Valuation workpapers and draft reports for registered valuers and CA firms
TL;DR Valuework is software for the people who sign valuations of small unlisted companies in India, which means registered valuers, chartered accountants and cost accountants. It reads the company's financials, builds the models, keeps an audit trail and drafts the report. Firms pay per seat or per report, and the professional still signs.
A small company that takes foreign investment, issues shares or restructures usually needs a valuation signed by a qualified person. Under RBI's foreign investment rules, the fair value of an unlisted company's shares has to be certified by a chartered accountant, a SEBI-registered merchant banker or a practising cost accountant[1]. Valuations required under company law go to valuers registered with IBBI[2].
The work behind those signatures is mostly spreadsheets. Every engagement means retyping audited accounts, rebuilding a cash-flow model, hunting for comparable companies and writing a long report. India had 1,825 registered valuers for securities and financial assets in March 2022[3], which is a small group serving a huge base of firms, so time per report decides both fees and turnaround.
What it does, in regulatory terms: workpaper and drafting software for qualified professionals. Valuework does not issue a valuation or certificate. The valuer picks the method, makes every judgement and signs, and stays responsible under their own rules.
Here's how it works. The valuer uploads audited statements and management projections, and Valuework pulls the numbers into a standard model, flags breaks between years and sets up discounted cash flow, comparable-company and net-asset methods side by side. Every input links back to its source page, so a reviewer or regulator can follow the trail. Once the valuer settles on a range, the tool drafts the report in the structure the purpose needs (foreign-investment pricing or a company-law valuation) for the valuer to edit.
The original version of this idea was automated valuation sold straight to small businesses. That falls flat in India, because the statutory uses need a qualified signatory and an automated number alone won't satisfy a bank, an auditor or RBI. Selling to the people who sign is the version that works.
The buyer is a small valuation practice or a CA firm with a valuation desk, paying per seat or per report. The business owner keeps paying the professional's fee as they do today. I couldn't find public data on Indian valuation fees. The closest priced benchmark is a European startup valuation tool, which charges US$149.90 (about ₹14,500) for its mid tier and US$380.90 (about ₹36,800) with expert review[4].
IBBI keeps adding registered valuers, and its public register now shows 6,345 records across asset classes[2]. More qualified signatories means more small practices with no in-house analysts. On the demand side, Udyam registrations hit 6.82 crore by December 2025[5], so the pool of formal small firms that may one day raise money or restructure keeps growing.
Nobody publishes a count of valuation reports issued in India each year, or of what's spent on valuation software. The narrowest firm number is 1,825 IBBI-registered valuers for securities and financial assets in March 2022, including 908 through the ICAI's valuer organisation[3]. CAs and cost accountants who certify foreign-investment pricing[1] add to that base, but I found no count of them.
One European firm sells startup valuation software in more than 90 countries using five methods[4], but it's built for founders and isn't shaped around Indian statutory reports. One equity-management platform offers valuation reports as a service and says it produces more than 500 a year[6], which competes with valuers rather than equipping them. Plenty of Indian practices still run on their own spreadsheet templates. I found no India-built workpaper tool for valuers.
| Difficulty | Moderate (31/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹35–65 L |
| Time to launch | 4–6 months |
Reading Indian financial statements reliably is the main technical job. Trust is the harder part, because valuers carry personal liability and they'll only adopt a tool if its models are transparent and its drafts match what their professional body and regulators expect. Selling to lots of small practices is slow too.
The software needs no licence, because the professionals who sign carry the regulated duty. Your marketing must never suggest otherwise.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
AI must not pick the method, the discount rate or the final range. Those are the valuer's judgement, and they sign for it personally.
Want to work out the AI layer for Valuework? Talk to Yash →
Here's what can go south -
I like this for a founder who is a working registered valuer, or has one as a partner, and can build models people trust. If you want to sell valuations straight to business owners then don't, because that is a regulated professional service. Prove one thing first - ten practices cut report time by a third and half of them would pay.
Plan for roughly ₹35–65 L, mostly on engineers who can read Indian financial statements and a few valuers as advisers.
No. The CA, cost accountant or IBBI-registered valuer who signs carries the regulated duty. Make sure your marketing never implies the software does the valuation.
Yes, startup valuation tools already sell in Europe. Each country sets its own rules on who signs valuations, so adapt the report templates.
The free Valuework validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the valuation-rule and data-protection checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for valuers and CA firms, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Valuework or something close to it? The make-or-break bit is earning the trust of valuers who carry personal liability for every report, and that's the kind of thing I help founders figure out. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.