How Much Does a Business Valuation Cost? Prices and Fees 2026 (France & Switzerland)

The 2026 price ranges in Switzerland and France, from free simulator to court-appointed expertise.

Introduction: how much does a business valuation really cost in 2026?

In 2026, the cost of a business valuation falls into three tiers: free to around 500 CHF for an online simulator, 5,000 to 40,000 CHF in Switzerland (3,000 to 30,000 EUR in France) for a fully documented valuation by an independent firm, and from 15,000 CHF upwards (10,000 EUR in France) for a valuation with regulatory or litigation stakes. The right budget depends on a single question: what will the number be used for?

These ranges are drawn from Hectelion's market observations of its competitors' practices, in France as in Switzerland. They cover the valuation of unlisted companies, from SMEs to mid-caps, whatever the method applied, DCF, multiples, earnings value or the practitioners' method. The legal framework, for its part, leaves no ambiguity on the principle:

"Assets are assessed at fair market value.", Article 14 of the Swiss Federal Act on the Harmonisation of Direct Taxes (LHID).

The valuation market nevertheless remains opaque on pricing. Three factors sustain the confusion in 2026: fee gaps of one to thirty between providers for the same engagement title, the arrival of artificial intelligence, which is reshaping the entry tier of the market, and increasingly demanding uses, since tax authorities, banks and courts do not accept just any report. Paying too much destroys value; paying too little often means paying twice.

This article sets out the price ranges at a glance, details what drives the fee, describes how an engagement unfolds and how long it takes, compares the options from free simulator to court-appointed expertise, lists the five costly mistakes, then illustrates the whole with two real cases, one Swiss at 15,000 CHF, one French at 3,500 EUR, before answering the ten most frequent questions.

Prices at a glance: 2026 ranges in Switzerland and France

Service level	Switzerland (CHF)	France (EUR)	Typical use
Online simulator or estimate	Free to ~500	Free to ~500	Order of magnitude, personal reflection
Fully documented valuation (independent specialised firm)	5,000 to 40,000	3,000 to 30,000	Succession, sale, financing, shareholders' agreement
Valuation with regulatory or litigation stakes (Big Four, court-appointed expertise)	From 15,000, up to 100,000 and beyond	From 10,000, up to 100,000 and beyond	Disputes, court expertise, regulated transactions

Indicative ranges drawn from Hectelion's market observations of its competitors' practices in France and Switzerland, 2026. Excluding VAT and disbursements.

The first tier of this table has changed profoundly. With artificial intelligence, entrepreneurs, executives and shareholders can now carry out a first valuation of their company themselves, which was unthinkable five years ago. However, not all tools are equal: a general-purpose AI, whatever its level, is neither trained on real transactions nor calibrated by a valuer's methodology. Dedicated simulators such as Acontos are built on proprietary models, real sector multiples and the methodology of a valuation firm; on this exercise, a specialised AI produces more reliable results than a general-purpose AI, whatever the level of the latter, because it knows which adjustments to apply and which sector references to rely on.

Objectify the budget of your valuation before committing

Thirty minutes are enough to frame your need and the corresponding budget. Book a free and confidential call with our team: we qualify the use of the number, the level of deliverable actually required and the timeline, before any commitment. You leave with a firm fee range, not a vague estimate.

Acontos: estimate the value of your company online, free of charge

Before going into detail, note that Hectelion has developed Acontos, an online tool for audit, due diligence and business valuation, powered by Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 5 artificial intelligence and calibrated by Hectelion's methodology. From your financial statements, it produces a first estimate of the value of your shares in a few minutes, free of charge and without retaining any document. Launch the valuation simulator to obtain an order of magnitude, then read on to understand what each service level costs, and what it is worth.

What drives the price: size, complexity, stakes of the deliverable

First, the size of the company. Valuing a single-activity business with 2 MCHF of revenue and valuing an 80 MCHF group with three subsidiaries do not mobilise the same time or the same skills. Size affects the volume of accounts to analyse, the number of legal entities, the depth of adjustments and the extent of verifications, which explains the width of the ranges in the table above.

Second, the complexity of the assets and the business. Operating real estate, significant intangible assets, cross-shareholdings, shareholder current accounts or off-balance-sheet commitments mechanically increase the workload. Likewise, a volatile earnings history requires deeper EBITDA normalisation analyses than a stable, recurring profitability.

