If you sent us a request between 28 July and 5 August, it did not reach us. A fault on our form stopped some messages from coming through. Please call (301) 820-7664 or fill the form again. We're sorry for the inconvenience.
Business valuations in Illinois for donations, M&A, gift tax, and IRA conversion, prepared in accordance with USPAP and IRS requirements. AppraiseItNow appraises small businesses, partnerships, corporations, professional practices, and franchises across Illinois, including Chicago, Springfield, and Rockford.
DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT BUSINESS APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, ILLINOIS COURTS, LENDERS, INSURERS, AND MORE.
.jpeg)
Owner & CEO
Joe founded AppraiseItNow to make a certified, USPAP-compliant appraisal as simple to order as anything else online. A former Bain & Company strategy consultant, Joe leads the entire team and specializes in strategy, growth, and the firm's tech capabilities.
Business Valuation Expert & Appraiser
ASA, ABV, and CFA charterholder. Since 2016 Justin has valued businesses for estate and gift tax, purchase price allocations, fairness opinions, lending, and buy-sell agreements, across manufacturing, services, retail, and pre-revenue biotech.
Business Valuation Expert & Appraiser
Accredited Senior Appraiser with the American Society of Appraisers. Raymond values capital stock, business enterprises, stock options, and intangible assets.
Client Success Manager
Manages each engagement from the first enquiry to the delivered report, and keeps you posted at every step along the way.
American Society of AppraisersAccredited Senior Appraiser
The Appraisal FoundationAuthorized by Congress as the source of appraisal standardsAppraiseItNow provides professional business valuation appraisal services throughout Illinois, supporting clients across a wide range of purposes including charitable donations, mergers and acquisitions, gift tax reporting, and IRA conversions. Illinois businesses span industries from manufacturing and logistics to life sciences and agribusiness, and each valuation engagement requires careful analysis of financial performance, market conditions, and the specific purpose driving the appraisal. Whether you are a business owner preparing for a transaction, an estate attorney navigating gift tax obligations, or a nonprofit accepting a donated business interest, our credentialed appraisers deliver thorough, well-documented reports that meet IRS requirements and professional standards.
AppraiseItNow serves clients across Illinois with both remote and onsite business valuation options, making it easy to get a qualified appraisal regardless of your location or timeline. Our appraisers follow nationally recognized standards including ASA Business Valuation Standards and USPAP ethics and competency requirements, ensuring every report identifies the client, purpose, effective date, and standard of value with full transparency. Learn more about our business appraisal services and how we structure engagements to meet your specific needs. We offer Fair Market Value (FMV) appraisals for various intended uses.
Our appraisers have experience valuing a broad range of business types and ownership interests across Illinois, including:
Whether the engagement involves a full valuation report or a limited-scope calculation of value agreed upon with the client, our appraisers define the appropriate level of value, including marketable minority and nonmarketable minority distinctions where relevant. Every report includes explained financial adjustments, projection assumptions, and disclosure of data sources to satisfy IRS qualified appraisal requirements for purposes such as Form 8283 charitable contribution reporting and Form 706 estate tax filings.
AppraiseItNow serves a wide range of clients throughout Illinois, including business owners, estate planning attorneys, CPAs, financial advisors, nonprofit organizations, and corporate transaction teams. Whether you are an individual navigating a gift tax obligation or a company preparing for an acquisition, our appraisers are equipped to deliver the qualified, defensible valuations you need.
What clients say we are known for
Across 80+ published AppraiseItNow reviews the picture is consistent: every one is from a client who paid us for an appraisal, and the three things they raise most often are that they would hire us again, how quickly we answer, and how much research is visible in the report.
Joe and Aron were extremely impressive - the entire process went very smoothly. They were always quick to respond to any questions I had and could not have been more helpful. They were aware of some tight time restrictions I had and made sure I received my reports in a timely fashion. I highly recommend them to anyone needing a valuation.
Business Valuation Appraisal for Charitable Donation
The team was highly knowledgeable, helpful, and efficient. I highly recommend their appraisal services, especially for private companies.
Business Valuation Appraisal for IRA Conversion
Responsive, professional, first class deliverables -- especially considering that that the appraised assets are extremely complex financial assets with little by way of comps. The deliverable satisfied my accountants and advisers as being more than adequate to support the valuation needed to complete a conversion to a Roth IRA
Business Valuation Appraisal for IRA Conversion
I used AppraiseItNow to examine a contribution to a foundation. Their work was quick, thorough, and easy to work with, as they’ve developed a simple system for uploading documents. I plan to use them again.
Business Valuation Appraisal for Charitable Donation
I found them professional & responsive. The report was quite thorough as well.
Business Valuation Appraisal for Charitable Donation
From the start they were very responsive, price competitive, and had a quick turn around time. Thank you so much to Joe who was very sweet in responding to my emails; I am looking forward to utilizing AppraiseItNow for many years to come.
Given the USPAP-compliant nature of AppraiseItNow’s appraisal reports, we prepare our deliverables for major legal, tax, and financial reporting purposes for individual and commercial clients.
Popular uses of our appraisal reports include:
It depends on the assignment: fair market value assumes a hypothetical willing buyer and seller, investment value reflects worth to a specific buyer including synergies, and intrinsic value reflects fundamental economic potential. Selecting the wrong standard is a frequent and costly error, so we define it explicitly before analysis begins.
Yes. Estates above the $4 million Illinois exemption owe state estate tax at graduated rates, and includible assets expressly cover business interests. A supportable date-of-death valuation of the company is what determines where the estate falls relative to that threshold.
No. Under the Illinois Probate Act, inventories and appraisals may be given in evidence but are not conclusive if other evidence shows the estate was worth more or less. That is why a documented business valuation, rather than a placeholder number, protects the representative when values are later questioned.
Yes, and it locks it in. Under 35 ILCS 405/5(c) the gross value of transferred property is its value as finally determined for federal transfer tax purposes, undiminished by mortgages, liens, or other encumbrances on that property for which the decedent was personally liable. Discounts for lack of control or marketability accepted federally carry into the Illinois calculation, and further reductions for personal debt on the asset do not.
It can. Illinois assessors and courts apply an intention test and the integrated industrial doctrine to decide when business equipment has become a taxable fixture, weighing how permanently it is annexed, its nature and purpose, and how integral it is to the industrial operation. The same press or production line can sit outside the tax base in one installation and inside real property value in another.
