Evidence-led business valuations for Canberra businesses.
Specialist valuations for Canberra and Australian Capital Territory businesses. CGT events, restructures, related-party transfers and small business CGT concession matters.
Oliver Group provides evidence-led business valuation services to Canberra businesses, accountants and lawyers. Our reports support CGT events, restructures, related-party transfers and small business CGT concession matters.
We value businesses, not real property. If you need land, premises or a dwelling valued, you need a certified practising valuer, which is not what we do. Where an engagement involves both, we value the business and separate the land component for a suitably qualified valuer.
State-specific considerations.
ACT engagements often involve professional services firms, government-services contractors and consulting practices. Methodology is calibrated for partner-dependent service businesses where relevant.
What actually differs in ACT.
There is no freehold land in the ACT, and that changes the asset side.
Every parcel in the Territory is held under a Crown lease, usually for 99 years, rather than freehold. It is the only jurisdiction in Australia where that is true across the board. For a valuation it means the premises a Canberra business occupies or holds is a leasehold interest with a finite term and lease conditions attached, including permitted use. A lease with 80 years to run behaves much like freehold. One with 20 years left, or one whose permitted use restricts what a buyer could do with the site, does not. We check the term and the purpose clause rather than assuming.
Security clearances hold the value and cannot be sold with the business.
This is the sharpest issue in Canberra and the one most often missed. A consultancy whose earnings depend on a cleared workforce looks highly profitable, but clearances attach to individuals, not to the entity. A buyer cannot acquire them. If the cleared staff can walk, so can the earnings, and the buyer will treat that as key person risk rather than transferable goodwill. What supports value instead is the depth of the cleared bench, tenure, and whether the client relationships sit with the firm or with the individuals holding the clearance.
Panel appointments are an asset with an expiry date.
Much of Canberra runs on Commonwealth procurement panels, and being on one is genuinely valuable. It is also finite. Panels are re-tendered, appointment is not a guarantee of work, and a business whose revenue concentrates on a single panel or agency carries the same concentration discount as a brand that depends on one supermarket. We look at when the panel is next contested, how much revenue depends on it, and how the business performed before it was appointed.
Government-adjacent earnings move with the budget cycle, not the market.
Consulting and services revenue in the Territory tends to track Commonwealth spending decisions, and it can move sharply after a machinery of government change, a procurement review or a shift in contractor policy. A strong year following a spending surge is not the same as a durable margin. We normalise across a cycle and read the contract profile rather than extrapolating the most recent period.
Industries we commonly value in Canberra.
- ·Professional services firms
- ·Government-services consultancies
- ·Medical and dental practices
- ·Hospitality
- ·IT services and MSPs
Canberra questions we get asked.
Do you need to visit our Canberra premises?
Usually not. Most ACT engagements are professional services businesses and run entirely on documents and a call. Where there is significant plant, stock or a specific site involved, we will say so at scoping and arrange an inspection or bring in a specialist for that component.
How much does a business valuation cost in Canberra?
The same as anywhere in Australia. Fees are fixed and published rather than set by location. An Indicative Snapshot starts at $990 + GST and a signed Essential report at $1,495 + GST, agreed in writing before we begin.
How do you value a consultancy that depends on security-cleared staff?
Carefully, and usually lower than the owner expects. Clearances are personal and do not transfer with the business, so earnings that rest on a small number of cleared individuals read as key person risk rather than goodwill a buyer can acquire. What lifts the number is a deeper cleared bench, long staff tenure, contracts held at entity level, and client relationships that survive an individual leaving.
Does the ACT leasehold system affect my valuation?
It affects how the property component is treated, not the business itself. A Crown lease is a finite interest with conditions on permitted use, so remaining term and lease conditions matter to what that interest is worth. We value the business and separate any land or leasehold component for a suitably qualified property valuer rather than opining on it ourselves.
How long does a Canberra business valuation take?
Ten to fourteen business days for a signed Essential report and fifteen to twenty-five for a Comprehensive one, from when we hold complete financials. Rush delivery is available at thirty per cent of the base fee.
Talk to a valuer
Tell us what you need valued.
A fifteen-minute call confirms the tier, the fixed fee and the delivery date — before you commit to anything.
0433 475 518Mon–Fri, 9am–5:30pm AEST
Fixed fees from $1,495 + GST · 10–35 business days