Valuations

Need Business Valuations? We Have a Team for That.

Why HGA Value Advisory?

(HGA Value Advisory is a division of HGA Chartered Professional Accountants)

As business owners, there will be times where understanding the value of your business is critical, and where a reliable business valuation can help guide major financial, legal, and strategic decisions.

At some point in your business’ life cycle, you will likely be looking to:

Buy or sell a business;
Avoid potential disputes with CRA as part of your tax planning strategies;
Determine how much life insurance should be put in place as part of your estate planning;
Secure financing;
Settle a shareholder or matrimonial dispute over the value of your assets; or
Require financial litigation support or loss quantification to recover lost profits that arose through no fault of your own.

As Chartered Business Valuators (CBVs), we can provide formal business valuations, valuation advisory services, and expert reports to meet your needs in all these areas.

We work with your tax, legal, wealth advisory, and banking professionals, both within the HGA Group and from outside, to provide you with solutions to meet your many valuation needs as business owners.

Mergers and Acquisitions

We work with business owners to: determine what their business is worth through a defensible business valuation; determine what is a fair purchase price for the business they’re looking to buy; provide buy-side and sell-side due diligence and quality of earnings reviews; review agreements and negotiate pricing terms; and provide pre-sale planning advice.

Your business is likely your biggest investment, and we can help you gauge what a reasonable expectation of a transaction price might be through an independent lens, or we can provide strategies for you to get the best deal you can.

Valuations for Tax Planning

The concept of fair market value (FMV) comes up frequently in tax planning when transacting at non-arm’s length — whether you’re looking at intergenerational business transfers, corporate reorganizations, estate freezes, or the death of a shareholder — CRA wants to make sure you’re paying your fair share of taxes.

That often involves ensuring that you are using appropriate values to determine how much tax will be realized on gains, or to determine new adjusted cost bases. We are often asked to prepare business valuations and valuation reports to comply with CRA’s standards, minimizing your risk of unforeseen tax consequences that can arise where shortcuts are taken to determine FMV.

Valuations for Estate and Insurance Planning

Whether it’s the lives of your surviving family or the employees whose livelihoods depend on their jobs, you’ve likely built your business in the hopes that it will outlive you.

Does your business have enough life insurance in place to meet buyout provisions in your USA — or are you willing to risk the business being forced into insolvency because it doesn’t have the cash to buy back shares from a deceased shareholder’s estate? Do you have enough life insurance in place so that your estate can pay taxes owing on the gains in value that your business earned under your control — or will your estate be forced to sell the business to pay those taxes?

Whether you’ve thought about it or not, understanding what your business is worth through a current business valuation can be critical to its viability after you pass away.

Financing and Financial Modeling

When valuing a business, the valuator always considers the returns that a rational investor would require on their investment. When you understand that a lender is one of those investors in your business, seeking a return on their investment, you can understand how a valuations expert can be a key advisor when securing your financing needs.

Whether your lender wants a formal valuation report, you require financial analysis and modeling in support of your ability to service your debt requirements, or you are looking at how best to structure your capital to fit your business model, we can help owners with financing solutions to fit their business needs.

Valuations in Dispute Settlement

Sometimes shareholders don’t see eye-to-eye with each other, and business owners are no more immune to marital breakdown than anyone else. There are times that the only way to end those relationships involves dividing up assets, and when that happens, the business is often the biggest asset at play.

We can provide independent business valuations and valuation reports to help ensure fairness in these difficult times.

Financial Litigation Support and Loss Quantification

Chartered Business Valuators are not only recognized for their valuation expertise, but they are also often relied upon by the Courts as experts in other financial matters. We have experience in calculating lost income in cases of personal injury, expropriation, business interruption, dissipation of assets, and other cases involving contracts, tort and negligence.

Understand the Value Behind Your Next Decision

Whether you’re planning a transaction, preparing for succession, or addressing a dispute, clear valuation insight can make the path forward easier to navigate.

👉 Talk to HGA CPA About Valuation Advisory