A valuer’s guide to IVS 2025

• Structure 1 of 4 · Glossary

• Structure 2 of 4 · General Standards

The Glossary defines the terms that carry a specific meaning throughout the standards, such as basis of value, intended use, significant, valuation risk, professional scepticism and automated valuation model. Read it first: many requirements only make sense once you know how IVS defines a word.

Seven standards that apply to every valuation and every valuation review, whatever the asset: the valuation framework, scope of work, bases of value, valuation approaches, data and inputs, valuation models, and documentation and reporting. They are the starting point for any valuation.

• Structure 3 of 4 · Asset Standards

• Structure 4 of 4 · Compliance

Asset Standards (IVS 200–500)

What “IVS-compliant” means

Eight standards that add requirements, modifications and examples on top of the General Standards for specific asset types: businesses, intangible assets, non-financial liabilities, inventory, plant, equipment and infrastructure, real property interests, development property, and financial instruments.

A valuation complies with IVS only when it meets the General Standards, the Appendices and the applicable Asset Standards together. Where legal or regulatory requirements conflict with IVS, they must be prioritised, explained, documented and reported; any other deviation makes the valuation non-compliant.

• Valuer principle 1 of 4

• Valuer principle 2 of 4

IVS 100 requires the valuer to follow the ethical principles of integrity, objectivity, impartiality, confidentiality, competence and professionalism, so that the valuation is non-biased and the public trust is preserved. Any potential conflict of interest or bias must be disclosed.

The valuer must have the technical skills, knowledge and experience required to complete the valuation appropriately. Where they do not, IVS allows a specialist or service organisation to be used, provided this is agreed and disclosed and their capability is assessed and documented first.

• Valuer principle 3 of 4

• Valuer principle 4 of 4

Compliance

Professional scepticism

The valuer must disclose or report that IVS were used and that the valuation complied with them. If a limitation, restriction or scope of work means the result will not be IVS-compliant, the client must be told in writing and the report must not claim compliance.

An appropriate level of professional scepticism, meaning a questioning mind and a critical assessment of evidence, must be applied at every stage of the valuation. IVS 2025 makes this explicit when selecting data and inputs, choosing and testing valuation models, and reviewing the work of others.

■ Structured summary

The fifteen standards, one by one

Every IVS 2025 valuation starts with the seven General Standards; the Asset Standards then add what is specific to the asset type. Where an asset falls under more than one Asset Standard, the valuer must explain, justify and document which standards were applied.

General Standards

Asset Standards

IVS 100 Valuation Framework: sets the four valuer principles, requires documented quality controls over the valuation process, governs the use of specialists and service organisations, defines what IVS compliance means, and states the effective date.

IVS 101 Scope of Work: the client and valuer must agree in writing, before the report is completed, what is being valued, for whom and for what use, on which basis and date, with what limitations, information and assumptions, and that IVS will be followed.

IVS 200 Businesses and Business Interests: valuing whole businesses and ownership interests, with requirements on ownership rights, business information, economic and industry considerations, operating and non-operating assets, and capital structure.

IVS 102 Bases of Value: defines market value, market rent, equitable value, investment value, synergistic value and liquidation value; recognises bases from IFRS and law; and sets the premises of value and the rules for assumptions and special assumptions.

IVS 210 Intangible Assets: marketing-, customer-, artistic-, contract- and technology-related intangibles and goodwill, with guidance on discount rates, economic lives and the tax amortisation benefit.

IVS 103 Valuation Approaches: the market, income and cost approaches and, in the Appendix, their methods. The valuer selects the most appropriate approach or approaches, maximises observable inputs, and reconciles divergent results into a single conclusion without simply averaging them.

IVS 220 Non-Financial Liabilities: obligations settled by delivering goods or services rather than cash, such as deferred revenue, warranties and decommissioning, including cash-flow estimation, risk margins, transfer restrictions and taxes.

IVS 104 Data and Inputs: data must be relevant, meaning accurate, complete, timely and transparent; inputs are selected with professional judgement and scepticism; and the source, selection and use of significant inputs must be explained, justified and documented. The Appendix addresses ESG factors.

IVS 230 Inventory: raw materials, work-in-process and finished goods, and how profit from value-added processes and returns on contributory assets make market value differ from book value.

IVS 105 Valuation Models: a model must be fit for purpose, tested, and understood by everyone who prepares or relies on it. Whether built internally or sourced from a specialist, the valuer stays responsible, and no model used without the valuer’s judgement, including an AVM, can produce an IVS-compliant value.

IVS 300 Plant, Equipment and Infrastructure: tangible assets held for production, supply, rental or administration, including infrastructure networks, with special considerations and cross-references to IVS 400 and IVS 410.

IVS 106 Documentation and Reporting: working papers must allow another valuer to understand the scope, the work performed and the conclusions. Reports must be in writing and convey at least the items listed in the checklist below, including an IVS compliance statement and the report date.

IVS 400 Real Property Interests: rights in land and buildings, the hierarchy of interests, rent, and the legal framework the valuer must understand before valuing any interest.

