⬤ Business Valuation Services
Business Valuation Services
in
Chicago, Illinois
When a board, a buyer, an investor, or the IRS asks what your company is worth, the answer has to hold. CountSure delivers independent, defensible valuations for Chicago businesses, CVA certified and prepared under Licensed US CPA supervision.
The moment you need a number you can defend
Most Chicago valuations start with a deadline, not curiosity. Here is where a defensible figure changes the outcome.
Raising capital
An investor wants your 409A before the term sheet
Venture and growth-stage rounds move fast. A defensible 409A lets you issue equity and close without a valuation question stalling the deal.
Selling or merging
You are negotiating a price and need leverage
Whether you are the buyer or the seller, an independent valuation gives you objective ground to negotiate from instead of a number someone can dispute.
Transferring ownership
You are gifting shares or planning your estate
Gift and estate filings invite IRS scrutiny. A supportable valuation protects the transfer and the people who depend on it.
Facing an audit
An auditor or examiner is asking how you got there
When the question comes, the answer is the documentation. Our reports are built to be read by the people most likely to challenge them.
Not sure which one applies to you yet?
Tell us what is coming up and we will point you to the right valuation, or tell you honestly if you do not need one.
Valuation Services We Offer
Eight focused services, each matched to a specific purpose, stage, and standard of value.
Startup Valuation
Defensible valuations for early-stage and venture-backed companies raising capital or issuing equity.
409A Valuation
IRS-compliant fair market value reports for common stock and employee equity grants.
Purchase Price Allocation
Allocation of acquisition consideration across tangible and intangible assets for reporting.
Portfolio Valuation
Audit-ready fair value marks for funds, GPs, and institutional investors.
Intangible Asset
Valuation
Valuation of patents, trademarks, customer relationships, and other intangibles.
Merger & Acquisition Valuation
Transaction support and fairness analysis for buy-side and sell-side deals.
Gift & Estate Tax
Valuation
IRS-compliant valuations for
wealth transfer, gifting, and estate planning.
Compliance Service Valuation
Ongoing valuation support to keep your business audit-ready and compliant.
A figure is only as good as what sits behind it
Anyone can produce a number. What makes it hold up is the evidence underneath, and that is where we spend our time.
A CountSure valuation looks past the headline financials to the things that actually move value for a Chicago business, then ties them together into one conclusion you can stand behind in front of an investor, a board, or an examiner.
What you own and owe
A full read of the balance sheet and capital structure, not just the top-line numbers.
How you earn
Forward-looking analysis of cash flow, margins, and the durability of the earnings.
Where you can go
Realistic assessment of growth, scalability, and competitive position in your market.
What the market says
Benchmarking against comparable Chicago and national transactions and multiples.
Built to be defended, not just delivered
The real test of a valuation is the day someone pushes back on it. Ours are prepared for that day.
Documented to the last assumption
Each conclusion is traceable to its inputs, so the report survives audit, due diligence, and investor review.
IRS-aware preparation
Reports are prepared with IRS expectations in mind, giving you clean support for 409A, gift, estate, and transfer matters.
Recognized methodology
We apply established income, market, and asset-based approaches consistently, so the logic is transparent and repeatable.
Credentialed oversight
Led by Parth Shah, US CPA and Indian FCA. Our valuation practice is CVA certified through NACVA, and every engagement runs under Licensed US CPA supervision, with work credentialed under IBBI and ICAI on the India side.
Not the same thing as an asset appraisal
A common mix-up. Here is how a business valuation differs from appraising a single asset like real estate.
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Business Valuation
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Asset Appraisal (e.g. Real Estate)
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What's valued
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The whole operating enterprise, including cash flow, intangibles, and growth prospects.
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A single physical asset, such as a building or office property.
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How
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Income (DCF), market (comparable NY transactions), and asset-based approaches.
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Sales comparison, cost, and property-specific income approaches.
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Result
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One fair market value for the business equity or enterprise.
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An estimated value for the identified property or tangible asset.
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From first call to a report you can use
A clear path with no surprises, so you always know what is happening and what comes next.
We agree on the brief
We pin down the purpose, the standard of value, and the effective date, so the engagement is scoped correctly from day one.
You hand over the data
Financials, cap table, and the operational and legal documents we need, collected securely.
We read the market
We analyze Los Angeles trends, comparable transactions, and the benchmarks relevant to your sector.
We choose the approach
Income, market, or asset-based, whichever fits your situation, applied with documented reasoning.
We build and write it up
The model and a clear, standards-aligned report, complete with assumptions and support.
We stand behind it
We walk you through the findings and stay on call for boards, investors, auditors, and the IRS.
Industries We Serve in Chicago
Value drivers differ by sector. We tailor the analysis to how each of these Chicago industries actually makes money.
