Business valuation methods: what your Dutch company is worth, and what you keep

The four methods, side by side

The Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) and business.gov.nl describe the discounted cash flow method, the net asset value and the profitability value, in which the profit is set against the return a buyer wants. The multiple is the market version of that last method: the factor is the inverse of the return the buyer asks. A factor of 5 is a return of 20% a year on the price.

Both official sources say the same thing about the result: the value you calculate is a different thing from the price a buyer pays. The price depends on the alternatives each side has, on the financing and on the talks.

What changes the multiple

The factor reflects risk. A buyer asks one question: will this profit still be here in three years, with me as the owner? Five things decide the answer.

Dependence on the owner. If the customers, the suppliers and the staff deal with you personally, the profit walks out with you. KVK calls this personal goodwill: it disappears when you transfer the business. A company with a team that leads the daily business gets a higher factor. Delegating decisions in the years before the sale is the cheapest way to raise the price.

Customer concentration. One customer with 40% of revenue is a risk the buyer prices in. Ten customers with 10% each is a different company.

Recurring revenue. Contracts, subscriptions and maintenance agreements are worth more per euro than project work that has to be won again each year.

Growth. A company that grows 15% a year is worth more than one that is flat, because the buyer pays for next year’s profit as well. A forecast only counts when the last three years support it.

Risk in the business. One supplier, one product, one permit, a lease that ends next year, a lawsuit, old technology. Each item lowers the factor or becomes a guarantee you give in the purchase agreement.

Enterprise value and equity value: the bridge

The multiple gives the enterprise value: the value of the business itself, as if it were free of debt and of spare cash. The buyer pays for the shares, so you walk from enterprise value to equity value in three steps.

Net debt. Bank loans, leases and the loan from your holding come off. Cash comes on. A company with €500,000 of loans and €200,000 in the bank has a net debt of €300,000.

Excess cash. Cash above what the business needs for its daily payments is yours. Pay it out as dividend before the sale, or add it to the price. Most buyers prefer a clean company and a lower price.

Working capital. The buyer expects a normal level of debtors, stock and creditors on the day of the transfer. If you collect all debtors and delay all suppliers before the deed, the buyer corrects the price afterwards. The purchase agreement sets a target level and a correction.

The equity value is what your holding, or you, receives for the shares. The tax starts from there.

The normalised owner salary

Your own salary is the largest correction in the profit of a Dutch owner-managed company. Many owners pay themselves the minimum the tax rules allow. The buyer replaces you with a manager at a market salary, so the valuation uses that market salary, and the difference comes off the profit.

The Dutch reference for an owner-director is the customary salary rule: for 2026 the reference amount is €58,000 a year. The real rule is 100% of the salary of the most comparable job, or the salary of the highest-paid employee, if that is higher. In the valuation, the market salary for your role is the right figure, and €58,000 is the floor. For a company with €3 million revenue and 20 staff, a buyer counts a general manager at a far higher salary.

The other normalisations: private costs that go through the company, one-off income and costs, a rent for your own property at the market rate, and family members on the payroll at the real value of their work. See the owner salary calculator for the salary side.

Worked example: EBITDA of €400,000

A Dutch trading company with a normalised EBITDA of €400,000, bank loans of €500,000 and €200,000 in the bank: net debt €300,000. The owner once paid €18,000 for the shares. The factor is between 4 and 6, an assumption for this example. The table shows the result through a holding (participation exemption) and directly in private hands (box 2 at 24.5% up to €68,843 and 31 % above, 2026, one person).

Through the holding, the whole price stays available for investment. You pay box 2 each year on the dividend you take: the first €68,843 per person at 24.5%, and the low band counts twice with a tax partner. The holding pays corporate tax on the return it makes in the meantime: 19% up to €200,000 of profit and 25.8% above. The cabinet proposes a top rate of 29.2% in box 2 for 2027 to 2030; that is a bill, so plan with 31%.

The sale planner works this out year by year with your own price, your yearly needs and your investments. The exit calculator compares the sale privately and through a holding in one view.

One Dutch company, two roles: your holding before and after the sale

A Dutch holding owns the shares of your operating company. When it sells, the gain is exempt from corporate tax under the participation exemption, from a shareholding of 5% (Belastingdienst). After the sale, the same holding is your investment company: it receives the price, invests it and pays you each year. Many owners set the holding up years before the sale; a share-for-share exchange can still put one in place later, before you sign with a buyer.

A buyer from abroad uses a Dutch BV in the same way: as the acquisition company that buys your shares. Read buying a company in the Netherlands for that side, and selling a business in the Netherlands for the full timeline of a sale.

Prices: your Dutch company (BV) from €2,950 excl. VAT, and a holding with an operating company from €4,950 excl. VAT. Partner work, such as a formal valuation report, has its own price, which you see first.

Who does what

• You know the company and its figures. You decide which method counts, which price you ask and when you sell.
• We normalise the figures with you, work out the bridge from enterprise value to equity value and the tax on the proceeds, and set up or review the holding. We advise one party: you.
• Partners write the formal valuation report when a bank, a court or a tax office asks for one, and the acquisition adviser tests the value in the market. You see each price first.

Want our team to have a look at your figures?

Sources

• KVK, Valuing your business (updated 19 February 2025) and Bepaal de waarde van je bedrijf (updated 10 January 2025): the methods, normalising, personal goodwill, value and price.
• business.gov.nl, Valuing a business: net asset value, discounted cash flow, profitability value, goodwill (read 27 October 2026).
• Belastingdienst, the participation exemption and what counts as a participation (5%) (read 27 October 2026).
• Rijksoverheid, the three boxes of income tax, box 2 rates (updated 22 September 2026).
• Ministry of Finance, decision memorandum on the customary salary rule (27 January 2026): reference amount €58,000 in 2026.
• Eerste Kamer, cabinet letter of 30 September 2026: proposed box 2 top rate of 29.2% for 2027 to 2030 (bill).

Last reviewed: 27 October 2026. Methods as described by KVK and business.gov.nl; tax rates 2026 from the Belastingdienst and the Rijksoverheid; the factor of 4 to 6 in the example is an assumption.

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