A valuer’s guide to EVS-BV 2026

• Structure 1 of 4 · Part A · Normative

• Structure 2 of 4 · Part B · Guidance

Part A is mandatory: EVS-BV 1 to 5 (Market Value, other bases, the qualified valuer, the valuation process, and reporting) plus two governance standards, the European Valuers’ Code of Conduct and TEGOVA’s Educational Requirements for Business Valuers (TER-BV).

Part B is advice, not mandatory. B.1 Valuation Methodology explains the income, market and asset-based approaches and their methods. B.2 holds six Guidance Notes on report content, premiums and discounts, discount rates, uncertainty, ESG, and startups and scaleups.

• Structure 3 of 4 · Part C · Background

• Structure 4 of 4 · Scope

Context and resources

What counts as a “business”

Part C offers context rather than rules: how EU legislation affects business valuation, recognition of the REV-BV qualification, TEGOVA membership, and a glossary. It helps valuers judge how legal constraints may affect a business and its value.

EVS-BV adopts the IFRS 3 definition: an integrated set of activities and assets that can be managed to provide goods or services, investment income or other ordinary income. It covers whole enterprises and interests in them. Intangible assets now have their own standard, EVS-IA 2026.

• Core rule 1 of 4 · EVS-BV 1

• Core rule 2 of 4 · EVS-BV 1

Business valuers must use the EVS-BV Market Value definition: the amount a business should exchange for at the valuation date between a willing buyer and seller acting independently, after proper marketing, knowledgeably, prudently and without compulsion. It excludes transaction costs and taxes.

Where relevant, a highest and best use analysis decides whether the business is valued as a going concern, still using all its assets to earn income, or in a liquidation scenario where assets are sold individually, either in an orderly sale or a forced sale.

• Core rule 3 of 4 · EVS-BV 3

• Core rule 4 of 4 · EVS-BV 4

The qualified business valuer

Analyse before you model

A natural person with a business-related degree, another degree plus an MBA, or a recognised finance or valuation certificate; at least three years of business valuation experience; adherence to a code of conduct; professional indemnity insurance; CPD; and any licence the home country requires.

The valuer must analyse the business’s internal environment (business model, capabilities, performance, assets, operational risks) and external environment (macroeconomy, industry, regulation, capital markets), adjust historical financials, and build these findings into the business model.

■ Structured summary

EVS-BV 2026, part by part

The left column covers the mandatory standards in Part A and the methodology in Part B.1. The right column covers the six Guidance Notes in Part B.2 and the background material in Part C, which supports but does not add to the rules.

Standards and methodology

Guidance and context

EVS-BV 1 Market Value: the definition and its key terms, highest and best use, going concern versus liquidation, assumptions and special assumptions, and exclusion of transaction costs and taxes.

EVS-BV 2 Other bases: equitable value, fair value, synergistic value, investment value, liquidation value, and the EU resolution bases.

EVGN-BV 1 Content of the Valuation Report: a detailed list of matters a report may cover, from the engagement and the business to financial analysis and the valuation itself.

EVGN-BV 2 Control premium, DLOC and DLOM: reaching the right level of value for the interest being valued.

EVS-BV 3 The Qualified Valuer: qualifications, experience, CPD and insurance; disclosure of conflicts in writing; independence of joint valuers; and the valuer’s liability.

EVGN-BV 3 Discount rates in the DCF method: consistency with the cash flows, CAPM, WACC and the build-up method.

EVS-BV 4 The Valuation Process: written terms, specialists, third-party use, external data, financial information at the valuation date, purposes, business and market analysis, approach selection, uncertainty, discount rates, complex capital structures, and supporting records.

EVGN-BV 4 Valuation uncertainty: sources of uncertainty, quantitative and qualitative assessment, risk mitigation, and how to report it.

EVS-BV 5 Reporting the Valuation: an objective, unambiguous written report valid at the valuation date only, special issues to disclose, a signed compliance statement, and the rules for valuation review.

EVGN-BV 5 ESG in business valuation: materiality, quantitative and qualitative treatment, data quality, scenario analysis, and reporting.

Governance standards: the European Valuers’ Code of Conduct and TEGOVA’s Educational Requirements for Business Valuers (TER-BV).

B.1 Methodology, income approach: discounted cash flow and income capitalisation.

EVGN-BV 6 Startups and scaleups: identifying them, financing rounds and comparables, scenario, milestone and probability-weighted methods, the venture capital method, and reporting.

B.1 Methodology, market approach: comparable transactions and comparable publicly traded companies, using valuation multiples.

B.1 Methodology, asset-based approach: net assets and liquidation value; and reconciling more than one method.

