Home Checklists Business valuation document checklist
Business valuation
Business valuation document checklist
A valuation stalls on the same few gaps: tax returns without the matching statements, ownership papers that disagree, and owner add-backs nobody can support. This list is ordered by what the valuator opens first. Items marked optional depend on the entity type or the purpose of the valuation.
Who sends it Sent by the CPA or senior bookkeeper to the owner when a valuation engagement is signed, whether for a sale, a buy-out, a gift, an estate or a divorce. Send it before the kickoff call, not after.
Reviewed November 10, 2026 · 29 items
0 of 29 ticked
Sketch: the business valuation document checklist as a client sees it on a phone in Usual Maple & Main CPA Business valuation… 29 items · due Friday Purpose, standard of… Interest being valued Five years of year-en… Year-to-date… Accounts receivable… Continue
01 Purpose and valuation date
Purpose, standard of value and valuation date Ask the owner in writing why the valuation is needed and as of what date. The purpose decides the standard of value and the report type, and the date decides which balance sheet and which year's returns matter. Tip A gift or estate date is fixed by the event. A sale or buy-out date is usually the most recent month-end the books are closed.Interest being valued State the exact interest: 100 percent of the business, a minority share, or specific units or shares. Ask for the number of units or shares involved and whether any carry voting or transfer restrictions. Tip A minority interest in an S corporation is valued differently from the whole company, which is why the IRS publishes a job aid on exactly that case.Intended users and any deadline Optional Name who will rely on the report, such as a buyer, a lender, a court, a co-owner or the IRS, and any hard date. Form 709 for a gift is generally due April 15 of the year after the gift.
02 Financial statements
Five years of year-end financial statements Balance sheet and income statement for each of the last five fiscal years, preferably the ones the CPA compiled or reviewed. The IRS instructions for Form 709 ask for five prior years of earnings data for closely held stock. Tip If the client has fewer than five years, say so on the list and send what exists.Year-to-date statements and a same-period prior year Balance sheet and income statement through the most recent closed month, plus the same months of the prior year, so the valuator can annualize and see the trend. Tip Close the books through the valuation date month before sending. Statements that are open or unreconciled get rejected.Accounts receivable and payable agings Agings as of the latest balance sheet date and as of each of the last two year-ends, with the general ledger control account total tied to the aging total. Tip If the aging total and the balance sheet differ, put the reconciling item in the note before sending.Inventory listing and costing method Optional The count sheet or perpetual report at the latest balance sheet date, the costing method such as FIFO or average cost, and a list of obsolete or slow items already reserved. Fixed asset register and Form 4562 The register with cost, accumulated depreciation and disposal dates, and the Form 4562 filed each year. Flag assets fully depreciated on the tax return that still work, since book value will understate them. Tip Ask for any recent equipment or real estate appraisal at the same time.Debt schedules and loan agreements Optional Each loan, line of credit and capital lease with balance, rate, maturity, collateral and covenants. Include any personal guarantee by the owner, since a valuator needs to separate it from company debt.
03 Tax returns and payroll
Business tax returns for the same five years The complete filed return each year: Form 1120-S, Form 1065, Form 1120 or Schedule C (Form 1040), with every schedule and statement, not just the first pages. Pick the one that matches the entity. Tip Compare each return's income to the year-end statements before sending. A gap you can explain beats one the valuator finds.Schedule K-1 for each owner Optional The Schedule K-1 from Form 1120-S or Schedule K-1 (Form 1065) for every owner and every year. It shows each owner's share of income, deductions and credits, and tests the ownership percentages. Quarterly payroll returns The four Form 941 returns for the latest full year and for the current year to date, with the payroll register. They confirm headcount and wages, and catch officers paid outside the register. Tip Ask separately for each owner's total pay across salary, bonus, distributions and benefits.Open IRS or state notices and audits Optional Any notice, examination report, payment plan or unpaid payroll or sales tax liability. An unpaid liability reduces value, and a valuator who finds one late reprices the whole engagement.
04 Ownership and legal documents
Formation documents and ownership ledger Articles or certificate of formation, the operating agreement or bylaws, and the stock ledger or capitalization table showing every issuance, transfer and redemption from the start. Tip If the ledger and the Schedule K-1 percentages disagree, fix that first. The valuator will stop on it.Buy-sell agreement and prior transactions Optional Any buy-sell agreement, option, right of first refusal, and records of past sales or redemptions of the company's interests, with price and date. Arm's-length prior sales are evidence of value. Existing appraisals and offers Optional Any earlier business valuation, broker opinion, letter of intent or written offer, even an old or rejected one, since a valuator has to reconcile with it or explain the difference. Key contracts and customer concentration Contracts that drive revenue, and a list of the top customers by revenue for each of the last three years. Add change-of-control or termination clauses on any contract the sale would trigger. Tip Ask directly whether one customer or supplier is a large share of sales, since the answer shapes the risk discussion.Leases and the related-party rent question Optional The lease for each location with term, rent and renewal options. If the owner or a relative owns the building, send the lease and say whether the rent is at market, because rent is a common normalization item. Licenses, insurance and litigation Optional Professional or operating licenses, the current insurance summary, and a list of pending or threatened lawsuits and settlements, each with the amount at stake.
