How we rank valuation firms

The largest single input. Every review is submitted by an identifiable client, moderated, and marked approved before it counts. The score blends the firm's average rating with a Bayesian shrinkage toward the category mean so that a firm with a small handful of five-star reviews cannot outrank one with dozens of consistent four-and-a-half-star reviews. Firms with fewer than three approved reviews are still eligible but scored conservatively.

We count the ASA, CVA, ABV, CFA, MAFF, CBA, and AM designations held by staff at the firm, weighted by seniority (partners and directors count more than associates) and by relevance to business valuation. A firm with three ASA holders and two ABVs scores materially higher here than a firm with a single generalist. Credentials are self-reported at claim and verified before display.

How many distinct valuation services the firm actually performs, relative to the ranking's scope. A firm covering all fifteen of our tracked services scores full marks on the overall ranking; the same firm scores against a narrower denominator on a category or service ranking, so that specialists are not penalized on their home page. Marketing pages don't count — engagement history and reviewer references do.

The size bracket of the practice — 1-10, 11-50, 51-200, or 200+ employees — mapped to a score that rewards capacity to handle complex, time-critical engagements. This component intentionally does not favor the largest firms outright; a mid-size firm with strong credentials and reviews can outrank a large one with weaker fundamentals.

Tenure since founding, scored on a diminishing scale. A firm ten years old earns roughly the same on this component as a firm forty years old — long enough is long enough. New firms with strong reviews and credentials are still competitive; they simply have one component working against them.