What Documents You’ll Need, and Why

A business valuation usually begins with a document request. For a business owner, it can look like another demand on an already busy accounting team. For a spouse unfamiliar with the company, it may be difficult to tell which records matter or whether the package is complete.

The request should connect the records to the questions the valuation must answer. Financial statements explain reported performance, while ownership records establish whose interest is being valued. Supporting documents help test the adjustments that could materially change the conclusion.

Confirm the assignment before collecting everything

Start with the purpose, intended users and valuation date. Manitoba’s Family Property Act permits agreed valuation dates and provides defaults where there is no agreement. Counsel should confirm the relevant dates, including any earlier date needed for property owned before the relationship. [1]

The valuator can then identify the companies and periods involved. A practical initial request may cover three to five years of financial records before the valuation date, plus information close to that date. That is a starting point for discussion, not a universal legal disclosure requirement or a substitute for the engagement’s specific request.

Ownership records identify the interest being valued

Provide the corporate structure, share register, articles and any shareholder agreement. Include documents for reorganizations or ownership changes relevant to the assignment. These records help establish the share classes, rights and percentages involved, which an ordinary balance sheet may not explain. [2]

For a group of companies, identify which entity operates the business, owns the real estate or holds investments. A report on the operating company alone could omit value elsewhere or misinterpret payments between related companies. Partnership agreements and ownership records serve a similar purpose for an unincorporated business.

Financial statements and tax returns provide the foundation

Supply complete financial statements with their notes and the accountant’s accompanying report, together with corporate tax returns and relevant schedules. Include available interim statements where the valuation date falls between year-ends. Practice Standard 120 identifies historical and current financial statements, corporate returns and available forecasts as typical financial information to consider. [2]

The statements and returns need to be reconciled where they differ. A tax adjustment is not automatically a valuation adjustment, and taxable income may differ from accounting profit. Knowing how each figure was prepared helps avoid comparing numbers that measure different things.

Detailed records explain proposed earnings adjustments

A general ledger shows the transactions grouped into each account. Payroll summaries, invoices and supporting agreements can then help assess particular entries. Requesting that detail allows an adjustment to be tested rather than accepted solely from an account description.

CRA describes an audit trail as information needed to reconstruct a transaction’s sequence and links supporting documents to summarized accounts. That traceability is also useful in a valuation. A new spreadsheet summarizing an expense is easier to assess when it identifies the original entries and supporting records. [3]

Asset and debt schedules connect operations to equity

Provide equipment lists showing descriptions, acquisition dates and ownership, along with relevant appraisals. Property records, leases and financing agreements help distinguish owned assets from leased assets and identify obligations. Asset descriptions should be detailed enough to establish what is actually included.

Loan statements and shareholder account ledgers explain amounts owed by the company or its owners. Receivable and payable listings, inventory reports and cash balances help assess working capital. A headline operating value cannot be converted reliably into share value without understanding which assets and liabilities it already includes.

Contracts and forecasts explain the earnings outlook

Major customer contracts, premises leases and financing terms can affect how the business will perform. A schedule of revenue by customer helps identify concentration, while an order book can clarify the work expected after the valuation date. The relevant records depend on how the company earns its revenue.

If management has prepared budgets or forecasts, provide their assumptions and identify when they were prepared. An existing forecast can be examined against the information available at the valuation date. A reconstruction prepared for the valuation should be clearly identified, rather than presented as a document management relied on at the time.

Support income requires a separate document review

Where child-support income is also at issue, the request may extend to personal returns, assessments and compensation records. Under Manitoba’s Child Support Guidelines Regulation, section 21 includes three years of corporate and subsidiary financial statements and details of non-arm’s-length payments where a parent controls a corporation. Counsel should confirm the applicable disclosure obligations. [4]

Salary, dividends and shareholder withdrawals should be reconciled to the company’s records. Financing commitments and planned expenditures may help explain an assertion that earnings need to remain in the business. A property valuation package should not be assumed to answer every support-income question.

Organize the package and identify gaps

Keep a simple index showing the request item, document supplied, entity and period covered. Retain original electronic files and provide searchable copies where possible; ledgers and schedules are often more useful in exportable form than as photographs. Agree on a secure delivery method and the sharing arrangements with counsel and the valuator.

Mark missing items clearly and explain whether they were never prepared, cannot be located or may be held by an accountant or lender. Do not replace an unavailable record with an unlabeled estimate. For historical valuations, recovery of a few important documents may contribute more than collecting large volumes of unrelated current material.

Resolve important gaps early

The 2026 CBV scope standard requires support for significant assumptions. If missing or unreliable information creates limitations serious enough to jeopardize credibility, the valuator must not issue a conclusion. A lower report level does not automatically resolve that problem. [2]

Before assembling a large package, ask Acadia Hill to discuss the proposed scope with you and your family law counsel. Identifying the relevant entities, dates and disputed questions allows the initial request to be focused. Both spouses should be able to understand what the documents establish and why further information is being sought.

Peter Fast, CBV, Acadia Hill

This article provides general information and is not legal, tax or accounting advice. The appropriate scope depends on the purpose, intended users, available evidence and specific circumstances of the engagement. Family law counsel should advise on how the law applies to your situation.