A tree services business in Australia is typically worth 2x to 3.5x its normalised EBITDA — but that range covers a lot of ground. An established arborist business with council maintenance contracts, a qualified crew that doesn’t need the owner on site, and a well-maintained equipment fleet can reach the upper end. One where the work comes in through the owner’s personal network, the cherry picker is overdue for its next service, and half the contracts are in the owner’s personal name rather than the company’s will land at the lower end, or below it.
The gap between those two businesses can be several hundred thousand dollars on the same revenue base. Understanding where you sit — and what moves the multiple — is the most useful thing you can do before you start thinking about a sale.
How a Tree Services Business Is Valued
Most arborist and tree lopping businesses in Australia are valued on a multiple of normalised EBITDA — your annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation, adjusted for owner salary above a market replacement rate and personal expenses run through the business. Understanding how EBITDA add-backs work is worth doing before you prepare your financials for a sale process.
Typical EBITDA multiples for Australian tree services businesses:
| Business Type | EBITDA Multiple |
|---|---|
| Owner-operated, mostly reactive residential work | 1.5x – 2.5x |
| Established multi-crew, some council contracts | 2.5x – 3.5x |
| Multi-crew with management in place, government contracts | 3x – 4x |
These are guides, not guarantees. A business with $400,000 in normalised EBITDA and the bulk of its revenue from a transferable council maintenance contract is worth more than one with the same EBITDA built entirely from one-off residential jobs. The multiple reflects the certainty a buyer has about future earnings after you’ve walked out the door.
For context, EBITDA multiples by industry in Australia generally puts trade businesses at 2.5x–4x. Tree services sits toward the lower end of that range unless the business has strong recurring contracted work — at which point it starts to behave more like a facilities services company, which attracts a better multiple.
What Buyers Actually Look For
When a buyer looks at a tree services business, the revenue number gets their attention. What they’re actually buying is the certainty behind it. Four things drive most of the difference between a multiple of 1.5x and one of 3.5x.
Recurring contracts and council work
One-off residential tree removals are revenue. Council maintenance contracts are value. The distinction: a residential job is gone once the stump is ground; a council contract renews annually and gives a buyer forward visibility on income. Buyers will pay a higher multiple for a business where 40–60% of revenue is contracted, provided those contracts are documented and transferable.
A business owner I know in WA spent three years building a solid council relationship for street tree maintenance across a metropolitan local government area — good volume, consistent, well-run. When he went to sell, two buyers walked when they discovered the contract was awarded in his personal name. The council wouldn’t transfer it to a new entity without going back to open tender. What he’d thought was a major value driver turned out to be a significant problem. The third buyer offered a price that reflected the risk. (He took it, and fair enough — he wanted out and the process had been dragging.)
Get your contracts formally assigned to the company entity. If they’re in your name, talk to your solicitor about what a formal assignment requires and how much notice the other party needs. Do this before you go to market.
Equipment condition and fleet
Tree services businesses are capital-intensive. A chipper truck, a stump grinder, a flatbed and trailer, and an elevated work platform can represent $400,000–$900,000 in assets for a mid-sized operation. Buyers care about two things: what the fleet is actually worth, and what it’s going to cost them to keep it running over the next three years.
A fleet that’s been properly maintained, regularly serviced, and documented in a maintenance log is an asset. The same fleet with a vague “she’ll be right” attitude toward service intervals is a liability — and buyers will discount the purchase price by more than the actual replacement cost, because they’re also pricing in uncertainty about what else might have been deferred.
Staff qualifications and team stability
A tree services business without its crew isn’t a business. Buyers know this. The questions they’re asking are: Are the key staff certified? Do they hold Certificate III or IV in Arboriculture, Working at Heights tickets, Electrical Safety Exemptions for powerline-adjacent work? And are they going to stay after settlement?
Businesses with a certified team that operates independently of the owner are worth more than those where the owner is the most qualified person on site and everyone else is general labour. This isn’t a knock on general labour — it’s a reflection of risk. If the owner holds the only Electrical Safety Exemption and leaves after settlement, the business loses access to a category of work entirely.
Owner dependency
This is the single biggest depressor of value in Australian trade businesses, and tree services is no exception. If the business runs because you’re on every job, quoting every project, managing every crew, and fielding every call, then buyers are paying for a job — not a business. It’s the most common issue we see in arborist businesses in the $500,000–$1.5M revenue range. For more on how buyers think about this, the article on key person risk when selling a business is worth reading.
The fix takes time: hire a foreman who can run the crews without you, build out your quoting and admin so someone else can handle it, and step back from day-to-day operations 12 months before you plan to sell. A buyer who can see that the business ran fine while you were away for three months will pay meaningfully more than one who has to take your word for it.
What Else Moves the Multiple
Beyond the four main factors, a few specifics move the number in the tree services context.
Electrical Safety Exemptions. Work near powerlines requires an Electrical Safety Exemption in most Australian states. A business holding a current exemption with a qualified team can bid on a broader range of government and commercial contracts than one without. Buyers who can maintain that exemption will pay for the access it provides.
WHS compliance and safety records. A clean workplace safety record with documented Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) tells a buyer the business has been run professionally. A history of incidents — particularly involving working at height or near powerlines — raises insurance cost flags and creates liability concern that buyers price in.
Revenue concentration. A business doing 70% of its revenue for a single council or commercial client is more exposed than one spread across multiple contracts. Buyers are aware that a single contract loss can be company-threatening, and they’ll either pass or adjust the multiple to reflect that concentration.
Geographic spread. A metropolitan operation servicing multiple suburbs or councils is more defensible than one heavily concentrated in a single area. Buyers looking to grow after acquisition want a platform they can expand from.
Typical Sale Prices for Australian Tree Services Businesses
To give you a working sense of where transactions land:
| Business Profile | Normalised EBITDA | Indicative Sale Price |
|---|---|---|
| Solo operator / small crew | $80k – $150k | $120k – $300k |
| Established 3–4 crew, mixed work | $200k – $400k | $500k – $1.2M |
| Multi-crew, council contracts, management | $400k – $800k | $1.2M – $2.5M |
| Large operation, management team, diversified contracts | $800k+ | $2.5M+ |
Equipment finance is deducted from your net proceeds at settlement. A business valued at $1.2M with $250,000 in outstanding equipment loans returns $950,000 before tax and advisory costs. Understanding what you net is worth working through with an adviser before you form a view on what the business is worth to you.
Getting Your Business Ready to Sell
If you’re planning a sale in the next two to three years, the preparation steps with the highest return are straightforward — they just take time to execute properly.
Get contracts into the company’s name. Any council, commercial, or government contract that sits in your personal name needs to be formally assigned or re-tendered in the company’s name. This is a legal question; have your solicitor advise on timing and approach. Do it before you’re in a live sale process.
Document your team’s qualifications. Build a register of every certificate your crew holds — AQF arboricultural qualifications, EWP licences, Electrical Safety Exemptions, White Cards, Working at Heights. It takes an afternoon to compile and tells buyers the business is professionally managed.
Step back operationally. The single most valuable thing you can do is demonstrate that the business functions without you. A 12-month track record of the business running under an employed manager is worth more in a sale than almost anything else you can do.
For a broader framework on preparing your business for sale, that covers the process across industries including trades.
If you’d like to understand where your business sits in the current market, use the valuation calculator or reach out directly for a confidential conversation.