindahl-Hirschman index of the customers listed is 540 out of 10,000. The customers you have not listed can only add to it.

What a buyer's diligence team asks

When does each large contract end, and how many renew in the next twelve months?
How long have the largest customers stayed?
How much revenue has left each year, measured from the billing records?
Is there pressure on price at each renewal?
Could a merger, or a move to supply in-house, take an account away?
Is the largest customer's share of profit bigger than its share of revenue?

The formula. Each customer's share is its revenue divided by the total. The Herfindahl-Hirschman index adds up the squared shares in percentage points, from near 0 for many small customers to 10,000 for one.

Goes with the checks for buying a business and selling one, which open with the deal checks.