Calculate your company value

Why an indicative valuation is the first step

Anyone who wants to calculate their company value is usually in one of three situations: an upcoming succession, an incoming purchase enquiry or a strategic stocktake. In all three cases the starting point is the same: a well-founded figure that stands up in discussions with buyers, advisers or co-shareholders.

A professional valuation under the German IDW S 1 standard costs between €5,000 and €25,000 and takes several weeks. For a first orientation, that is more than you need. What you need at this stage is a reliable range and a negotiation anchor. Anyone who enters a sale process without an anchor will, in practice, accept the other side's price.

What this calculator calculates

At the core of every valuation is sustainable earnings power. The calculator first determines the adjusted EBIT and then values it using two established methods whose results span a range:

Adjusted EBIT means: a 2-year average to smooth out unusual years, an adjustment to a market-rate managing director salary and the net of one-off items. This makes visible the actual earnings power that a buyer values. On this basis, the calculator gives an enterprise value indication as a range with a mean, deliberately without false precision to the euro.

An overview of valuation methods

Market multiple method (EBIT multiple): the primary anchor

The market multiple method is the dominant approach for SME valuations in M&A practice. Adjusted EBIT is multiplied by a sector multiple derived from comparable transactions. The calculator takes the multiple from the middle of the sector and size-specific range and adjusts it with a quality correction factor (0.70 to 1.30) based on eight value drivers, clamped to the edges of the sector range so that the result stays close to the data. A step-by-step derivation is on Rule of thumb for company valuation (in German); what EBIT is and how to adjust it is explained in Company value based on EBIT (in German).

EBITDA multiple, net asset value and DCF methods

If you also enter EBITDA, a third anchor based on the sector EBITDA multiple adds to the range. It is plausibility-checked and limited to a corridor around the EBIT value, so that high depreciation does not artificially push the indication upwards. The net asset value method (Substanzwertverfahren: assets less liabilities) usually serves as a value floor for asset-intensive companies; the DCF method is the most theoretically sound method, but usually too involved for SMEs (multi-year planning). A full comparison of methods: Valuation methods compared (in German).

Valuation methods at a glance

Capitalised earnings method: company value via the capitalisation rate

The capitalised earnings method (Ertragswertverfahren) capitalises sustainable adjusted EBIT at a capitalisation rate that reflects the company's risk. It is the established valuation method in German practice, standardised in IDW S 1 (revised version as amended in 2026, adopted 11 February 2026), and is used by auditors and the German tax authorities. The risk premium is shaped by the market risk premium: since September 2025, the FAUB (the IDW's expert committee on business valuation) has recommended a range of 5.25-6.75% before personal taxes (mean 6.0%). In this calculator, the capitalised earnings method serves as a cross-check on the market multiple method. Because both draw on the same data, they validate each other rather than diverging (the ratio of the method values is typically between around 1.0 and 1.6, often close to 1.0). How the capitalised earnings method is calculated for German tax purposes (simplified capitalised earnings method under § 199 BewG, the German Valuation Act) is shown in Capitalised earnings method for the tax office (in German).

Why company size moves the multiple

A multiple is not a fixed sector figure. The same business is valued more highly the larger and more broadly based it is: larger companies depend less on the owner, are more resilient and are within reach of more buyers (including financial investors). The calculator reflects this with three size classes based on annual revenue:

• Micro cap (< €5m revenue): lowest multiple, highest size risk discount.
• Small cap (€5-50m): the classic Mittelstand segment.
• Mid cap (> €50m): highest multiples, smallest discount.

Illustrative excerpt (small cap, EBIT, Q2/2026). The full multiples for all 20 sectors × 3 size classes (EBITDA as of Q3/2026, EBIT and revenue as of Q2/2026) are in the EBITDA multiples hub DACH.

Worked examples by sector

Three examples with the same adjusted EBIT of €500,000 (small cap, mid-range multiple, average value driver profile):

Eight value drivers that move your multiple

Alongside the financial figures, qualitative factors decide whether your company lands in the lower or upper third of the usual sector range. These eight feed into the calculator as a quality correction factor. A higher score always stands for lower risk and raises the value.

How much each individual lever is worth is shown by the linked value optimiser (in German), which calculates the euro impact of each factor live.

The capitalisation rate: how risk is reflected

With the capitalised earnings method, the capitalisation rate decides the result. The calculator builds it up transparently and additively, close to IDW practice: a risk-free base rate, a market risk premium for illiquid SME holdings, a sector risk derived from the multiple level (a low sector multiple means a higher required return), a size premium (smaller companies are less liquid) and a quality-dependent company-specific premium. For the DACH Mittelstand, this gives realistic rates of around 10.5% to 22%, in line with the high required return for small, illiquid, owner-managed companies. Better value drivers lower the rate and raise the value, mirroring the higher multiple.

Limits and assumptions: what the indication does and does not do

• The capitalised earnings value is modelled as a perpetuity of a constant adjusted EBIT, without explicit multi-year planning, a growth deduction in the denominator or tax effects. This is a deliberate simplification compared with a full DCF/IDW S1 valuation.
• The sector multiple is the midpoint of the respective size class range; individual dispersion is reflected by the value driver correction factor, not by a separate distribution assumption.
• The result is an enterprise value indication. The bridge to equity value (net financial debt, working capital, debt-like items) is deliberately kept separate.
• Revenue multiples are only used as a cross-check or as a fallback where earnings are marginal, never as an averaged anchor, because they ignore margins.

In my experience, the indication falls within ±20-30% of a later professional valuation: strong as a negotiation anchor and a basis for discussion, but expressly not a formal valuation report.

From company value to purchase price

The value calculated here is the enterprise value: the operating business. What the seller ultimately receives is the equity value: enterprise value less net financial debt and debt-like items, plus non-operating assets. The EV to equity bridge calculates this bridge; what remains net after German tax is shown by the net sale proceeds calculator (in German).

Further reading

• EBITDA multiples by sector DACH: the full data basis behind this calculator
• Valuation methods compared (in German): DCF vs. multiples vs. capitalised earnings vs. net asset value
• Excel valuation templates: market multiple, capitalised earnings (§199 BewG) and DCF offline
• Determining the purchase price (in German): how a value becomes a negotiated price
• Glossary: EBIT, EBITDA, multiple, capitalised earnings value and enterprise value explained