Terms of Use & Disclaimer

ValuBase is an online business valuation utility designed principally for UK SMEs. It provides a structured analytical tool for estimating the indicative Enterprise Value of established private businesses using financial performance, maintainable EBITDA, market calibration and business-specific characteristics.

In these Terms, references to “ValuBase”, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to the operator of the ValuBase service. The legal entity operating ValuBase is not identified in this application and should be confirmed before formal reliance; please contact us via the Contact page for operator details.

ValuBase is intended for:

• business owners
• prospective buyers
• investors
• advisers
• accountants
• corporate-finance professionals
• other commercially experienced users

It is designed primarily for analysis of established private businesses and SMEs. It may not be appropriate for:

• pre-revenue businesses
• start-ups whose value depends principally on future growth
• businesses with zero or negative maintainable EBITDA
• distressed or insolvent businesses
• asset-driven businesses where EBITDA is not an appropriate valuation basis
• highly unusual or complex businesses requiring specialist valuation work

Further detail is set out in the Methodology and Guide pages.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, ValuBase estimates Enterprise Value: the indicative value of the underlying business operations before transaction-specific adjustments for financing and other balance-sheet items.

The price payable for shares may differ after considering items such as:

• cash and cash-like items
• debt
• debt-like liabilities
• working capital
• tax liabilities
• deferred consideration
• transaction-specific adjustments
• due diligence findings
• completion accounts or locked-box adjustments
• other negotiated terms

ValuBase uses calibration factors and model parameters intended to reflect observed characteristics of UK SME transactions and business size.

ValuBase does not represent that the model is based on any named number of transactions unless that claim has been independently substantiated and deliberately approved for publication.

EBITDA adjustments can materially affect value. Add-backs should not automatically be made merely because an expense is unusual or discretionary. Similarly, downward adjustments may be necessary where reported EBITDA benefits from:

• exceptional income
• below-market owner remuneration
• missing replacement-management cost
• understated rent
• non-recurring benefits
• other unsustainable earnings

An inappropriate normalisation can materially overstate or understate Maintainable EBITDA and therefore the resulting valuation.

The Customer Concentration Adjustment is an analytical risk adjustment based on the information entered regarding the largest customer and the largest customers collectively. The actual commercial impact may depend on:

• contractual terms
• customer longevity
• switching costs
• termination rights
• market alternatives
• customer relationships
• pipeline strength
• other circumstances

The model adjustment is therefore not a substitute for commercial due diligence.

Where available, advanced users may replace model-derived assumptions with professional or manual assumptions, including a manual Maintainable EBITDA figure and a Manual Multiple Override.

ValuBase is designed to support preliminary analysis and informed discussion. You should exercise your own judgement and obtain appropriate professional advice before making a material transaction, investment, financing, legal, accounting or tax decision.

For circumstances requiring a formal or independently supportable valuation — including tax, litigation, regulatory, financial-reporting or third-party reliance purposes — an appropriately qualified valuation professional should be engaged.

ValuBase may update the methodology, calibration, sector classifications, interfaces, explanatory content, valuation factors and features to improve the service or reflect changes in market evidence.

Users must not:

• attempt unauthorised access
• disrupt or interfere with the service
• introduce malware or malicious code
• use automated systems to overload or scrape the service
• attempt to extract non-public calibration data
• use the site for unlawful purposes
• falsely represent themselves as affiliated with ValuBase
• circumvent technical controls

Use of the website is also governed by the separate ValuBase Privacy Policy. The Privacy Policy describes how personal information is handled, including that valuation inputs are processed within your browser.

Nothing in these Terms is intended to affect any statutory rights that apply to you and cannot lawfully be excluded or restricted.

The governing law applicable to these Terms and to use of ValuBase has not been finally confirmed in the current application. This section should be settled by the operator following legal review before any formal reliance is placed on it. Until then, no specific jurisdiction (including the law of England & Wales, Scotland or any other jurisdiction) is asserted here.

Regardless of the governing law agreed, nothing in these Terms is intended to remove mandatory consumer rights a user may have under the laws applicable to them.

These Terms may be amended as the service changes. Material changes will be reflected by updating the “Last updated” date on this page. Continuing to use ValuBase after a material change constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms to the extent permitted by law.