United States. Privately held businesses

Business valuation calculator: what is your business worth?

Most valuation calculators quietly apply a public company multiple to a private business, which is the single most common way an owner is told a number that is several times too high. This one shows both. Enter your adjusted earnings and see the figure at the median multiple US privately held businesses actually sold for, beside the figure at what listed US companies trade at, with both numbers sourced and dated.

Adjusted EBITDA (or SDE if the owner works in the business)

Profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, after adding back one-off costs and any owner pay above a market salary.

Earnings multiple

Starts at the 4.5x median the UK200Group SME Valuation Index recorded for the year to November 2025. Move it to test a buyer's offer.

Surplus cash in the business

Cash above what the business needs to trade. Most deals are agreed cash free and debt free, then adjusted for this.

Debt and debt-like items

Bank loans, directors' loans, finance leases, overdue federal and state tax, deferred consideration owed. All of it comes off the price.

Indicative value to shareholders

£2,750,000

Enterprise value, plus surplus cash, less debt. An indication of where a market sat, not a valuation of your business.

Have this checked by an adviser

Enterprise value at your multiple	£2,750,000
At the private lower middle market median (5.5x EBITDA)	£2,750,000
At the US public company multiple (16.95x EBITDA)	£8,475,000
What being private and small costs you	£5,725,000

The basis

The default multiple is 5.5x EBITDA, the median reported for deals in the $5M to $50M band by the IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse survey for Q2 2025, compiled from 272 completed transactions reported by 326 business brokers and M&A advisors (IBBA and M&A Source, Market Pulse Q2 2025). The same survey reported a median of 2.3x for businesses selling under $500,000.
The public company comparison is 16.95x EBITDA, the total market EV/EBITDA for US firms with positive EBITDA excluding financials, from NYU Stern's Enterprise Value Multiples by Sector dataset, data as of January 2026 across 5,994 firms (NYU Stern, Damodaran). Including financials the same dataset reports 19.73x.
Those two figures measure different things and that is the point of showing both. One is what listed companies trade at; the other is what privately held businesses actually sold for. A private business is not a small listed company, and the gap between the two lines is the combined effect of size, illiquidity, customer concentration and owner dependence.
Main Street and lower middle market are the survey's own bands: Main Street is up to $2M and the lower middle market is $2M to $50M. Below roughly $2M, deals are usually quoted on SDE (seller's discretionary earnings, the owner's total benefit) rather than EBITDA, so a multiple from one basis cannot be applied to the other.
Surplus cash and debt are treated the way a buyer treats them: enterprise value is what the business is worth, then cash is added and debt-like items are deducted to reach what reaches shareholders. Deferred consideration, earn-outs and working capital adjustments are not modelled and routinely move the final figure.
This is an indication, not a valuation. It applies no adjustment for sector, growth, margin, customer concentration or owner dependence, and a real valuation is mostly the work of making those adjustments.

Bizworth Calculator is an independent site operated by Ellul Solutions Ltd. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the IBBA, M&A Source, NYU Stern or any adviser named here, and nothing on it is valuation, tax or investment advice. It produces an indication from published market multiples and your own inputs; it is not a valuation, and it applies no adjustment for sector, growth, margin, customer concentration or owner dependence, which is most of what a real valuation consists of. Multiples move: every figure carries the date and the survey or dataset it came from.

What US businesses actually sell for, against what listed companies trade at, 2026

Last updated 2026-08-15

The two most-cited multiple datasets in the United States measure different populations and are routinely quoted as though they were interchangeable. Putting them side by side is the fastest way to see why an owner's expectation and a buyer's offer are so often several times apart.

Two published sources, read on 15 August 2026 and cited in full below. Private transaction multiples come from the IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse survey, a quarterly survey of business brokers and M&A advisors covering business sales up to $50M: the Q2 2025 edition, its 53rd, was completed by 326 advisors reporting 272 transactions, and reported a median of 2.3x for deals under $500K and 5.5x for the $5M to $50M band. Its Q1 2026 edition, the 56th, was completed by 300 advisors reporting 203 transactions and reported multiples broadly consistent with prior periods, with slight increases in the $500K to $1M and $1M to $2M ranges and larger deals holding steady; it did not publish the band figures themselves, so the Q2 2025 numbers are the most recent published bands and are labelled with their date rather than presented as current. Public company multiples come from NYU Stern's Enterprise Value Multiples by Sector (US) dataset compiled by Aswath Damodaran, data as of January 2026 across 5,994 US firms, using the positive-EBITDA column. Band-to-band comparisons are not like for like and the table says so: sub-$2M deals are conventionally quoted on SDE rather than EBITDA. Nothing here is derived, averaged or estimated.

What US businesses actually sell for, against what listed companies trade at, 2026
Population	Basis	Multiple	Source and date	What it actually measures
US businesses under $500K	SDE, conventionally	2.3x	IBBA Market Pulse, Q2 2025	Main Street sales, owner's total benefit
US deals $5M to $50M	EBITDA	5.5x	IBBA Market Pulse, Q2 2025	Lower middle market, after a market-rate manager
US listed, excluding financials	EBITDA	16.95x	NYU Stern, January 2026	5,994 firms with positive EBITDA
US listed, all firms	EBITDA	19.73x	NYU Stern, January 2026	Same dataset, financials included
Semiconductor, listed	EBITDA	34.75x	NYU Stern, January 2026	The dataset's high end by sector
Auto parts, listed	EBITDA	6.43x	NYU Stern, January 2026	The dataset's low end by sector

US listed companies traded at 16.95x EBITDA excluding financials in January 2026, while US private deals of $5M to $50M sold at a median of 5.5x in Q2 2025.
That is roughly three times the multiple for the same dollar of earnings, before any adjustment for sector, growth or owner dependence.
US businesses selling under $500,000 had a median multiple of 2.3x, about seven times below the listed market figure.
Even inside the listed market the spread by sector is wide, from 6.43x in auto parts to 34.75x in semiconductors.
The private survey covers business sales up to $50M and drew on 272 completed transactions reported by 326 advisors in the quarter.