05 Normalization and owner adjustments
Owner compensation versus market pay Total annual pay to each working owner and a job description with hours worked. The valuator replaces owner pay with what a hired manager would cost, so this is the largest swing in most small company valuations. Tip Ask what the owner would pay a stranger to do the same job. A written number is better than a verbal one.Personal and one-time expenses run through the company A list by year of vehicles, travel, family payroll, insurance, club dues and similar items that are personal, each with the account and amount from the ledger, plus the invoice or statement behind it. Tip Do not accept a lump sum. An unsupported add-back is usually thrown out.Non-recurring income and expenses Optional One-time items such as a lawsuit settlement, a disaster loss, a gain on sale of equipment, a grant or a loan forgiveness, with the year, amount and the ledger account it was booked to. Related-party transactions Optional Loans to or from owners, sales or purchases with companies the owners also control, and shared costs, with a ledger detail for each. Mark which ones are on commercial terms. Non-operating and excess assets Optional Assets not used in operations, such as an investment account, a vacation property or a boat held in the company, with current statements or an appraisal. These are valued separately from the operating business.
06 Purpose-specific documents
Form 8283 and a qualified appraisal for a donation Optional For a gift of business interests to charity, the Form 8283 instructions require a qualified appraisal when the deduction is over $5,000. A privately held stock, LLC or partnership interest goes in Section B. Tip Over $500,000 the appraisal must be attached to the return unless an exception applies, so confirm that before the engagement is priced.Form 709 gift details Optional Who received what interest and on what date, the entity EIN from the formation papers, and the company's balance sheets and earnings data for the five prior years. The annual exclusion for 2025 gifts is $19,000. Tip Adequate disclosure on Form 709 means a qualified appraisal or a detailed description of the method used.Form 706 estate documents Optional Date of death and the executor's letters. The estate may elect the alternate valuation date, six months after death, for property not disposed of in that time. The basic exclusion is $13,990,000 for 2025 deaths and $15,000,000 for 2026 deaths. Form 8594 and the purchase price allocation Optional For a sale of the whole business, the draft purchase agreement and the asset allocation. Both buyer and seller file Form 8594 when goodwill could attach to the assets, and the valuation feeds it. Forecast and growth plans Optional A written forecast for the next three years with revenue, margin and capital spending, plus the assumptions behind it. A forecast with no support is treated as a wish, so ask for backlog, signed contracts or pipeline.
What firms get wrong
Collecting tax returns without the matching year-end statements, which forces the valuator to rebuild the balance sheet from a return.
Accepting owner add-backs as a lump number with no invoices, which makes the adjustment unusable.
Letting the ownership ledger and the Schedule K-1 percentages disagree until the valuator finds it.
Starting before the books are closed through the valuation date, so the latest balance sheet is unreconciled.
Treating the valuation as one fixed form when a donation needs Form 8283 with a qualified appraisal over $5,000 and a gift needs Form 709 support.
Forgetting that a minority interest and a whole company are valued differently, and requesting only company-level data.
Get this checklist when it changes
We'll email you when this checklist changes, and about once a month with new checklists and templates. Unsubscribe any time. Privacy
Questions about this checklist
How many years of records does a business valuation need? Five is the working standard for a small company. The IRS instructions for Form 709 ask for balance sheets and earnings and dividend statements for the five prior years when a close corporation's stock is valued. If the company is younger, send what exists and say so.
Do I send tax returns or financial statements? Send both. The returns show what was reported to the IRS, and the statements show how the company actually operated. A valuator will compare them, and an unexplained difference between the two is the first thing that gets questioned.
Can the same checklist work for every valuation purpose? The first three sections apply to every purpose. The last section changes: a charitable gift needs Form 8283 and an appraisal, a gift needs Form 709 support, an estate needs Form 706 items, and a sale needs the Form 8594 allocation. Add or remove those items per engagement.
How can I send the list so owners actually finish it? In Usual, the owner opens a personal link with no password, a yes or no answer such as whether the owner's family rents the building can show the lease questions, and reminders stop once everything is in. That keeps the follow-up from falling on you.
Sources
Checked November 10, 2026. Tax rules, forms and thresholds change; confirm them with the IRS or your tax software before relying on them.