A business valuation can help you prepare for a sale, bring in an investor, restructure ownership, plan your succession or understand how much value you have created. However, the quality of the result depends heavily on the quality of the financial information you provide.
Incomplete bookkeeping, unexplained transactions and unreliable forecasts can make it difficult for a valuer to understand your company’s true performance. They may have to make cautious assumptions, request additional evidence or spend time correcting figures before completing their work.
Using professional accountancy services Manchester businesses can rely on allows you to review your records before the valuation begins. You can identify errors, explain unusual movements and create a consistent set of figures that reflects the commercial reality of your business.
This preparation matters because the UK had approximately 5.69 million private sector businesses at the start of 2025. Small and medium-sized businesses generated an estimated £2.8 trillion of turnover and accounted for 60% of private sector employment. With so many businesses competing for buyers and investment, organised financial records can help your company withstand closer scrutiny.
Confirm why the valuation is required
Before preparing your accounts, establish why the business is being valued. A valuation produced for a possible sale may require different information from one prepared for tax, divorce proceedings, shareholder negotiations or an employee share scheme.
You should confirm:
- What business, company or shareholding is being valued
- The effective valuation date
- The reason for the valuation
- Whether the business is assumed to continue trading
- The required basis of value
- Who will use the final report
ICAEW guidance emphasises that a valuation assignment should begin by establishing what is being valued, when it is being valued and why the valuation is needed. The purpose can affect the method, assumptions and definition of value used by the valuer.
Complete your bookkeeping up to the valuation date
Your accounting records should be complete and current. If the latest figures are several months old, the valuer may not be able to identify recent changes in sales, margins or cash flow.
Bring all transactions up to date, including:
- Sales invoices and customer receipts
- Supplier invoices and payments
- Employee expenses
- Payroll journals
- Loan repayments and interest
- VAT, PAYE and Corporation Tax liabilities
- Stock purchases and adjustments
- Asset acquisitions and disposals
Do not enter estimated figures merely to fill gaps. Where information is unavailable, explain the issue and provide the best supporting evidence you have.
Reconcile every bank and finance account
Reconcile your bookkeeping records with the statements for every bank account, credit card, payment platform and finance agreement.
Unreconciled transactions may cause your cash, liabilities, income or expenses to be misstated. For example, a £20,000 receipt recorded twice could make turnover appear higher, while a missing loan payment could understate your liabilities.
Investigate old or unusual items rather than moving them into a suspense account. Any unexplained balance may create further questions during the valuation process.
You should also confirm that the closing balances for loans, hire purchase agreements and asset finance facilities agree with lender statements. Separate the outstanding capital from interest and fees where required.
Prepare reliable management accounts
Your latest statutory accounts may cover a financial year that ended many months ago. Prepare current management accounts so the valuer can see what has happened since then.
A useful management accounting pack may include:
- A monthly profit and loss account
- A current balance sheet
- A cash flow statement or summary
- An aged debtor report
- An aged creditor report
- Sales and gross margin analysis
- Performance against budget
- Comparisons with previous years
Make sure the reports use consistent categories. If marketing costs were recorded under advertising one year and professional fees the next, comparisons may be misleading.
Review large movements and prepare explanations. A fall in profit might be caused by a temporary investment in recruitment rather than a decline in the underlying business.
Normalise your profits
A valuer may adjust your reported profit to estimate the maintainable earnings of the business. This process is often described as normalising earnings.
Identify income and costs that are exceptional, personal or unlikely to continue. These could include:
- One-off legal or restructuring fees
- Unusual repairs following an incident
- Owner benefits not required by the business
- Personal expenses paid through the company
- Grants or insurance receipts
- Temporary consultancy costs
- Non-commercial salaries paid to family members
- Rent charged above or below a market rate
Do not simply remove expenses to increase the apparent profit. Every proposed adjustment should have a reasonable explanation and supporting documents.
For example, if your accounts contain a one-off £30,000 legal cost arising from a completed dispute, the valuer may consider whether it should be excluded from maintainable earnings. However, recurring legal and compliance expenses should normally remain.
