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Business Valuation Estimator

Estimate what your business could be worth using industry-standard revenue, SDE, and EBITDA multiples.

Inputs

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15%
0%50%100%

Valuation Methods

Revenue Multiple

Low (3.0x)

$3,000,000

Mid (8.0x)

$8,000,000

High (15.0x)

$15,000,000

SDE Multiple

Low (4.0x)

$800,000

Mid (8.0x)

$1,600,000

High (12.0x)

$2,400,000

EBITDA Multiple

Low (6.0x)

$1,200,000

Mid (12.0x)

$2,400,000

High (20.0x)

$4,000,000

Estimated Valuation Range

$800,000to$15,000,000

Midpoint estimate: $4,000,000

Valuation Comparison

Revenue$8.0MSDE$1.6MEBITDA$2.4M$0$3.5M$6.9M$10.3M$13.8M$17.3M

How it works

Business valuation using multiples works by comparing your financial metrics to what similar businesses have sold for. Revenue multiples are based on your top-line sales. SDE (Seller's Discretionary Earnings) multiples use your net income plus owner benefits and one-time expenses -- this is most common for small businesses under $5M. EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) multiples are the standard for larger businesses and institutional buyers, as they normalize for capital structure and accounting decisions.

The formula

Revenue Valuation = Annual Revenue x Industry Revenue Multiple SDE Valuation = Annual SDE x Industry SDE Multiple EBITDA Valuation = Annual EBITDA x Industry EBITDA Multiple Growth Adjustment: >20% growth = 1.2x multiplier, >40% growth = 1.5x multiplier

Why it matters for your business

Understanding your business valuation matters whether you plan to sell or not. It affects fundraising leverage, partnership negotiations, equity compensation decisions, and long-term strategic planning. Knowing which metric drives your valuation helps you focus on the right levers -- a SaaS company should optimize for recurring revenue growth, while a services firm should focus on increasing SDE margins.

Pro tip

SaaS businesses command the highest multiples because of recurring revenue predictability. If you run a service business, productizing even a portion of your revenue into subscription offerings can dramatically increase your valuation multiple. A $1M revenue service business at 1x revenue is worth $1M, but shift 30% to SaaS-like recurring and you could justify a 2-3x blended multiple.

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