Financial Services & Derivatives Trading
Proprietary trading firms, futures and options shops around the CME and Cboe, and asset managers rely on audit-ready fair value marks that hold up to regulators and LPs.
Logistics, Freight & Transportation
As the nation’s rail and freight hub, Chicago’s carriers, 3PLs, and warehousing operators need precise enterprise valuations for acquisitions, succession, and partner buyouts.
Manufacturing & Industrial
Chicagoland’s machinery, fabrication, and industrial producers need defensible valuations of equipment, goodwill, and earnings for transitions, estates, and deals.
Food, Beverage & Consumer Goods
The region’s food processors, CPG brands, and distributors lean on brand and intangible valuations through acquisitions, restructurings, and ownership changes.
Technology & Venture-Backed Startups
From the Fulton Market and 1871 ecosystem, Chicago’s SaaS and fintech companies need defensible 409A valuations to issue equity and stay clean through every round.
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Providers, medtech, and health startups across the Illinois Medical District require rigorous valuations for funding, estate planning, and transactions.
What makes a Chicago valuation different
National method, local reality. These are the dynamics we factor in that a generic template would miss.
Real estate priced on the highest property taxes in the country
Cook County's reassessment cycle and steep commercial property taxes weigh heavily on Loop and suburban operating costs and net worth, in ways that materially shift a conclusion of value.
A market built on trading floors and freight, not just startups
From the CME and Cboe to the rail yards that move the nation's freight, Chicago value drivers run from derivatives volume and clearing relationships to logistics throughput, each demanding methodology that fits how the business really earns.
Illinois tax layered onto Cook County and city rules
The Illinois flat income tax, the Personal Property Replacement Tax on entities, and Cook County and City of Chicago levies stack onto federal rules, and a credible valuation has to account for all of it.
Why Choose CountSure?
Plenty of firms can produce a valuation. Here is what you get when Chicago owners choose us to do it.
Independent, CPA-supervised
CVA certified through NACVA and run under Licensed US CPA supervision, so you get an impartial conclusion that holds up to investors, auditors, and the IRS.
One accountable lead
Your work is led by Parth Shah, US CPA, CVA, and Indian FCA, not handed off to a faceless team. You always know who stands behind the number.
A full-service partner
Valuation connects to our wider tax, accounting, and advisory work, so the conclusion fits the bigger picture instead of sitting in isolation.
Built for the Chicago market
We factor in the local realities, from Cook County property taxes to Illinois Replacement Tax and the city's trading and freight economy, that a generic, out-of-market template would miss.
The people who come to us in New York
- Owners planning an exit or transition
- Founders raising and issuing equity
- M&A advisors structuring deals
- Banks underwriting and assessing collateral
- Families planning estates and transfers
- Partners merging or being bought out
How fast
1 to 2 weeks
is the typical draft turnaround for many standard valuations once we have your data. We confirm a firm timeline at the first call, and we offer expedited delivery when a transaction, round, or filing deadline is driving the clock.
Across Chicago and the metro area
We serve businesses throughout the city and the surrounding Chicagoland region:
- The Loop
- Fulton Market
- River North
- West Loop
- Cook County
- DuPage County
- Lake County
- Naperville
- Schaumburg
- Evanston
Valuation questions Chicago owners ask us
Most often it is a deal or a deadline: an M&A transaction, a funding round that requires a 409A, or an estate or gift filing. Partner buyouts at trading and professional-services firms, succession at family-owned manufacturers, and lender requirements come up regularly too.
They can, significantly. With some of the highest commercial property taxes in the country and a reassessment cycle that can move costs sharply, property values and lease obligations affect the balance sheet and operating costs, so we account for those location-specific dynamics rather than treating them as an afterthought.
That is the standard we build to. Reports are CVA certified and prepared under Licensed US CPA supervision using recognized methodology, with every assumption documented so the work withstands review.
As a rule of thumb, once a year, or sooner after a material event such as a new round or a meaningful change in the business or market.
Yes. With US CPA supervision and IBBI/ICAI-credentialed valuation expertise on the India side, we are set up for businesses with cross-border or multi-jurisdictional operations.
For many standard valuations, a draft within a few weeks of receiving your data, with expedited options when a deadline is driving the timeline.
Engagements are led by Parth Shah, US CPA and Indian FCA. Our valuation practice is CVA (Certified Valuation Analyst) certified through NACVA, with US valuations performed under US CPA supervision and work credentialed under IBBI and ICAI on the India side.
Get Started
Put a number you can defend on your Chicago business
Bring us the deadline, the deal, or the filing. We will give you an independent, audit-ready valuation, prepared under Licensed US CPA supervision, that holds up when it counts.
- Free 30-minute consultation with a CPA
- Fixed-fee, fully transparent pricing
- 100% remote - no travel or visa required
