Financial Advisor Practice Value Calculator
Short answer: This free financial advisor practice value calculator estimates what your book of business is worth in about two minutes. Enter your trailing 12-month revenue (T12), operating expenses and organic growth, and it estimates your practice EBITDA, an illustrative valuation multiple, total practice value and after-tax value. Nothing you enter is saved or sent.
Built by Marc Elia, founder of UpTick Consulting Partners, a financial advisor recruiting and transition consulting firm. Updated November 2026.
Worked example: a practice with $2,000,000 of T12 revenue (95% recurring), $540,000 of operating expenses and 25% fair advisor pay has about $960,000 of EBITDA, a 48% margin. At an illustrative 8.5x multiple, that is roughly $8.2 million of practice value, or about 4.1x T12, before taxes.
Trailing 12-month revenue (T12)
Enter your total T12, or enter each revenue type. Change the total and the three types rescale to match; change a type and the total updates.
Buyers and recruiting firms usually give the most credit to recurring, fee-based revenue and little to one-time commissions.
Practice expenses (excluding your own pay)
Starting figures are simple placeholders as a share of revenue (10% platform, 13% staff, 4% other). Replace them with your actual numbers.
Split what's left: advisor pay vs. owner profit
Revenue minus expenses is what the practice pays you. Part of that is fair pay for doing the advisor job; the rest is the profit of owning the business.
Net new assets (last 12 months)
Organic growth only: new client assets plus additions, minus withdrawals and departed clients, as a % of starting AUM. Market gains don't count.
Valuation multiple
The multiple sets itself from your EBITDA size and growth. Drag to try your own; tiers are illustrative, not market data.
Get a confidential valuation review
Want a second opinion on your number? Send your details and Marc Elia will walk through your practice value, what drives it, and how it compares with transition packages at independent, RIA and wirehouse firms. Confidential and at no cost to advisors.
Who this practice value calculator is for
It is built for wirehouse, independent broker-dealer and RIA advisors who want a quick read on the value of their book of business before a sale, a succession plan, a merger or a move to a new firm. Advisors at Merrill, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Wells Fargo often use it alongside a transition consulting conversation to see how owning their business compares with a recruiting package.
How the practice value calculator works
- Revenue: enter your T12, split into fee-based, trails and one-time commissions.
- Expenses: platform, staff and overhead, not your own pay.
- Your compensation: separate fair advisor pay from owner profit.
- EBITDA: the owner profit that buyers value.
- Organic growth: net new assets nudge the multiple up or down.
- Value: EBITDA times the multiple, before and after federal capital gains tax.
Key terms used in this practice valuation
- T12: trailing 12-month gross revenue, the starting point for most advisor valuations and transition packages.
- Recurring revenue: advisory fees and trails that repeat each year, as opposed to one-time commissions.
- EBITDA: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. For an advisory practice, it is revenue minus operating expenses and fair pay for the advisor role.
- Valuation multiple: the number EBITDA is multiplied by to estimate practice value.
- Net new assets (NNA): organic asset growth, excluding market performance.
Practice valuation FAQ
How much is my book of business worth?
A financial advisor’s book of business is usually valued on its profit, not its revenue. Estimate EBITDA (revenue minus operating expenses and fair pay for your own advisor work), then apply a multiple that reflects size, recurring revenue and organic growth. This calculator does that math for you and shows the value as a multiple of T12.
How do you value a financial advisor practice?
A common approach is to estimate EBITDA and apply a multiple. Buyers then adjust that multiple for size, the share of recurring fee-based revenue, net new asset growth, client age and concentration, succession depth and deal terms.
What multiple do financial advisor practices sell for?
Multiples vary widely by size, growth, recurring revenue and buyer type. The tiers in this calculator are illustrative starting points, not market data. A confidential review with UpTick can compare your practice against the options open to you.
Is a practice valued on revenue or EBITDA?
Smaller books are often quoted as a multiple of revenue, while larger practices and RIAs are usually priced on EBITDA. This calculator estimates both: the EBITDA-based value and what that value equals as a multiple of your T12.
Why does fee-based revenue matter more than commissions?
Recurring advisory fees and trails are predictable, so buyers and recruiting firms give them the most credit. One-time commissions usually get little or no credit in a valuation or a transition package.
What are net new assets?
Net new assets measure organic growth: new client assets and additions from existing clients, minus withdrawals and assets lost when clients leave, as a percent of starting AUM. Market gains and losses are excluded.
Is practice value the same as a transition package?
No. A sale or valuation prices the business you own. A transition package is what a new firm pays you to move, often a percentage of T12 paid as an upfront loan plus back-end bonuses. UpTick helps advisors compare both paths.
Does UpTick charge advisors for a valuation review?
No. UpTick Consulting Partners works at no cost to advisors. Firms that hire advisors pay our fees.
Thinking about a move instead of a sale? Read how transition packages work, whether going independent is worth it, what to ask before buying a book of business, or download the free 2026 Financial Advisor Transition Report. You can also talk with a financial advisor recruiting firm about your options.
Disclosures
This calculator gives a rough, directional estimate for planning only. It is not a formal valuation, appraisal or offer, and should not be used for financing, legal, divorce, estate or tax purposes. Expense defaults (10% platform, 13% staff, 4% other) and the EBITDA multiple tiers and growth adjustment are illustrative placeholders, not market transaction data. Real valuations normalize EBITDA, weigh client demographics, concentration and succession, and depend heavily on buyer type and deal structure. The after-tax figure reflects federal long-term capital gains only, not state taxes, the 3.8% net investment income tax or deal-structure effects. UpTick Consulting Partners is a recruiting and transition consulting firm, not an investment adviser, broker-dealer, law firm or accounting firm, and this tool is not investment, legal, tax or valuation advice.