Terms of use

General information, not advice

The guides, figures and examples on this site are general information about how veterinary practices are sold to associates, other veterinarians and corporate buyers. They are not legal, tax, accounting or investment advice.

Much of what applies to your sale depends on your state. In Texas, an entity that is not wholly owned by Texas-licensed veterinarians may not engage in veterinary medicine (Texas Occupations Code 801.506). Florida lets a non-veterinarian own a veterinary establishment that holds a premises permit and has a licensed veterinarian designated to supervise it (Florida Statutes 474.215(8)). The guide to who can own a veterinary practice covers rules like these.

How to sell a veterinary practice explains that a DEA controlled-substance registration cannot be assigned or transferred to a buyer without DEA's written consent (21 CFR 1301.52). When a practice is sold as a group of assets, you and the buyer generally each file IRS Form 8594 (instructions revised November 2021). The guides describe what each source says, not how it applies to your practice.

Before acting on anything here, take ownership and contract questions to an attorney in your state who handles veterinary practice sales: whether your buyer may own a practice there, what your premises permit and DEA registration need at closing, and how far a non-compete can reach. Utah's S.B. 111, for example, voids a veterinarian non-compete agreement signed on or after May 6, 2026 unless the veterinarian has at least a 5% ownership interest in the business, and whether the state's sale-of-business exception covers a selling veterinarian is untested.

Ask your CPA about the tax side: how the price is split between goodwill and equipment such as X-ray units, anesthesia machines and lab analyzers, and how much of any gain on that equipment is treated as ordinary income because of depreciation allowed or allowable on it.

Is the estimator's range an appraisal?

No. The valuation estimator applies published ranges to the numbers you enter. By default it multiplies your adjusted EBITDA, meaning profit after a fair-market salary for your veterinary work and fair-market rent, by 4 to 6. That is the fair-market range Simmons & Associates, a veterinary practice appraisal and brokerage firm, gave in 2024 for practices that sell to private veterinarian buyers. Beside it the estimator prints the 4 to 7 times EBITDA that law firm Mandelbaum Barrett gave for private sales in mid-2024, as a cross-reference only.

If you use EBITDA and your practice has 3 or more FTE veterinarians and $1.5 million or more in gross revenue, the size Simmons & Associates calls an ideal corporate target and Mandelbaum Barrett an average one, it also shows 7 to 12 times EBITDA, the range Mandelbaum Barrett reported for corporate sales in mid-2024. That is one firm's reported range, and the same firm said corporate buyers typically require the seller to take part of the price as rollover equity, so a corporate price is typically not all cash at closing.

If you have seller's discretionary earnings (SDE) instead, it uses 2.52 to 4.20 times SDE, the middle half of asking multiples across the 56 listings BizBuySell analyzed in its Veterinary Practices category, as displayed on October 27, 2026. Those are asking multiples, not sale multiples, and BizBuySell says multiples based on listings generally run higher than those of businesses that actually sold.

Above $900,000 of gross revenue it adds a cross-check at 85% to 105% of gross, the share Simmons & Associates gives for a well-managed, reasonably profitable practice selling to a private veterinary buyer. The same firm says there is no general rule of thumb such as a percentage of gross, so the earnings range comes first.

Which ranges apply, and showing the corporate range only when both size tests are met, are this site's own judgment. Beyond that, your answers on practice type, associates and the building add written notes but do not move the numbers; how the estimator works explains why. The estimator cannot see your lease, your associates' contracts, your active clients or your equipment. Nor can it see the books a buyer reviews in due diligence: attorneys at Mandelbaum Barrett, writing in Today's Veterinary Business in 2024, said a corporate buyer's diligence typically includes a quality-of-earnings analysis by its accountants.

When it can produce one, its result is a rough, indicative range. It is not an appraisal, a formal valuation, a fairness opinion or an offer from a veterinarian, a corporate group or anyone else to buy your practice, and no one should rely on it for a lending, tax, legal or purchase decision. If your buyer finances the purchase with an SBA 7(a) loan, the lender may not use a business valuation prepared for you or the buyer (SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026).

Does requesting a valuation make you a client?