Review revenue recognition and customer balances
Check that income has been recorded in the correct period. Deposits, staged projects, subscriptions and long-term contracts may require particular attention.
Avoid recognising the full value of a contract before you have completed the relevant work. Equally, make sure you have recorded income earned before the valuation date even when an invoice has not yet been issued.
Review your aged debtor report and consider whether each balance is recoverable. A £50,000 unpaid invoice may increase reported assets, but it adds limited value if the customer is insolvent or disputes the work.
Provide details of:
- Overdue invoices
- Disputed accounts
- Credit notes not yet processed
- Bad debt provisions
- Customer payment plans
- Significant work in progress
Check your stock and work in progress
If your company holds stock, perform a count close to the valuation date. Compare the quantities with your accounting records and investigate differences.
Review whether stock is damaged, obsolete or slow-moving. Products originally purchased for £40,000 may be worth considerably less if demand has fallen or the items can no longer be sold at their expected price.
Service and project-based businesses should review work in progress. You need a consistent method for calculating the value of partly completed work and should avoid including amounts that cannot be supported by timesheets, contracts or cost records.
Create a complete asset register
Review your fixed asset register and confirm that it includes equipment, vehicles, machinery, property, computers and other material assets owned by the business.
Remove items that have been sold, scrapped or lost. Check that depreciation has been recorded consistently and identify assets that may have a market value significantly different from their accounting value.
You should also identify intangible assets that may contribute to the valuation, such as:
- Registered trademarks
- Patents
- Proprietary software
- Licences
- Customer relationships
- Brands and domain names
- Documented processes
An intangible asset does not automatically have a separate financial value. You will need evidence showing how it contributes to revenue, profit or a competitive advantage.
Identify every liability and commitment
Your accounts should include all amounts the business owes. Review supplier balances, tax liabilities, employee obligations, leases, loans and legal claims.
Also disclose commitments that may not appear clearly in the balance sheet, including:
- Property lease obligations
- Personal guarantees
- Pending employment claims
- Warranty obligations
- Customer disputes
- Equipment rental contracts
- Deferred consideration from previous acquisitions
Failing to disclose a liability is unlikely to preserve the valuation. It may instead damage confidence when the issue is discovered during due diligence.
Analyse customer and supplier concentration
Prepare a breakdown of revenue by customer for at least the previous 12 months. A business generating £1 million in annual revenue may appear strong, but risk is higher if one customer contributes £600,000.
Explain whether major customers are protected by contracts, how long the relationships have existed and whether revenue is recurring.
You should carry out a similar review of suppliers. Dependence on one specialist supplier can affect value if alternative sources are limited or switching would be expensive.
Prepare evidence-based forecasts
Most valuations consider future earnings or cash flow in some form. Prepare forecasts that are ambitious enough to reflect genuine opportunities but realistic enough to withstand scrutiny.
Support your assumptions with:
- Signed customer contracts
- Confirmed orders
- Sales pipeline information
- Historical conversion rates
- Recruitment plans
- Expected salary and supplier costs
- Planned capital expenditure
- Market and pricing evidence
Include a base case and consider alternative scenarios. Show what could happen if sales were 10% lower, costs increased or a major customer left.
Organise your supporting documents
Create a secure folder or data room containing the information the valuer may require. Use clear filenames and make sure the figures agree across documents.
Your file should normally include recent accounts, management reports, tax returns, bank statements, contracts, forecasts, asset registers and details of finance agreements.
HMRC has a dedicated Shares and Assets Valuation function for valuing unquoted shares and certain other assets for tax purposes. This makes clear records particularly important when a valuation may affect Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax or an employee share arrangement.
Make your business valuation easier to support
Preparing your accounts does not mean trying to create the highest possible value. Your objective should be to provide accurate, consistent and explainable information.
U&W Chartered Accountants can help you update your bookkeeping, prepare management accounts, review unusual transactions and organise the financial evidence required for a valuation. Contact U&W today to arrange a consultation and make sure your accounts are ready before the valuation process begins.