C.1 EU legislation and business valuation: company law, credit institutions, insurance, investment funds, taxation, transfer pricing, State aid, ESG, and insolvency or restructuring.

C.2 to C.4: the REV-BV qualification and how it is awarded, TEGOVA membership, and the glossary.

• Bases of value 1 of 4 · EVS-BV 2

• Bases of value 2 of 4 · EVS-BV 2

The amount for which a business would exchange between identified, knowledgeable and willing parties, reflecting their respective interests. Also known as fair value for non-financial purposes, it differs from Market Value because the parties are specific rather than hypothetical.

The price received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. For financial reporting it also applies to an entity’s own equity, for example investments in subsidiaries, associates or joint ventures.

• Bases of value 3 of 4 · EVS-BV 2

• Bases of value 4 of 4 · EVS-BV 2

Synergistic and investment value

Liquidation and resolution values

Synergistic value arises when combining businesses makes the whole worth more than the parts, a key issue in M&A pricing. Investment value is the value to a particular identified party, reflecting its own assumptions, objectives and constraints rather than the market view.

Liquidation value is the net amount recoverable in an orderly or forced liquidation, after liquidation costs. For EU bank recovery and resolution, Regulation 2018/345 adds its own bases: disposal value, hold value and franchise value, which must be interpreted as that regulation specifies.

■ Two checklists

Two checklists every EVS-BV assignment needs

EVS-BV 4 lists the minimum terms of engagement, which must be agreed in writing and summarised in the report; without them the valuation does not comply. EVS-BV 5 sets what the report itself must deliver, and EVGN-BV 1 suggests fuller content.

Engagement (EVS-BV 4)

Report (EVS-BV 5)

1. Parties: the client, any other intended user of the report, and the valuer’s identity and status, with any actual or potential conflict of interest and previous involvement.

1. Form: in writing, reliable and comprehensible, objective, and neither ambiguous nor misleading.

2. Subject and purpose: the purpose and intended use, and the precise extent of the business or ownership interest being valued.

2. Instructions: the instructions, the basis and purpose of the valuation, and every matter agreed in the terms of engagement.

3. Basis and date: the basis or bases of value and the valuation date.

3. Analysis: the analytical processes, methodology and results that led to the opinion, including documented adjustments to historical financials.

4. Assumptions and investigation: assumptions and special assumptions; the scope of investigations and any material limitations; reliance on information from the client or third parties; reliance on other professionals.

4. Opinion: a clear and unequivocal opinion of value at the valuation date, stated to be valid at that date only; a range only where agreed and reasoned.

5. Use and liability: restrictions on use, publication, circulation or reliance, and the extent of any duty of care.

5. Conflicts: if instructed despite a potential conflict, the conflict, its notification to the client, and the safeguards used.

6. Compliance and fee: a statement that the valuation complies with EVS-BV, or the nature of any departure, and the fee. These are minimums; expand them to fit law, regulation and the assignment.

6. Special issues: stand-alone treatment of subsidiaries or non-operating assets, special or synergistic value, unusual market conditions and uncertainty, recent changes, and matters such as pending litigation or expiring licences.

7. Compliance: a statement that the signing valuer is responsible to the client and has conformed to EVS-BV, with the extent of and reasons for any departure or omitted step.

• Practice point 1 of 4 · EVGN-BV 2

• Practice point 2 of 4 · EVGN-BV 3

Each method gives a level of value: controlling or non-controlling, marketable or not. A control premium, discount for lack of control (DLOC) or discount for lack of marketability (DLOM) may be needed to reach the level of the interest valued, and each must be stated and explained in the report.

The rate must match the cash flows in currency, tax, inflation and whether debt is included: cost of equity for equity value, WACC for enterprise value. CAPM is the main market-based method, with build-up as a fallback, and the rate’s construction must be disclosed.

• Practice point 3 of 4 · EVGN-BV 4

• Practice point 4 of 4 · EVGN-BV 5

Valuation uncertainty

ESG without artificial value

The valuer assesses uncertainty from evidence quality, model dependence and market conditions. Where it is material to users’ decisions, the report must reflect it through a reasoned range, scenario analysis and/or a material-uncertainty statement.

ESG is not a separate source or basis of value. It counts only where it affects expected cash flows or risk, through the key assumptions and inputs, and never justifies automatic premiums or discounts unless supported by market behaviour or justified expectations.

✱ Keep learning

Read the official text, then go deeper

This guide is Valuvix’s independent summary of European Business Valuation Standards 2026; we are not affiliated with or endorsed by TEGOVA. The official text is published by TEGOVA and always prevails. Use this page to orient yourself, then rely on the standard itself, and see our EVS 2025 guide for property valuation and our IVS 2025 guide for the international benchmark.