Business Valuations for Your Clients, With Direct Access to the Valuator
For accountants advising owner-managed businesses in Manitoba and across Canada. Talk through the purpose, the valuation date and who will rely on the number before your client commits to a report. Peter Fast, CBV, scopes and prepares the valuation.
One Valuator, From the First Call to the Final Report
Peter Fast, CBV, leads Acadia Hill. He is a Chartered Business Valuator (CBV), the business valuation designation granted by CBV Institute, and he prepares business valuations and funding-ready business plans for business owners, Indigenous entrepreneurs and communities, lenders and lawyers across Manitoba and across Canada.
When you refer a client, you and your client deal with the person who scopes the work, does the analysis and signs the report. You will not be passed between a partner, a manager and a junior analyst.
Valuations are prepared under CBV Institute practice standards, scoped for their intended purpose and users. For engagements that begin on or after January 1, 2026, that means the significant inputs and assumptions are supported at every level, including a Calculation.
At a Glance
- Chartered Business Valuator (CBV)
- Based in Winnipeg; remote engagements across Canada
- Free first conversation, about 15–30 minutes
- Written scope and fixed-fee quote before work starts
- Many standard files completed in about 15 business days after the information is received
- Draft review call before the final report
Client Situations Where a Valuation Usually Comes Up
The event does not decide the report level on its own. The purpose, the people who will rely on the number and the records available do. A short call often settles whether a formal report is needed at all.
Estate Freezes and Section 86 Reorganizations
Agree the valuation date, the shares involved and the intended use with the tax plan before implementation. Estate freeze valuations
Agreed Shareholder Buyouts
A partner retires, leaves or buys in, and the shareholder agreement calls for a value. We read the agreement’s valuation clause with you and your client’s lawyer before scoping. Buyout guide
Family and Employee Transfers
A transfer to the next generation or to key employees, where the price needs to be fair and explainable to everyone involved.
Buying or Selling a Business
An independent value before a sale or purchase, separate from negotiation. Transaction advisory
Indigenous Funder Requirements
FPEGF requires an independent valuation for acquisition contributions, and FPEGF, LRCC and Waubetek may pay up to 75% of it. Indigenous business valuations
Shares Held at Death
CRA treats capital property as disposed of at fair market value just before death, so private company shares need a value as of that date. Records are easier to gather early. Estate guide
Contested matters. For files already in dispute or headed to court, we discuss fit at the first call and will tell you early if another specialist is a better match.
Calculation, Estimate or Comprehensive?
Under the CBV Institute standards, Calculation, Estimate and Comprehensive are levels of an independent valuation conclusion. They differ in how much review, inquiry and independent corroboration the work involves. We recommend a level once we understand:
- The purpose of the valuation and the decision it supports
- Who will rely on it: your client, CRA, a lender, a buyer, a funder or other shareholders
- The valuation date
- What is being valued: shares or assets, and how much of the company
- Any agreement that sets the rules, such as a shareholder agreement or a price adjustment clause
- The quality of the records and how complex the business is
Prices and the full description of each level are on our business valuation cost page. For a full comparison, read our guide to the three report levels.
- Calculation: the least extensive scope. Key inputs are still supported, and the industry and economy are considered. Often suits internal planning and many estate freezes.
- Estimate: broader review and independent corroboration, for numbers a buyer, lender, funder or partner will rely on.
- Comprehensive: the most extensive scope and documentation, for complex businesses or numbers that will face close review.
Before You Refer: Seven Things to Know
You don’t need every answer before calling, and no financial records are needed for the first conversation. These are the points that decide the scope and the fee.
1. What is happening
The event behind the valuation (freeze, buyout, sale, purchase, estate) and any deadline.
2. The valuation date
Today, a planned implementation date, or a past date such as a date of death.
3. What is being valued
Which company, whether shares or assets, and what percentage of the company.
4. Who will rely on it
Your client only, or also CRA, a lender, a buyer, a funder, other shareholders or counsel.
5. Agreements in play
A shareholder agreement, a price adjustment clause, an offer to purchase or a funding condition.
6. Records available
How many years of financial statements exist, and whether current-year results are available.
7. How you want to be involved
Who our main contact is, and when you would like to hear from us as the file moves along.
After the engagement is agreed, we send a records request tailored to the file. It usually includes recent financial statements, current results, share and corporate information, any relevant agreements, and details of debt and shareholder loans.
What Happens After You Call
Brief Call
A free conversation of about 15–30 minutes with you, your client, or both, to understand the situation and confirm fit.
Scope and Fixed Fee
A written scope, report level, timeline and fixed fee, agreed before any work starts.
Records and Analysis
A tailored records request, then the analysis, with questions to you or your client where facts need clarifying.
Draft Review and Report
A draft review call to correct facts, then the final report.
Referring a Client Should Be Safe for You
Your firm remains your client’s tax and accounting adviser. We agree our role, how we communicate and what we deliver before work begins. With your client’s consent, we keep you informed at agreed points in the file.
We do not use a valuation introduction to sell your client unrelated services or add them to marketing lists.
Keeping you informed does not make the conclusion negotiable. The value is our independent opinion, and the draft review is there to correct facts and fill gaps in the information, not to move the number.
If Acadia Hill is already involved in the same transaction in another role, we raise it at the start so you can judge whether the valuation is independent enough for its purpose.
What You and Your Client Receive
- Written scope and fixed-fee quote
- Records request tailored to the file
- Independent valuation report from a CBV
- Normalized earnings with each adjustment explained
- Draft review call before the final report
- A report your client can share with the people who rely on it
Questions Accountants Ask
Does every estate freeze need a formal valuation report?
What does a valuation cost?
How long does it take?
Will you contact my client directly?
Do you work with clients outside Manitoba?
Can you also appraise the equipment?
Discuss a Client Valuation
Send a short outline of the situation. Client names can wait until we have talked about fit, and no financial records are needed for the first conversation. You can also contact us here.
- Phone 204-951-4751
- Email info@acadiahill.com