Practitioners’ method

The Swiss practitioners' method (méthode des praticiens) is the standard valuation approach used by Swiss cantonal tax authorities for unlisted SME valuations for fiscal purposes — succession, gift, wealth tax. It combines earnings value (bénéfice capitalisé) and asset value (valeur substantielle) in a defined proportion: typically 2/3 earnings value + 1/3 asset value, or equal weighting depending on the canton. The capitalisation rate applied to normalised earnings is set by cantonal tax authorities (typically 8–10% depending on sector). While primarily a fiscal tool, it often approximates transactional values for Swiss SMEs and informs succession planning.

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Example: a Swiss SME has normalised earnings of CHF 800,000 and restated net assets of CHF 4.0 million. Practitioners' method (2/3 + 1/3, capitalisation rate 10%): earnings value = CHF 8.0 million, combined value = 2/3 × 8.0 + 1/3 × 4.0 = CHF 6.67 million. A transaction at 7x EBITDA might yield CHF 7.0 million — close convergence illustrating why the method approximates market values for stable Swiss SMEs despite its fiscal origins.

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Hectelion masters the Swiss practitioners' method and its cantonal variants for fiscal valuations and succession planning mandates.