Third, the stakes of the deliverable, the most decisive factor. A number intended for your personal reflection does not require the same level of documentation as a report that must hold up before the tax authorities, a bank or a court. The more the report must withstand challenge, the more the assumptions must be justified, sourced and auditable, and the higher the fees. This is a difference in nature between the three tiers of the table, far more than a difference in quality.

Fourth, the quality of the data provided. Audited accounts, a well-built forecast and clean analytical accounting save days of fees. Conversely, unclosed financial years, undocumented intragroup flows or the absence of a budget force the valuer to reconstruct the information, at your expense.

Fifth, urgency. A valuation requested within ten days for a negotiation deadline mobilises a team on a priority basis and generally carries a premium of 20 to 50% over standard fees, a constant market practice in France as in Switzerland.

Finally, the country. For an equivalent scope, Swiss fees are structurally higher than French fees, reflecting the general cost level: fully documented valuations are observed in France from 3,000 EUR, while the equivalent Swiss entry point sits closer to 5,000 CHF. Franco-Swiss groups therefore have an interest in choosing the country of engagement carefully, without losing sight of the fact that expertise in both frameworks, including taxation and the practitioners' method, matters more than the price differential.

Fixed fee, time-based or success fee: how valuations are billed

The fixed fee is the rule in valuation work: a scope defined in the engagement letter, a firm price, a timeline. This billing method protects both parties, the client knows their budget, the valuer commits to a precise deliverable. Time-based billing, at hourly or daily rates depending on the seniority of the team, is found mainly on engagements whose scope cannot be set in advance: litigation contexts, court-appointed expertise, adversarial engagements where the volume of work depends on the positions of the opposing party.

One billing method, however, should raise a red flag: success fees. A valuer whose remuneration depends on the outcome of their valuation, or on the price obtained in the transaction it prepares, loses their independence, and their report loses most of its value before any third party. The ethical frameworks of the accounting professions prohibit result-based fees for this type of work. Success-based remuneration has its legitimate place in a sale mandate, on the negotiation side; it has none in independent valuation.

Finally, check what the fixed fee includes, as this is the first source of misunderstandings on quotes. Normally included: the framing interview, the analysis and adjustments, a draft report, one round of client comments and an oral presentation. Normally excluded, and to be priced separately: VAT, disbursements, the construction of a forecast where the company has none, additional attestations requested after delivery of the report, and the updating of the valuation at a later date. An engagement letter that is precise on these five points avoids most end-of-engagement discussions.

Hectelion's pricing: fees adapted to each client profile

A clarification is needed on the status of the figures in this article: the scales, indicative rates and price ranges mentioned are drawn from the market observations carried out by Hectelion of its competitors, in France as in Switzerland. They describe market practice, not the firm's own rate card.

Hectelion adapts to all types of clients, family SME owners, groups, startups, investors or family offices, and adapts its pricing accordingly: the scope of the engagement, the stakes of the deliverable and the timeline determine the fees, from the free simulator to the full mandate. Every quote is issued after a free framing interview, on the basis of a firm fixed fee defined in the engagement letter.

2026 trends: falling prices, faster execution, quality to watch

The valuation market is experiencing selective deflation, clearly visible in Hectelion's market observations. On the first tier, artificial intelligence has brought the price of an order of magnitude down to zero: what was still billed a few thousand francs five years ago, a summary estimate note, is now produced free of charge by simulators. On the middle tier, AI does not replace the valuer but accelerates the work: structured collection, first adjustments, comparable searches and report production take fewer hours than before, which compresses timelines, with engagements completed in two weeks where four were needed, and puts gradual pressure on entry-level fees.

This evolution carries a trap, however: quality does not mechanically follow speed. A report produced quickly and cheaply may be nothing more than an automated estimate dressed up as a report, without professional judgment on the adjustments, without methods being confronted, and sometimes without a signature that genuinely commits its author. The value of a report lies neither in its thickness nor in its speed, but in its ability to withstand challenge from a bank, a buyer or the tax authorities. The market should therefore continue to polarise: a free, mass-market first tier, and a documented tier where the price pays for judgment, responsibility and defensibility. In between, low-cost intermediate offers deserve the closest scrutiny: that is where the gap between the displayed price and the actual level of proof is most frequent.

Process and timeline: from first contact to final report

A full valuation engagement follows a well-established sequence. It opens with a framing discussion, free of charge at most independent firms, which defines the use of the number, the scope and the timeline. Then comes the engagement letter, which sets the fees, most often as a fixed fee for a valuation, and the responsibilities of each party. Document collection occupies the first week: three to five years of annual accounts, the forecast if one exists, the debt position, legal and tax elements.

