Question 1

What is my business worth?

Accepted Answer

For a profitable service business, value is typically a multiple of normalised EBITDA. Indicative ranges in 2026: digital and development agencies trade at 3.0–5.4× EBITDA; accounting and finance practices at 3.0–6.0×; legal firms at 3.0–5.2×; IT managed-services and MSPs at 3.5–6.5×. The multiple within those ranges is driven by recurring revenue mix, client concentration, growth rate, owner dependency and partnership structure. The fastest way to get a defensible answer for your specific business is the Shinka indicative valuation report — A$1,495, delivered in 48 hours, applying five methods (CFME, DCF, comparable transactions, public multiples, rule-of-thumb). Submit your inputs at https://shinkaadvisory.com/valuation.

Question 2

How do I value my business?

Accepted Answer

The credible approach is to apply multiple valuation methods and triangulate, rather than rely on a single multiple. The Shinka methodology uses five: (1) Capitalisation of Future Maintainable Earnings — sector-calibrated EBITDA multiple applied to normalised earnings (50% weight); (2) Discounted Cash Flow — five-year forecast discounted at sector WACC (12–14%) plus terminal value (25%); (3) Comparable transactions from recent private-market deals in the same sector and size band (15%); (4) Public-company multiples adjusted for a 35–40% private-company illiquidity discount (5%); (5) Rule-of-thumb sector revenue multiple as a sanity check (5%). The output is a defensible range, not a single number, with sensitivity analysis across the key value drivers.

Question 3

How do I sell my business?

Accepted Answer

A sell-side process for a service business typically runs six to nine months across four phases. Phase 1 — engagement and indicative valuation (three to four weeks): scoping the business, normalising earnings, defining a target buyer pool. Phase 2 — go-to-market (six to ten weeks): anonymised teaser, NDA-gated confidential information memorandum (CIM), curated buyer outreach, indicative offers. Phase 3 — selection and LOI (two to four weeks): preferred-buyer selection, letter of intent, exclusivity. Phase 4 — close and transition (three to six months): due diligence, sale and purchase agreement, completion, earn-out and handover. Shinka offers two paths: full-service representation (we run the whole process) or self-service listing (you control the conversations, we provide the marketplace and CIM gating).

Question 4

How much does it cost to sell my business through Shinka?

Accepted Answer

Shinka publishes transparent fixed and retainer pricing across four engagement models. Self-service confidential listing — A$395 for a twelve-month listing on the marketplace. Indicative valuation report — A$1,495 fixed, delivered in 48 hours. Full-service sell-side advisory — from A$2,500 per month retainer plus a success fee on transaction close (modified-Lehman scale). Buyer registration is free. Pricing is published in full at https://shinkaadvisory.com/pricing — there are no hidden discovery-call fees and no retainer for the valuation report path.

Question 5

How long does it take to sell a service business?

Accepted Answer

Six to nine months is a realistic end-to-end timeframe for a profitable service business in the seven- to nine-figure range. Faster sales (under six months) usually mean a single buyer, simplified diligence, or no earn-out. Longer transactions (twelve months or more) typically involve a complex partnership unwind, regulator approval (legal practices, financial-services authorisations), or material contractual transitions like trail-income reassignment for accounting practices.

Question 6

What sectors does Shinka Advisory specialise in?

Accepted Answer

Shinka is a specialist M&A advisory firm for service businesses, focused on four sectors: (1) digital and development agencies — Shopify, headless commerce, productised agencies, branding and creative; (2) accounting and finance practices — public practice, advisory, fee-book and trail-income transitions; (3) legal firms — boutique practice sales, partnership transitions, specialty firm exits; (4) IT services and managed-service providers — recurring MSP revenue, ERP and platform specialism. Engagements typically sit at the seven- to nine-figure end of the market.

Question 7

What is my accounting practice worth?

Accepted Answer

Accounting practices typically sell at 3.0–6.0× EBITDA in 2026, with the upper end reserved for practices with high recurring revenue (advisory and BAS), low partner dependency, contemporary cloud-based workflows and a defensible specialty (SMSF, R&D, advisory). Practices are also valued on a fee-book multiple — typically 0.85–1.30× annual recurring fees — particularly for trail-income heavy practices. The valuation method that produces the highest defensible number depends heavily on the partner-buyer relationship, which is why the Shinka methodology applies five separate methods and weights them by relevance.

Question 8

What is my law firm worth?

Accepted Answer

Boutique law firms typically sell at 3.0–5.2× EBITDA in 2026, with the upper end reserved for practices with strong specialty positioning (commercial, IP, litigation funding), low partner dependency and a recurring matter base. Trust-account-based practices (conveyancing, wills and estates) are often valued on a turnover multiple in addition to EBITDA. Regulator approval (Law Society / equivalent) and partnership-deed transition mechanics are usually the rate-limiting steps in transaction timeline rather than valuation itself.

Question 9

What is my digital agency worth?

Accepted Answer

Digital and development agencies typically sell at 3.0–5.4× EBITDA in 2026. The upper end is reserved for agencies with a high recurring retainer mix (60% or more), product or platform revenue, defensible vertical positioning (Shopify Plus, Adobe Commerce, headless), low founder dependency and 20%+ growth. Pure project-based agencies trade at the lower end. Productised agencies — fixed-price subscriptions or retained packages — increasingly trade at SaaS-adjacent multiples (5–7× EBITDA) and represent the highest-multiple subsegment of the agency market.