ExitCalculators.au

Dual-Asset Exit Calculator

You don't own one asset — you own two. Model your exit the way it actually works: the business and the freehold, side by side, with both paths in front of you.

Your two assets

All figures in Australian dollars. Estimates are fine — this is for planning, not paperwork.

Asset 1 — The business

Profit before interest, tax, depreciation & amortisation, adjusted for owner add-backs — and after a market rent for your premises (see FAQ).

Asset 2 — The property

What a tenant would pay per year at arm's length. If blank, we estimate using a 6% yield — typical Australian commercial yields run roughly 5–7.5%.

Your total dual-asset position
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Indicative business value range plus property equity, before tax and transaction costs
Business value range
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—
Property equity
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Market value minus secured debt
Annual market rent
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Path A — Sell the business, keep the freehold

  • Cash at settlement (business sale): —
  • Ongoing rental income from the new owner as your tenant: — per year
  • You retain a hard asset of — that can keep appreciating

The freehold becomes your income in life after the sale — and a formal market lease, signed before the business goes to market, both protects the business price and locks in that rent.

Path B — Sell everything

  • Cash at settlement (business + property equity): —
  • Ongoing income: none — the capital must fund whatever comes next

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Indicative figures only, before capital gains tax, transaction costs, agent fees and any SMSF considerations — all of which materially change dual-asset outcomes. This is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Speak to licensed advisers before acting.

Your numbers are a starting point — what's next?

See how exit-ready your two assets actually are, or talk the paths through with someone who's had this conversation hundreds of times.

Take the Exit Readiness Scorecard Book a Dual-Asset Strategy Call Visit fisherandfisher.au

Want to think this through properly?

The dual-asset exit is the core of the Asset First approach: treat the property as the first-class asset, not the afterthought. Hear it worked through, owner by owner, on The Founder's Horizon podcast.

Book a Dual-Asset Strategy Call →

Why your exit has two assets, not one

If you own the premises your business trades from, you're not preparing one sale — you're managing a portfolio of two assets with different buyers, different values, different tax treatment and different timelines. Treating them as one lump is how owners leave money on the table.

The property is usually the quieter achiever: it doesn't depend on you turning up, its value doesn't collapse if a key customer leaves, and commercial freeholds have a deep pool of investor buyers entirely separate from business buyers. That's why the dual-asset question — sell it, or keep it and become the landlord? — deserves to be answered before the business ever goes to market.

What Path A really means

Selling the business while keeping the freehold converts you from owner-operator to investor. Your business buyer becomes your tenant under a market lease, your income continues without the 60-hour weeks, and the asset stays in the family (or the SMSF). The trade-off: your capital stays concentrated in one property, and you take on landlord obligations.

What Path B really means

Selling both maximises the cheque and cleanly ends the chapter. It suits owners who need the capital elsewhere, don't want landlord risk, or whose property has a better use for a new owner. The trade-off: every future dollar must now come from redeploying that capital.

Frequently asked questions

What is a dual-asset exit?

An exit planned around both of an owner-occupier's assets — the trading business and the commercial premises — rather than the business alone. The two are valued separately and can be sold together, separately, or split: business sold, freehold kept and leased.

Why does the calculator ask for EBITDA "after a market rent"?

Because owner-occupiers often pay themselves no rent, or a token one, which inflates business profit. A buyer who will pay real rent values the business on profit after that rent. Deducting a market rent from your EBITDA is the honest way to see both numbers — and it's exactly what a buyer's accountant will do.

Should I put a lease in place before selling the business?

In almost all cases where you're keeping the freehold, yes — before going to market. Buyers and their lenders need security of tenure, and the lease terms you set (rent, duration, options, outgoings) directly shape both the business's sale price and your future income. Get the lease drafted professionally and at arm's length.

My premises are in my SMSF — does this still apply?

Yes, and the stakes are higher. Business real property held in a self-managed super fund has strict arm's-length leasing requirements and potentially significant tax advantages at exit. Decisions here should not be made without specialist SMSF and tax advice.

What about capital gains tax?

CGT — and in particular the small business CGT concessions — can change the after-tax result of each path dramatically, sometimes reversing which path wins. This calculator deliberately shows pre-tax figures only. Model the tax with your accountant before deciding anything.

I don't own my premises — is there a calculator for me?

Yes — use the Business Valuation Calculator for an indicative value range on the business alone.