The core of the engagement, two to three weeks in practice, covers financial analysis and adjustments: EBITDA normalisation, treatment of non-recurring items, reconstruction of net debt, then the cross-application of the selected methods, earnings value, DCF, multiples, substantial value as the case may be. The valuer then produces a draft report, discussed with the client before the final presentation: the value range, its assumptions and its sensitivities.

All in all, allow two to three weeks for a simple valuation on a well-prepared file, four to six weeks for a full engagement with a forecast to build, and more as soon as the engagement includes an adversarial or judicial dimension. The online simulator, for its part, answers in a few minutes: that is precisely its function, providing an immediate order of magnitude before deciding whether a full engagement is warranted.

Comparing the options: from free simulator to court-appointed expertise

The first tier is that of online simulators and AI tools. Free or charged a few hundred francs, they suit the owner's personal reflection, the preparation of a first discussion with an advisor or the periodic monitoring of value. Their limit is well known: the number is not defensible before third parties and its reliability depends entirely on the tool. A simulator backed by a firm, trained on proprietary models and real sector references, produces a serious order of magnitude; a general-purpose AI queried without method produces an appealing but uncalibrated answer.

The second tier is the fully documented valuation by an independent specialised firm, from 5,000 to 40,000 CHF in Switzerland and 3,000 to 30,000 EUR in France depending on the case. This is the level required as soon as a third party is involved: family successor, incoming or outgoing shareholder, bank, or tax authorities in a preventive approach. Hectelion's positioning sits at this tier: an independent Franco-Swiss firm working on companies and transactions of 2 to 500 MCHF, with a multi-method approach aligned with IVSC standards and a dual reading of the French and Swiss frameworks. The ladder is progressive: the free Acontos simulator provides the order of magnitude, the detailed report documents it, and the tailored mandate covers the transaction end to end.

The third tier is that of valuations with regulatory or litigation stakes: court-appointed expertise, shareholder disputes, regulated transactions, audit contexts. The large international networks and registered court experts bill from 15,000 CHF in Switzerland, from 10,000 EUR in France, and routinely well beyond on heavy files. This level is fully justified when the procedure requires it or when the opposing party will field equivalent resources; it is oversized for a standard family succession. Each tier thus has its legitimate use: the right provider is not the most expensive one, it is the one whose deliverable matches the use of the number. For transactions involving listed companies, note that Hectelion is not FINMA-licensed and does not act on such transactions, which fall to experts recognised by the market authorities.

Before signing, five questions separate quotes that look alike. First, what is the exact table of contents of the report delivered, and can you see an anonymised example? Second, how many valuation methods will be crossed, and why those? Third, who performs and who signs the work, an experienced partner or a junior team supervised from afar? Fourth, how many rounds of comments and what presentation are included in the fixed fee? Fifth, is the framing interview billed, and does the quote specify what is excluded? A serious provider answers these five questions in writing without difficulty; evasive answers are generally more instructive than brochures.

The 5 mistakes that cost money

Mistake 1: Choosing on price alone without examining the deliverable

Two quotes at 6,000 CHF and 18,000 CHF probably do not describe the same engagement. One delivers a ten-page summary note, the other a full report with sensitivity analysis and documented assumptions. Comparing fees without comparing the content of the deliverable, the number of methods crossed and the level of documentation amounts to comparing prices per kilo between different products. Always request the standard table of contents of the report before signing.

Mistake 2: Paying for a full valuation when an order of magnitude is enough

Conversely, committing 15,000 CHF to feed a simple personal reflection, with no deadline and no counterparty, is over-investment. A serious simulator or a framing interview is sufficient at that stage; the full valuation is justified when the number carries consequences, before a buyer, a bank or the tax authorities. Valuation spending should follow the maturity of the project, not precede it.

Mistake 3: Providing unprepared accounts and paying for the reconstruction

Every hour the valuer spends reconstructing missing information is billed to you. Unaudited accounts, undocumented intragroup flows, no detail on executive remuneration or non-recurring items: so many avoidable extra costs. Preparing a clean file upstream, with your fiduciary or accountant where needed, can reduce fees by 20 to 30% and shorten the timeline accordingly.

