About

About Start-Up Valuations, a division of Valuation Group Pty Ltd

Independent valuations for founders, investors and growing companies.

A suitably qualified business valuer at Valuation Group signs every report we issue.

01Who signs

Who prepares and signs our valuations?

Valuation Group Pty Ltd

The practice behind Start-Up Valuations

Every valuation is prepared and signed by a suitably qualified business valuer at Valuation Group Pty Ltd.

Each report declares our independence and any conflicts.
This practice holds no Australian Financial Services Licence and is not an authorised representative of one.
Guides cite the primary source for each rule they state, and show a last-updated date.
Our Simple and Standard start-up valuations are each a valuation engagement, as described in the APES 225 guidelines we follow, and our engagement letter confirms this before we start.
This practice does not hold or claim membership of the bodies that issue the accounting profession's own valuation standard, described below.

ABN 48 702 469 252

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Short answer

Start-Up Valuations is a specialist division of Valuation Group Pty Ltd (ACN 702 469 252, ABN 48 702 469 252), not a separate company. A suitably qualified business valuer at Valuation Group signs every report we issue. Our guides cite the primary source for each rule they state and carry a last-updated date so you can check what has changed. We hold no Australian Financial Services Licence: our valuation reports are prepared for the company, its board or its advisers (a court expert report is prepared for the court process), never as advice to an employee or investor on whether to acquire, exercise, hold or sell anything.

Last updated 28 September 2026

02Valuation Group

Who is Start-Up Valuations, and how does it relate to Valuation Group Pty Ltd?

Start-Up Valuations is a trading name and specialist division of Valuation Group Pty Ltd, ACN 702 469 252, ABN 48 702 469 252, GST registered. It is not a separate company, a franchise or a licensed reseller of anyone else's methodology. When we sign a valuation for an employee share scheme, a capital raise, a founder transfer or a tax event, the entity behind the signature is Valuation Group Pty Ltd, trading as Start-Up Valuations for this part of its practice.

In our view, a cap table with option pools, SAFEs, convertible notes and a preference stack raises specific questions a general business valuer does not usually see in volume: which basis of value a purpose actually calls for, how a funding round price should and should not be used as evidence, and how value allocates across ordinary and preference classes once a company has raised more than one round.

The detail

Valuation Group Pty Ltd's parent site is valuationgroup.au. We have not published a street address for this division; enquiries go through the contact details below.

03APES 225

What professional standard do we hold ourselves to?

APES 225 Valuation Services (2024 version, effective 1 January 2025) applies to members of the professional accounting bodies who provide an estimate of value to a client or employer, and distinguishes valuation engagements, limited scope valuation engagements and calculation engagements ¹.

This practice is not a member of those bodies. We are an independent valuation practice, not an accounting firm. Our Simple and Standard start-up valuations are each a valuation engagement, as described in the APES 225 guidelines we follow, and our engagement letter confirms this before we start.

04What we do not do

Are our reports financial advice?

No. This practice holds no Australian Financial Services Licence and is not an authorised representative of one. Our valuation reports are prepared for the company, its board or its advisers (a court expert report is prepared for the court process): they set out our opinion of value, the basis and unit of value, the evidence relied on and the methodology used.

For a start-up, this means we do not tell an employee whether to exercise an option, or an investor whether to invest at a specific round price. The report speaks to the company and its board.

Note

We do not tell an employee, a founder or an investor whether to acquire, exercise, hold, sell or accept any share, option or other interest. If your question is really "should I exercise this option" or "should I invest at this price", that is a question for your own financial or legal adviser, not something our report answers.

How independent are we, and what does that mean for a specific engagement?

"Independent" describes how this practice is set up and how it works, not a guarantee attached to every engagement in isolation. Each report declares our independence and any conflicts. For a valuation prepared for tax purposes, the ATO expects a report to include a declaration of independence and conflicts ². We do not accept instructions that require a predetermined result.

