Business valuation: what is your staffing company really worth.

The short answer.

1. Normalised EBITDA x multiple = enterprise value. What the business is worth, regardless of how it is financed.
2. Enterprise value + cash, minus debt, plus or minus a working capital adjustment = equity value. What you receive as the shareholder.

Buyers price by size: up to €0.5 million EBITDA 3x to 5x, €0.5 to 2 million 4x to 6x, above that 5x to 7x. Specialists with growth and low client concentration sit at the top of their class; only large specialists with growth go above 7x. An agency with €10 million revenue and an 8% EBITDA margin makes €800,000 EBITDA: €3.2 million at 4x, €4.8 million at 6x. That €1.6 million gap is not in your revenue or profit. It is in how a buyer judges the risk and future of your business.

Value and price are not the same. A buyer who needs exactly your region or clients can pay above value. A buyer who is alone at the table rarely does.

A worked example, from EBITDA to your account.

A fictitious mid-sized agency with round numbers. Look at three years of EBITDA, not one: a buyer wants to see whether profit is stable, growing or a one-off peak.

Two things stand out. Without normalisation the enterprise value would have been €2.2 million: €60,000 of documented corrections is worth €300,000 at 5x. Normalisation works both ways, though: if you pay yourself too little, EBITDA goes down, because a buyer has to hire someone for your role. And the equity bridge costs this agency €100,000, mostly through working capital. You pay your workers before your clients pay you, so a buyer expects a normal level of working capital at transfer.

What pushes the value up, and what pulls it down.

Two agencies with the same profit can be a million euros apart. Buyers pay more for:

• Spread clients, with no single client above 15 to 20% of revenue, and framework agreements with a fixed term.
• A team that runs without you, and low turnover among workers and staff.
• Specialisation, such as technical, healthcare or logistics staffing, and a stable or rising margin per hour.
• Paperwork in order: NEN 4400-1, SNA registration, correct use of the ABU or NBBU CAO, and a Wtta admission that is arranged.

And they pay less for:

• A few large clients that make up most of your revenue, or everything running through you as the owner.
• Freelancer constructions that are not properly set up, now the Wet DBA has been enforced since 1 January 2025.
• Compliance gaps in wage tax, StiPP pension or G-account deposits: liability the buyer takes over.
• A messy administration, a falling margin, or a profit that leans on one exceptional year.

Almost everything on the second list can be fixed before you sell. According to Exit in Flex, preparing for sale adds 20 to 30% on average.

Different segments, different buyers.

Recruitment firms, where revenue per placement is less recurring, sit at the lower end of their size class; IT and specialised secondment firms with growth at the top. Only large specialists with growth go above 7x. For payroll companies the value sits in client relationships and payroll quality, and payrolling falls fully under the Wtta. For agencies from about €1 million EBITDA, the buyer type makes a difference too. The same agency with €1 million of normalised EBITDA is worth a different amount to each buyer type:

The highest multiple is not automatically the best deal. With private equity you often reinvest part through a rollover, and an MBI candidate usually needs a vendor loan or earn-out. Compare offers on what you receive and when. Who is buying right now is in our Flex M&A Radar (in Dutch).

Other methods. A discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation helps when you grow fast or invested in something not yet visible in EBITDA, but it rests on your own forecast. Asset-based value is usually a floor for a people business, not a sale price. Revenue multiples are rare in professional staffing deals: revenue says nothing about margin, and margin is what a buyer pays for.

How we value your company.

A full valuation with report typically takes 2 to 4 weeks. We analyse your accounts and normalise the figures, assess market position, client concentration and contract portfolio against recent Dutch staffing transactions, model growth and margin scenarios, and apply the multiple, DCF and asset-based methods. You receive a clear range, the reasoning per method and concrete recommendations, explained in person. Chartered accountant Stef Kanen, from the M&A practice of EY, reads your numbers the way a buyer's due diligence team would.

The price is fixed and agreed in advance, and a valuation carries no obligation to sell. Want a first indication today? The free value check gives you a range in two minutes. Ready to go further? See selling your staffing agency.