Mistake 4: Using a non-defensible valuation for tax or banking purposes

An online estimate or a summary note withstands neither a tax audit, nor a credit committee, nor a judge. Using the wrong level of deliverable for a demanding purpose means paying twice: first for the unusable estimate, then for the documented valuation that should have been commissioned from the start, sometimes urgently and at full price. The question "what will the number be used for?" must precede any order.

Mistake 5: Confusing valuation with sale price

The valuation delimits a value range; the price will come out of a negotiation shaped by the scarcity of buyers, synergies, warranties granted and timing. Paying for a valuation in the hope that it will set the sale price is a costly misconception: it prepares the negotiation, it does not replace it. This is also why a credible report is worth its price: it anchors the discussion on grounds the other side cannot dismiss.

Case 1: Swiss family succession with bank financing, 15,000 CHF

A Swiss industrial SME is preparing the transfer of its capital to the next generation. The file combines three stakes: structuring the succession itself, securing taxation in a Franco-Swiss family context, part of the heirs being French residents, and obtaining bank financing to buy out the non-succeeding heirs. The bank conditions its credit on a full business plan: forecast income statement, projected balance sheets and cash flow statement over five years.

The engagement conducted by Hectelion crossed the practitioners' method, the reference of the Swiss tax administration, a discounted cash flow analysis built on the business plan developed with management, and multiples from comparable transactions. The final report documents the value range, the EBITDA adjustments and the adjusted net debt, and includes the full set of forecast statements required by the bank. Fees: 15,000 CHF excluding VAT, for a five-week engagement, at the heart of the "fully documented valuation" range of the table, the triple dimension of succession, binational taxation and financing explaining the position above the entry point.

Case 2: going-concern valuation for an existing French client, 3,500 EUR

A French company, an existing client of the firm, needed a valuation in a going-concern context, with no immediate capital transaction: updating the reference value of the shares for family governance and anticipating a future gift. As the company was already known, accounts analysed in previous work, documented adjustments, sector under coverage, the engagement could focus on updating the parameters: recent results, debt, current rates and multiples.

The valuation was carried out on an earnings value basis crossed with sector multiples, under a going-concern assumption, and delivered in a concise but documented report. Fees: 3,500 EUR excluding VAT, two weeks of lead time. This case illustrates the bottom of the French range and its two conditions: a file already known to the valuer and an internal use with no adversarial requirement. The same file, opened by a firm discovering the company and intended for a gift subject to tax review, would have sat significantly higher in the range.

The executive's perspective

"The question of the price of a valuation is legitimate, but it is almost always badly framed. The real question is: what must the number withstand? A personal reflection, a negotiation, a tax audit? Each use calls for its level of proof, and therefore its level of fees."

"What AI changes is access to the first order of magnitude: what required a mandate yesterday is free in a few minutes today. What it does not change is the value of a report that holds up before a bank or the tax authorities. Our job is to put every franc of fees where it produces security."

"My advice to business owners: start free of charge, quantify your real need, and only buy depth of analysis when the stakes justify it. That is exactly how we built our offering."

Aristide Ruot, Ph.D., founder of Hectelion

FAQ: the 10 essential questions on the price of a business valuation

Introduction: what to keep in mind before the questions

The price of a valuation reflects the use of the number more than the size of the company. The ten questions below are those business owners ask most often in framing interviews, with direct answers based on the Franco-Swiss market practice observed in 2026.

Q1: What is the average price of a valuation for an SME?

For an SME with 2 to 50 MCHF of revenue, a fully documented valuation most often sits between 8,000 and 20,000 CHF in Switzerland, between 5,000 and 15,000 EUR in France, within the broad ranges of the table. Below that, the deliverable is generally a summary note; above it, a complex or adversarial file.

Q2: Is a free online estimate reliable?

It is reliable for what it is: an order of magnitude. Its quality depends on the tool: a dedicated simulator, trained on proprietary models and real sector references such as Acontos, produces a serious range; a general-purpose AI with no valuation method produces an uncalibrated number. In any event, the online estimate does not replace a defensible report.

Q3: Why such price gaps between providers?

Because the label "business valuation" covers very different deliverables: number of methods crossed, depth of adjustments, documentation of assumptions, sensitivity analyses, defensibility of the report. Add to this the provider's cost structure and the country of execution. Compare report tables of contents, not prices alone.

Q4: Can valuation fees be negotiated?

The fixed fee is negotiated mainly through the scope: a file prepared upstream, a forecast already built, methods limited to what the use requires, a flexible timeline. A discount obtained without a reduction in scope is generally paid for in depth of analysis; it is better to adjust the engagement than to compress the price of an unchanged one.

