Business Valuations in the Australian Capital Territory
Independent valuations for trade, facilities and field-service businesses in Canberra and the ACT, delivered remotely.
Valuing trade businesses in Australian Capital Territory
Green Standard has no offices in Canberra or anywhere else. Every engagement is delivered remotely through online intake, a secure client portal and phone and video calls, at the same fees as every other state and territory. The Australian Capital Territory is one jurisdiction with one set of rules, so this page covers Canberra and the territory together.
Government is a major customer in the territory’s economy. Federal and territory agencies, and the head contractors that serve them, buy facilities maintenance, electrical, fire, security, cleaning and building services under contracts and panels. These can be stable and well documented, but they are awarded through procurement processes with fixed terms and re-tender dates, so the term remaining, the renewal history and the share of revenue held under each contract matter as much as profit.
The territory is small, and so is its labour pool. Public sector employment competes for administrative and management staff, and licensed tradespeople are in demand during building booms. Staff retention, wages against the market and the apprentice pipeline are central to a valuation.
Canberra’s climate matters. Cold winters and frost drive heating, hot water and electrical load, and summers are hot and dry. Residential growth in new suburbs and townhouse and apartment development supports building, plumbing, electrical and landscaping trades, with exposure to the development pipeline.
Many Canberra businesses also work in the surrounding New South Wales region, including Queanbeyan and the area around it. Where they do, the business may need New South Wales licences as well as ACT ones, and we ask which are held, in whose name, and what share of revenue is earned on each side of the border.
What transfers, and what does not
Trade licences are issued by each state and territory. Whether a licence can pass to a buyer affects how much of the business transfers with a sale.
Construction occupation licensing and Access Canberra
Builders, electricians, plumbers, drainers, gas fitters, building surveyors and others must be licensed under the Construction Occupations (Licensing) Act 2004. Access Canberra publishes a register of licensed construction practitioners.
Licences and the business
Licences are held by individuals and companies and do not pass to a buyer with the business. Because the register is public, a buyer can check who holds what. We ask the same question, and whether any licence is held by only one person.
Cross-border work and mutual recognition
A person licensed in another jurisdiction may be able to apply for an ACT licence through mutual recognition, and an ACT business working in New South Wales may need New South Wales licences as well. Both are matters for the licence holder and the regulators, but they affect transferability.
Industries with particular weight in Australian Capital Territory
Valuations in Australian Capital Territory
Do you need to visit our business in Canberra?
Not normally. Documents are uploaded through the secure client portal and interviews are held by phone or video. A site visit can be arranged where an engagement needs one, and it is priced in writing before it goes ahead.
Much of our revenue is government contract work. How is that valued?
We read the contracts and panel arrangements: the term remaining, the renewal history, any termination or change of ownership clauses and the share of revenue each represents. Government work can be stable, but it can also end at re-tender, so the report says how much weight we place on it and why. Our article on recurring maintenance contracts and business value explains the approach.
We work in both the ACT and New South Wales. Does that complicate a valuation?
It adds questions rather than difficulty: which licences are held for each jurisdiction, who holds them, and how revenue splits between the two. We also check that contracts and staff sit with the right entity. Where several entities are involved, the matter may be quoted as a complex valuation from $2,995 + GST.
Start with a short intake. We confirm the fee and scope in writing.
An Independent Business Valuation is $1,995 + GST, with a draft before the report is finalised. Typical turnaround is 3 to 7 business days once all required information has been received.