IVS 410 Development Property: land or buildings where development is required to reach highest and best use or is in progress, covering the residual method, the existing asset and secured-lending considerations.

IVS 500 Financial Instruments: additional requirements on data and inputs, model selection and testing, and quality control when valuing financial instruments for financial, tax or regulatory reporting.

• Bases of value 1 of 4 · IVS-defined

• Bases of value 2 of 4 · Other bases

IVS 102 defines six bases of value: market value, market rent, equitable value, investment value (worth), synergistic value and liquidation value. A basis describes the fundamental premise of the reported value, including the assumed parties and the assumed transaction, so the same asset can legitimately carry different values under different bases.

IVS also recognises bases defined by other bodies, such as Fair Value under IFRS and fair value as defined in a law or statute. The valuer may use them when appropriate for the intended use, but the source of the definition must be cited, or the basis explained, in both the scope of work and the report.

• Bases of value 3 of 4 · Premises

• Bases of value 4 of 4 · Assumptions

Premises of value

Assumptions and special assumptions

A premise of value describes the assumed circumstances of use or transaction: highest and best use, current or existing use, orderly liquidation, or forced sale. Because the premise can move the value substantially, it is stated together with the basis of value and must fit the intended use.

Beyond the basis, a valuation often needs assumptions about the state of the asset or the circumstances of the assumed exchange. IVS 102 requires every significant assumption to be reasonable, evidence-based and relevant to the intended use, and special assumptions to be agreed and disclosed.

■ Two checklists

Two checklists every assignment needs

IVS 101 sets what must be agreed before the work begins; IVS 106 sets what the report must convey at the end. Both lists are minimums, and both apply whether the valuer is employed by the client or engaged externally.

Scope of work must specify (IVS 101)

A report must convey (IVS 106)

1. Subject and parties: the asset(s) and/or liability(ies) being valued, clearly identified; the client; and the valuer, who must disclose any potential conflict of interest or bias.

1. Engagement: the agreed scope of work, the assets and/or liabilities valued, the identity of the valuer, and the client.

2. Purpose: the intended use of the valuation and the intended users, if any. Together they drive which basis of value and which procedures are appropriate.

2. Use and users: the intended use and, where applicable, the intended users of the valuation.

3. Measures: the valuation currency, the valuation date (and the report date, if different), and the basis or bases of value, with the source of each definition cited or explained.

3. Parameters: the valuation currency or currencies, the valuation date(s), and the basis or bases of value adopted.

4. Work and limitations: the nature and extent of the valuer’s work, any restrictions on inspection, enquiry or analysis, and the nature and sources of the information relied upon.

4. Method: the valuation approach(es) adopted and the valuation method(s) or valuation model(s) applied.

5. Assumptions and support: any special assumptions known in advance, the use and role of any specialist, and any requirements on significant environmental, social and governance factors.

5. Evidence: the sources and selection of significant data and inputs, and the significant environmental, social and governance factors used and considered.

6. Deliverable and compliance: the type of report to be prepared, restrictions on use, distribution and publication, and a statement that the valuation will comply with IVS. All of this is agreed in writing before the report is completed, and any change is agreed in writing too.

6. Caveats and reliance: significant or special assumptions and limiting conditions, and the findings of any specialist or service organisation.

7. Conclusion: the value and the rationale for it, an IVS compliance statement, and the date of the report, which may differ from the valuation date. If a limitation or restriction prevents compliance, the report must not state that it complies with IVS.

• Key term 1 of 4 · Approach, method, model

• Key term 2 of 4 · Data and inputs

IVS keeps three levels apart. A valuation approach is the broad route to value (market, income or cost). A valuation method is a specific technique within an approach used to conclude a value. A valuation model is the quantitative implementation of a method, in whole or in part, that converts inputs into outputs.

Observable data is information readily available to market participants about actual events or transactions; inputs are derived from data plus the valuer’s assumptions and adjustments. IVS 104 asks the valuer to maximise observable data and to test that it is accurate, complete, timely and transparent.

• Key term 3 of 4 · Valuation risk

• Key term 4 of 4 · Reviews and AVMs

Valuation risk and quality control

Valuation review and AVM

Valuation risk is the possibility that the value is not appropriate for its intended use. IVS 100 requires documented quality controls around the valuation process, proportionate to the intended use, the user, the asset and the complexity, and periodically reassessed.

A valuation review is either a valuation process review (does the work comply with IVS?) or a value review (is the value reasonable?), or both; it is not itself a valuation. An automated valuation model (AVM) calculates a value without the valuer applying judgement to the model, inputs or outputs, and on its own cannot produce an IVS-compliant valuation.

✱ Keep learning

Read the official text, then go deeper

This guide is Valuvix’s independent summary of IVS 2025; we are not affiliated with or endorsed by the IVSC. The International Valuation Standards are published by the International Valuation Standards Council, and the official text always takes precedence over anything written here. Use this page to orient yourself, then open the standard itself before relying on it.