Q5: Who pays for the valuation in a succession or a sale?

Each party pays for its own valuation in principle: the seller to prepare their price, the buyer to ground their offer. In family successions, a single valuation commissioned jointly and accepted by all is frequent and often preferable, provided the valuer is independent from both parties.

Q6: Are valuation fees tax deductible?

When incurred in the interest of the business and billed to the company, they are as a general rule a deductible expense, in France as in Switzerland. When they serve a shareholder's private wealth interest, gift, inheritance, deductibility at company level is not a given. Have the arrangement validated by your tax advisor before starting the engagement.

Q7: How long does a valuation engagement take?

Two to three weeks for a simple, well-prepared file, four to six weeks for a full engagement with a forecast to build, longer in adversarial or judicial contexts. The online simulator answers in a few minutes, which makes it the natural chronological starting point of any process.

Q8: Which documents should be provided to the valuer?

The core set: three to five years of annual accounts, the detailed debt position, executive remuneration and benefits, the detail of non-recurring items, articles of association and shareholder agreements, and the forecast if one exists. The cleaner this file is at the opening of the engagement, the lower the fees and the shorter the timeline.

Q9: Can an online valuation be used with a bank or the tax authorities?

No. Banks, tax administrations and courts require a documented report, signed by an identifiable professional, with justified and auditable assumptions. The online estimate serves as a preparatory order of magnitude; the full valuation report is the defensible deliverable. Confusing the two exposes you to paying twice.

Q10: How often should a company be valued?

A light annual update, through a simulator or a review of parameters, is sufficient in the ordinary course and costs little. A full valuation is triggered by events: a succession or sale project, a shareholder entering or leaving, structural financing, a wealth reorganisation. Owners who monitor their value continuously systematically negotiate better when the time comes.

Estimate the value of your company with Acontos, Hectelion's online simulator

To extend this reading with a concrete figure, Hectelion provides Acontos, its online tool for audit, due diligence and business valuation. Powered by Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 5 artificial intelligence and calibrated by Hectelion's methodology, it reads your accounts, normalises EBITDA, applies real sector multiples and rebuilds a net debt bridge to estimate the value of your shares in a few minutes. Launch the free valuation simulator: the tool is confidential, retains no document and does not replace a formal valuation, but it provides a reliable first order of magnitude before discussing it with our team.

Conclusion: pay for the level of proof your project needs, no more, no less

The price of a business valuation follows a simple logic: it tracks the level of proof required by the use of the number. Free to 500 CHF for an order of magnitude, 5,000 to 40,000 CHF in Switzerland and 3,000 to 30,000 EUR in France for a fully documented report, 15,000 CHF or 10,000 EUR and well beyond when the engagement becomes regulatory or contentious. The two cases presented show it: the same firm bills 3,500 EUR for a going-concern update and 15,000 CHF for a family succession with triple stakes, without either price being excessive or insufficient: each matches its use.

The rational approach is therefore sequential: start free of charge with the simulator to objectify the order of magnitude, qualify the actual use of the number in a framing interview, then commit only to the depth of analysis required. That is the logic of Hectelion's business valuation offering, from free simulator to full mandate, in France as in Switzerland.

Summary of the article

The cost of a business valuation in 2026 falls into three service tiers: an online simulator free to around 500 CHF, a fully documented valuation by an independent firm from 5,000 to 40,000 CHF in Switzerland and 3,000 to 30,000 EUR in France, and a valuation with regulatory or litigation stakes from 15,000 CHF or 10,000 EUR. These ranges are drawn from Hectelion's market observations of its competitors' practices, and Hectelion adapts its own pricing to each client profile, from the free simulator to the full mandate.

Six factors drive the fee: the size of the company, the complexity of the assets, the stakes of the deliverable, the quality of the data provided, urgency and the country of execution. The stakes of the deliverable dominate all others: a number for personal reflection and a report that must hold up before the tax authorities or a bank do not call for the same level of proof, and therefore not the same budget. The five costly mistakes all stem from the same confusion between these levels.

Artificial intelligence has made the first order of magnitude accessible to every business owner, but not all tools are equal: dedicated simulators built on proprietary models and calibrated by a firm's methodology outperform general-purpose AIs on this exercise. The winning approach remains sequential: estimate free of charge, qualify the use of the number, then buy exactly the level of documentation the stakes require.