Requesting a valuation or joining the buyer list does not create a client, brokerage, advisory or agency relationship, and does not oblige you to sell, buy or sign anything, including a corporate buyer's or an associate's letter of intent. Requesting a valuation does not list your practice, and its details are not shared with a veterinarian, a corporate group or any other buyer without your permission. VetFirm Sales is not a buyer and does not buy practices.

The valuation form asks for no client or patient information. Do not send client names, medical records or radiographs through this site.

Where do the figures on this site come from?

Market figures on this site come from the published sources cited on the page where they appear. Those sources were last checked on October 27, 2026, and some are undated or cover earlier years. BizBuySell's veterinary figures come from a live page of current listings that recalculates as listings change: they are asking figures as displayed on October 27, 2026, not sale prices. Ranges from firms such as Simmons & Associates and Mandelbaum Barrett are those firms' own, with the dates they gave them. Worked examples and estimator results are illustrations calculated from those figures, not data.

Sources can be revised or wrong, and rules change. SBA's lender procedures for a 7(a) loan to a veterinarian buyer, for example, are now in SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026, for applications issued an SBA loan number on or after that date; for a loan already in process, ask the lender which version applies (SBA Information Notice 5000-880695, August 14, 2026). The FTC removed its Non-Compete Clause Rule from the Code of Federal Regulations on February 12, 2026. That ended the federal rule only; it did not change state non-compete laws or the FTC's case-by-case enforcement. The site may be updated or corrected at any time.

Links to other websites

Source links on this site go to pages that others run, such as the IRS instructions for Form 8594 and the DEA rule at 21 CFR 1301.52, and those pages can change or move after they were accessed. Links to other websites are provided for reference. Those sites are not controlled by this site.

Privacy

The privacy policy explains what happens to information you send through this site, such as your state, revenue range and service focus from the valuation form.

Who operates this site?

VetFirmSales.com is operated by a non-licensed entity and is an affiliate of Wraith Brokerage, LLC (a Delaware LLC). We specialize in veterinary practice M&A for all types of animal care facilities including small animal clinics, animal hospitals, specialty practices, and emergency clinics.

Sources

All sources accessed October 27, 2026.

1. Texas Legislative Council, Texas Occupations Code § 801.506, Prohibited practices relating to certain entities, current text as of access
2. The Florida Senate, 2025 Florida Statutes § 474.215(8), Premises permits
3. Office of the Federal Register / National Archives, 21 CFR 1301.52 Termination of registration; transfer of registration; distribution upon discontinuance of business, eCFR current as of October 23, 2026
4. Internal Revenue Service, Instructions for Form 8594 (Rev. November 2021), revised 11/2021
5. Utah State Legislature, S.B. 111 Veterinary Post-employment Amendments, Enrolled Copy (2026 General Session)
6. Internal Revenue Service, Publication 544 (2025), Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets, 2025 edition
7. Simmons & Associates, Four Methods to Sell Your Veterinary Practice, Published June 27, 2024
8. Simmons & Associates, Practice Valuations: Is It Time for a Paradigm Change? Published November 29, 2021
9. Simmons & Associates, Unraveling the Mystery of Practice Appraisals, Published March 19, 2024
10. Mandelbaum Barrett PC, Peter Tanella, Mandelbaum Barrett PC: presentation slides ('Current Trends in the Market – 2024'), hosted by GeniusVets
11. BizBuySell, Veterinary Practices For Sale, live page, undated
12. BizBuySell, Medical Practice Business Valuation Multiples & Financial Benchmarks
13. Simmons & Associates, How to Buy a Veterinary Practice, Published October 18, 2021
14. Today's Veterinary Business, Legal Lingo: Navigating a Corporate Takeover, May 21, 2024
15. U.S. Small Business Administration, SOP 50 10 8.1, Lender and Development Company Loan Programs with Technical Policy Updates, September 25, 2026
16. U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA Information Notice 5000‑880695, Issuance of SOP 50 10 8.1, August 14, 2026
17. Federal Trade Commission, Revision of the Negative Option Rule, Withdrawal of the CARS Rule, Removal of the Non-Compete Rule To Conform These Rules to Federal Court Decisions (FR Doc. 2026‑02866), February 12, 2026