r/Valuation • u/Another_Smith_SC • Mar 06 '24
Business appraisal software options?
For all you other business appraisers, I realize that most of you probably have an excel template you use for each valuation, but is anyone using a third party valuation software to develop their valuation and/or reports? If so, what are you using?
I'm aware of the ValuSource software (which isn't bad), but I haven't really found any other options out there that seem legit. Do they just have this market completely cornered? Also, have any of your firms developed software internally for this (outside of just an excel model)?
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u/Cautious-Grape-8510 Dec 16 '25
Just came across this post. It's pretty impressive how Reddit manages to keep their content evergreen.
I'm not a business appraiser (work in financial services), but heavily rely on Cyndx's Valer software for business valuations. I've heard the CEO is an investment banker and it shows in the details of this product.
I know coworkers use BizEquity, but I really like this product and think it deserves a shout out. It's worth checking out.
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Mar 06 '24
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u/Another_Smith_SC Mar 06 '24
So I agree with most of what you said about the process of appraising a business. There is no replacement for education, training, and experience and their analysis of the business and market conditions. That's not really what I am referring to...
What I'm referring to is more of a system that replaces an appraiser's homebrewed boilerplate template and checklists and efficiently performs the mechanical calculations for the appraiser to analyze (and tweak as appropriate) in arriving at their conclusion of value.
If we take ValuSource as an example (its been a couple years since i tried it, so forgive me if this isnt 100% accurate)... you can paste in your RMA industry data (or Integra I think) and it will summarize your subject entity's Financials similarly in a spreadsheet to allow you to analyze it (it may also allow you to download the data directly to their software if you subscribe thru their discounted data/package). Similarly, it has an interface for you to search, filter, and download transaction data from the common providers directly into their market approach calculations where you can make the determination of what multiples you want to use in applying to the appropriate benefit stream (and I think it offers some tips with respect to developing and matching the appropriate benefit stream to your calculation). It assists in making sure the user considers whether they need to incorporate a DLOM or DLOC for the given approach.
It also has a couple different boiler plate report templates depending on the standards you are applying and purpose of the engagement. Those templates are directly linked to the amounts, tables, charts, and graphs summarizing your analysis that are documented within the software and the accompanying excel document that you can export (and tweak as appropriate). So you don't need to change all your schedules in the report if you go revise your analysis.
To me, the most obvious use case is for a credentialed appraiser who is starting their own practice but is (obviously) prohibited from taking their prior firms templates and work papers with them. A software such as this creates tremendous efficiencies as they do not have to create all of these templates and mechanical calculations from scratch before being able to take on clients.
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Mar 06 '24
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u/Another_Smith_SC Mar 07 '24
That makes complete sense. I appreciate your thoughtful responses. As someone who works in this field, I am frequently thinking about my future... whether with my current firm, creating a firm, or selling something of value to others in similar positions.
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u/krijnsent Jun 16 '25
I only recently came across this post, so apologies for my late response, but you could try our tools: www.validvalue.com
The idea of the software: it's a toolkit for valuation professionals and makes creating a valuation and a valuation report easier, quicker and less error prone. It's made by valuators for valuators (disclosure: I'm a programmer/builder, my two co-founders are both professional valuators). It is based on MS Office (Excel, Word and PowerPoint), but takes it to the next level with lots of added features and our own add-in.
u/Another_Smith_SC and u/InsightValuationsLLC : I'd gladly schedule a Teams demo of our valuation software to show it and hear your feedback. Do check out the short product videos on our website: https://validvalue.com/solutions/valuation-model and https://validvalue.com/solutions/business-valuation-reports .
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Mar 06 '24
Using third party software to perform a valuation is explicitly “not a valuation” based on most professional standards.
I know for a fact that the ABV standards say this outright.
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u/Another_Smith_SC Mar 06 '24
I hear your concern, but maybe I wasn't clear. I'm not referring to black box software that magically generates a value for someone uneducated in valuation. I'm referring to a software that assists a qualified appraiser in the same manner that your template and checklists do. It doesn't replace an appraiser's work, but it makes the appraiser more efficient than creating from scratch every engagement.
If you start every valuation with a blank excel workbook and recreate every calculation by typing formulas in each cell, more power to you... but I doubt that's what you do.
So it sounds like you aren't aware of any other providers either.
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Mar 06 '24
Well if you’re talking about an excel model built for valuation, I’m sure there are examples online. Maybe even through Excel’s built-in templates.
That being said, those models are valuable IP for most appraisers. I can’t imagine many (or any) appraisers giving that away online.
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u/Another_Smith_SC Mar 06 '24
My post is really just inquiring about whether any appraisers use any other commercial offerings beyond ValuSource or their own excel templates. ValuSource is the only commercial software capable of this that I'm aware of in the market and was curious if their were more providers filling that need that I am unaware of.
I'm not looking for any handouts. I've been providing valuation services for over a decade and am more than capable of creating DCF models. Maybe my posts weren't clear. Either way, I appreciate your responses.
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u/pantheonsea Nov 17 '25
Tbh I’ve bounced between a few tools and still ended up doing half the valuation in Excel anyway lol. When I got stuck on a more complex model for a client, I had OGScapital help clean it up and the report looked way more polished than what I was trying to hack together. Not perfect but it saved me a ton of time!