A start-up conflict we look for: being asked to value an employee share scheme grant for a company while also being asked to help that company with pricing for the same funding round. Where that kind of overlap arises, we say so in the engagement letter and in the report's independence declaration before we begin work, or we decline one of the engagements.

Our reports are not the independent expert's reports prepared for a takeover or a scheme. Where a start-up matter is in dispute or heading to court, we offer a dispute or court expert report as its own engagement, at $4,495 + GST, with delivery agreed before commencement. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. Outside that situation, our reports are opinions of value prepared for the company, its board or its advisers, as described above.

05Editorial and review policy

How do we write and review our guides?

Every guide on this site starts from a primary source: the ATO's own guidance and legal database, legislation.gov.au, ASIC or the Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board. Guides cite the primary source for each rule they state, and show a last-updated date. Where something is our own view rather than a stated rule, we label it as judgement, phrases such as "in our view" or "may be appropriate", not an unstated fact.

When an instrument or rule we cite changes, we update every page that relies on it. For example, the approved market valuation methods for the ESS start-up concession are now in LI 2025/19, which commenced on 1 October 2025 and repealed the Income Tax Assessment (Methods for Valuing Unlisted Shares) Approval 2015 ^{3, 4}:

	Before 1 October 2025	From 1 October 2025
Approved instrument	Income Tax Assessment (Methods for Valuing Unlisted Shares) Approval 2015	LI 2025/19 ^{3, 4}
Status on this site	Retired; never cited as current	Current; cited wherever the safe harbour methods are described

Where to go next

What we do and who we do it for: Start-Up Valuations
Fixed fees and what each package includes: Pricing
Start an enquiry: Request a valuation
Terms used across this site: Glossary

FAQ

Is Start-Up Valuations a different company from Valuation Group?

No. Start-Up Valuations is a trading name and division of Valuation Group Pty Ltd, ACN 702 469 252, ABN 48 702 469 252. There is one legal entity behind the report you receive.

Can you tell me whether I should exercise my options or invest at this price?

No. This practice holds no Australian Financial Services Licence. Our valuation reports are prepared for the company, its board or its advisers (a court expert report is prepared for the court process), and do not tell an employee or investor whether to acquire, exercise, hold, sell or accept anything.

Is this an accounting firm?

No. We are an independent valuation practice, not an accounting firm. We describe our reports as prepared and signed by a suitably qualified business valuer, and our Simple and Standard start-up valuations are each a valuation engagement, as described in the APES 225 guidelines we follow.

How do I know a guide on this site is still accurate?

Check the last-updated date on the page. Guides cite the primary source for each rule they state and are corrected when an instrument or rule changes, for example LI 2025/19, which replaced the 2015 approval from 1 October 2025 ^{3, 4}.

Sources (4)

Valuation Services (APES 225, APES GN 20, APES GN 21). Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board (APESB). APES 225 (2024) effective 1 Jan 2025; APES GN 20 (2025). Accessed 27 Sep 2026. S014
Market valuation for tax purposes (Guide). Australian Taxation Office. Current at February 2025. Accessed 27 Sep 2026. S009
LI 2025/19 Legislative Instrument. Australian Taxation Office; Federal Register of Legislation. Made 9 Sep 2025; registered 11 Sep 2025 (F2025L01085); commenced 1 Oct 2025. Accessed 27 Sep 2026. S003 a b c
LI 2025/19, Explanatory Statement. Australian Taxation Office. 9 Sep 2025. Accessed 27 Sep 2026. S004 a b c

Request a valuation

Know what your startup is worth.

How can you reach us?

Phone: 0433 475 518. Email: valuations@valuationgroup.au for a new enquiry, or hello@valuationgroup.au for anything general. We are based in Double Bay, Sydney.

Before any engagement we confirm the purpose, the basis and unit of value it calls for, and the fixed fee in writing, with delivery agreed before commencement. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received. We never ask you to upload documents on this site.

Request a valuation Call 0433 475 518