Cite this page

“What US businesses actually sell for, against what listed companies trade at, 2026”, Business Worth Calculator, https://bizworthcalculator.com/ (updated 2026-08-15). Two published sources, read on 15 August 2026 and cited in full below. Private transaction multiples come from the IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse survey, a quarterly survey of business brokers and M&A advisors covering business sales up to $50M: the Q2 2025 edition, its 53rd, was completed by 326 advisors reporting 272 transactions, and reported a median of 2.3x for deals under $500K and 5.5x for the $5M to $50M band. Its Q1 2026 edition, the 56th, was completed by 300 advisors reporting 203 transactions and reported multiples broadly consistent with prior periods, with slight increases in the $500K to $1M and $1M to $2M ranges and larger deals holding steady; it did not publish the band figures themselves, so the Q2 2025 numbers are the most recent published bands and are labelled with their date rather than presented as current. Public company multiples come from NYU Stern's Enterprise Value Multiples by Sector (US) dataset compiled by Aswath Damodaran, data as of January 2026 across 5,994 US firms, using the positive-EBITDA column. Band-to-band comparisons are not like for like and the table says so: sub-$2M deals are conventionally quoted on SDE rather than EBITDA. Nothing here is derived, averaged or estimated.

Want this checked by a corporate finance adviser?

Tell us about the business and we will introduce you to a corporate finance adviser or business valuer who works with companies your size.

What is the valuation for?

When do you need this?

Your name

Phone (optional)

Anything else we should pass on (optional)

Tick the box above to send your enquiry.

Free, no obligation
Your details go only to the advisers who respond
No marketing lists, ever

Guides

Every figure sourced and dated.

How much is my business worth? A US answer, sourced
What US businesses actually sold for, from a survey of completed transactions, set against what listed companies trade at. Both figures, both dated.
Business valuation methods: which one a US buyer uses
The income, market and asset approaches named by the SBA, what each is for, and why almost every private US sale is settled on a multiple of earnings.
Adjusted EBITDA and SDE: which one your buyer will use
US deals under about $2M are quoted on SDE and larger ones on EBITDA. The difference, the add-backs buyers accept, and the ones they reject.

The questions we get

How much is my business worth?

For a UK SME, start at adjusted EBITDA multiplied by 4.5, the median multiple the UK200Group / MarktoMarket SME Valuation Index recorded for the year to November 2025, then add surplus cash and deduct all debt. On £500,000 of adjusted EBITDA with no debt that is £2,250,000. It is an indication of the market, not a valuation of your company.

What is a typical EBITDA multiple for a US small business?

It depends on size, and the two published bands are far apart. The IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse survey for Q2 2025 reported a median of 2.3x for US businesses selling under $500,000 and 5.5x for deals in the $5M to $50M band, from 272 completed transactions reported by 326 advisors. Below roughly $2M those deals are conventionally quoted on SDE, the owner's total benefit, rather than EBITDA, so a multiple from one basis cannot be applied to the other. Listed US companies traded at 16.95x EBITDA excluding financials in January 2026, which is the wrong benchmark for a private business and the most common reason an owner's expectation and a buyer's offer are several times apart.

Why is the public company multiple so much higher than what businesses sell for?

Because they are different populations, not different opinions about the same one. NYU Stern's dataset measures 5,994 listed US firms, which are large, liquid, professionally managed and can be bought in a fraction. The Market Pulse survey measures completed sales of whole private businesses, most of them owner-run. The gap between 16.95x and 5.5x is the combined effect of size, illiquidity, customer concentration and owner dependence. A calculator that applies a listed multiple to a private business is not being optimistic, it is using the wrong dataset.

Does this calculator tell me what I will actually receive?

No. It gives a headline price before deal structure and before tax. Earn-outs, deferred consideration, working capital adjustments and warranty retentions change the cash that arrives, and Capital Gains Tax then applies to the gain. Business Asset Disposal Relief charges 18% on qualifying gains from 6 April 2026, capped at £1m of lifetime gains.

Do multiples differ by sector and business size?

Yes, substantially, and we do not publish a sector table because no UK source publishes one we can cite and verify. The published index is a market-wide median and mean. Treat the gap between those two figures as the width of the answer, and ask a corporate finance adviser where in it your sector and size sit.

Is this a valuation?

No. It is an indication computed from a published market median. A valuation is a professional opinion given by someone who has read your accounts, contracts and customer list and can defend the figure to a buyer, a court or HMRC.

Sources

Value it against the right market

The same earnings, priced at what private US businesses actually sold for and at what listed companies trade at, with both figures sourced and dated.

Talk to a specialist Open the calculator

Embed this tool

Embed it anywhere; attribution stays on. Copy this:

<script src="https://bizworthcalculator.com/embed.js" async></script>

Talk to a specialist