The CPA appraisal
A REPORTIN A DRAWER
A formal appraisal gives you a thick document, a defensible number, and a bill for a few thousand dollars. Then it goes in a drawer, and Saturday is still a work day. It told you what the business is worth once, and nothing about how to change it.
Four minutes, no card. Free, and everything you see is yours to keep.
The usual move
A CPA or accredited appraiser (ABV or ASA) values the business rigorously, and a one-time business appraisal runs about $2,000 to $8,000. It is a real instrument, and for the right job it is the only one that will do.
Give it its due
When you need a real appraisal
- It is rigorous, credentialed, and defensible in front of a court, a lender, or the IRS.
- It is the right instrument for a transaction, a divorce, a partner buyout, or an estate.
- It gives you a certified number a third party will stand behind.
The gap
What it does not do for your week
- It is a snapshot: it tells you the number once and nothing about what to change, or in what order.
- It does not track, so the moment the business changes the document is out of date.
- It was never built as a management tool, so it leaves your operating week exactly as it was.
The long game
The daily trap and the discount are the same problem.
For managing the number in the years you can still change it, an appraisal is the wrong tool, because the value is built long before the sale. The work that raises the multiple, getting the business off you, is the same work that buys back your week now. An owner-dependent service business trades near 1.65x SDE, an owner-light one near 3.5x, a $555,000 gap on $300,000 of earnings. The free diagnostic gives you an estimated sale price and the ranked fixes in four minutes, and you run it every month, not once.
owner-dependent vs owner-light on identical earnings, a $555,000 gap on $300,000 of SDE
Straight talk
If a court, a lender, or the IRS needs a certified number for a deal, get the appraisal. That is a real job, and it is not this.
See how the estimate is builtWhat the diagnostic actually reads
Eighteen questions, four minutes. It reads the business on the three things a buyer prices, estimates a sale price, and names the first thing keeping the business tied to you. Free.
Business Independence Score
Can the business run without you?
The single value driver inside your control. It reads how much the business still depends on you personally, which is what a buyer discounts hardest.
Systems Maturity Score
How documented and repeatable are your operations?
Whether the work lives in written systems or in your head. Documented operations transfer; undocumented ones leave with you.
Acquisition Attractiveness Score
What would a buyer see when they look at your business?
The buyer’s-eye view: recurring revenue, customer concentration, clean books, and the risks that move the multiple.
Common questions
- How much does a business valuation cost?
- A formal business appraisal from a CPA or accredited valuator typically costs about $2,000 to $8,000 and produces a certified document for a transaction. Keystone gives an estimated sale price free in four minutes, calibrated against ten years of closed transactions, and updates it as the business changes. The appraisal is the right tool for a deal that needs a certified number; the estimate is the right tool for building that number in the years before.
- Is a free business valuation as good as a paid appraisal?
- A free estimate and a paid appraisal do different jobs, so neither replaces the other. A paid appraisal is a certified, defensible number for a specific transaction; a free diagnostic is a management estimate that tracks the number and ranks what moves it. Keystone is explicit that its output is an estimate, not a formal appraisal, and points you to an accredited valuator when a deal needs one.
Free in four minutes
Find the first thing keeping the business tied to you
Three scores, an estimated sale price, and the ranked list of what is discounting your value, read against ten years of real closed transactions.
See what to hand off firstFree in 4 minutes, no credit card. Add your email to see your scores and estimated sale price.
Keystone gives an estimated sale price, not a formal appraisal. For a certified number in a sale, a loan, or a dispute, work with an accredited business valuator. This comparison reflects how these options differ as of 2026.