Defensible business valuations at historical valuation dates.
For amended assessments, historical CGT events, estate matters and prior-year transactions. Evidence-led valuations prepared with retrospective rigour.
A retrospective business valuation establishes the market value of a business or business interest at a date in the past. Retrospective valuations are required for amended tax assessments, historical CGT events, estate and probate matters, small business CGT concession claims for past events, and any matter where market value must be substantiated at a date prior to the report date. Oliver Group accepts retrospective engagements up to five years prior.
Why retrospective valuations are different
A retrospective valuation can only rely on information that was reasonably available at the valuation date. We cannot use hindsight, post-date market data, or information that emerged later. This makes evidence collection critical: contemporaneous financial statements, industry reports current at the date, comparable transaction data from the period, and records of what was known to management at the time. The supportable range is often narrower than a current valuation because available evidence is constrained.
A value as at 30 June 2027 can be prepared after the date, but keeping the evidence from the time makes it far easier to support.
Methodology for retrospective valuations
We apply the same multiple-methodology framework as a current valuation, with two important adjustments: we use market multiples and discount rates contemporaneous to the valuation date, and we document explicitly which information was and was not available. The report includes an expanded retrospective limitations section that names the dates of relied-upon evidence.
What it costs
Retrospective engagements add a $495 surcharge per historical date on top of the package fee, which is set by the annual turnover of the business: $1,495 + GST for annual turnover under $2 million, $2,495 + GST from $2 million to $10 million, and $3,495 + GST over $10 million. An estate matter needing three historical dates is therefore the package fee plus $1,485. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received.
What retrospective valuations cannot do
A retrospective valuation cannot substantiate a position that the evidence at the date did not support. We will not adopt a current-day understanding of value to a historical date. Where the evidence at the historical date is insufficient to support a confident conclusion, we say so and adopt conservative assumptions, with the limitations clearly stated in the report.
Common questions.
How far back can you value?+
Up to five years prior in our current operating policy. Engagements with valuation dates beyond five years are referred out, as the evidence base typically does not support a defensible retrospective conclusion.
What happens if contemporaneous documents are missing?+
We work with what is reasonably available and document the gaps. Where critical evidence is missing, we adopt conservative assumptions and disclose them clearly. If the gaps are too significant to form a defensible opinion, we will say so before the engagement proceeds.
- ·Market valuation for tax purposes (guide), Australian Taxation Office
- ·Market valuation of assets, Australian Taxation Office
- ·CGT events, Australian Taxation Office
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Tell us what you need valued.
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0433 475 518Mon to Fri, 9am to 5:30pm AEST
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Small Business Valuation
$1,495 + GST
For a business with annual turnover under $2 million. Signed and delivered in 2 business days. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. The fee is fixed in writing before we start and never tied to the outcome.
Larger business? Tell us in the form and we recommend the right package. All fees