In Australia in 2026, most independent optometry practices sell for between 2.5x and 4.5x normalised EBITDA, or roughly 60 to 80% of annual gross revenue. A practice with $150,000 of normalised EBITDA typically commands a sale price of $375,000 to $675,000, plus stock and recently purchased equipment. The biggest valuation lever isn’t your turnover, it’s how transferable your profit is to a new owner. This guide shows you how to calculate it, the seven levers that move price the most, and the Australia specific traps that catch most sellers.
Why this question matters more in 2026 than it ever has
The Australian optometry industry is now a $5.0 billion market with 3,435 businesses, growing at a modest 0.2% CAGR since 2020 (IBISWorld). Three players, Specsavers, EssilorLuxottica (OPSM, Laubman & Pank) and Oscar Wylee, now dominate retail share. And that has two consequences for independent owners.
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- Buyer pools are smaller and more concentrated. When you sell, you’re often negotiating with a corporate, a competitor, or a first time independent buyer, and each values your practice differently.
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- Practice values are increasingly tied to defensibility against corporates, not just to historical profit.
So whether you’re three years from exit, three months from exit, or you just want to know what your life’s work is worth, getting this number right is the most consequential financial calculation you’ll ever do as a practice owner.
I have spent 17 years as an optometrist and multi practice owner in Australia. I havve built, scaled and sold my own practices, and I have watched too many of my colleagues walk away from a lifetime of work with far less than they should have. This guide is the same framework I use with the practice owners inside my coaching programs. No theory, no US style rule of thumb that doesn’t apply here, just how it actually works in Australia in 2026.
The single equation that drives every valuation
Strip away the jargon and Australian optometry practice valuations come down to one equation.
| Practice value = Normalised EBITDA × Multiple + Stock + Recently purchased equipment |
Three variables. Get them right and you have a defensible number. Get them wrong and you either leave money on the table or watch a sale fall over at due diligence.
Let’s break each one down.
Step 1: Calculate normalised EBITDA, not accounting profit
And this is where most owners, and most accountants, get it wrong.
EBITDA stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation. It approximates the cash a new owner could pull out of the business each year.
Normalised EBITDA adjusts that number to reflect what a new owner would actually earn, not what you, with your specific tax structure, family arrangements and depreciation choices, currently report.
The 6 standard add backs
Start with your accounting net profit. Then add back.
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- Interest expense on business loans (the new owner will have different financing)
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- Tax paid by the entity
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- Depreciation and amortisation (a paper expense, the cash already went out when you bought the equipment)
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- Owner’s salary above market rate. If you pay yourself $250,000 but a replacement optometrist manager would cost $180,000, add back the $70,000 difference.
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- Non business expenses run through the business, your car, mobile phone, travel, family member salaries that don’t reflect a market wage
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- One off income or expenses, insurance payouts, COVID era subsidies (JobKeeper, cash flow boost), asset sales, legal disputes
A worked example, based on a real Australian practice
Using the figures from a 2024 Insight News case (Insight News).
| Line item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Retail + consulting revenue | $820,000 |
| Cost of goods | ($220,000) |
| Gross profit | $600,000 |
| Wages (incl. owner) | ($360,000) |
| Rent & outgoings | ($80,000) |
| Marketing | ($20,000) |
| Utilities | ($20,000) |
| Financial costs | ($25,000) |
| Adjusted net profit | $95,000 |
| + Owner salary normalisation (paid $200k, market $150k) | +$50,000 |
| + Owner’s car run through business | +$12,000 |
| + Depreciation | +$18,000 |
| Normalised EBITDA | ≈ $175,000 |
| The ‘send your accountant a one line email’ trick. Ask them for your ‘normalised EBITDA, averaged over the last three years.’ That single phrase saves weeks of back and forth and is the number every serious buyer will work from (Optometry Practice Sales). |
Step 2: Apply the right multiple
In Australia, independent optometry practices sell for 2.5 to 4 times normalised EBITDA, with the average sitting around 2.8 to 3.5× (Insight News, Danielle Winstone, 2026).
Where you land in that range is determined by how risky your profit looks to a new owner. The lower the perceived risk, the higher the multiple.
What pushes the multiple up
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Owner not also the only optometrist | Practice survives if you walk away day one |
| 3+ year financial track record showing growth | Demonstrates the trajectory |
| Diversified revenue (consulting + retail + contact lens + speciality) | Reduces single channel risk |
| Strong recall and active patient database | Tomorrow’s revenue is already pencilled in |
| Long, transferable lease | Buyer keeps the location |
| Documented systems | Reduces ‘key person risk’ |
| Tenured, retainable staff | Continuity of care + cost predictability |
What pushes the multiple down
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Owner does 80%+ of consulting | When you leave, the revenue leaves with you |
| Declining revenue trend | Buyer prices in continued decline |
| Single referrer dependency (one GP, one school) | Concentration risk |
| Short or non transferable lease | Forced relocation = patient loss |
| No documented systems | Buyer’s transition cost goes up, your price comes down |
| Outdated equipment | Capital expenditure required day one |
A practice with $150k normalised EBITDA could be worth $375,000 at a 2.5× multiple, or $600,000 at 4×, that’s a $225,000 swing on the same profit, driven entirely by the seven levers above.
Step 3: Add stock and recently purchased equipment
Stock at cost (frames, lenses, contact lens inventory) is almost always added on top of the goodwill price. Recently purchased equipment, typically anything bought in the last 1 to 2 years that still has commercial life, is often added too, though it’s a negotiation point.
Rule of thumb. Equipment older than 5 years rarely gets a separate value. It’s assumed to be included in the practice price.
The 60 to 80% of gross revenue cross check
A second method buyers often use as a sanity check.
| Practice value ≈ 60 to 80% of annual gross revenue |
For our $820,000 revenue example, that gives a range of $492,000 to $656,000. Compare that to our EBITDA × multiple calculation ($175k × 2.8 to 3.5 = $490k to $612k) and you can see how the two methods triangulate.
Be aware, the revenue multiple method on its own is dangerous. A $1M practice with 5% EBITDA margin is not worth more than a $700k practice with 25% EBITDA margin. Always anchor on EBITDA × multiple, then use the revenue cross check to test for sanity.
The four valuation methods buyers actually use
Most articles will tell you about five or six valuation methods. In Australia, buyers use four, and they weight them differently.
| Method | When buyers use it | Typical use case |
|---|---|---|
| EBITDA × multiple | Default for almost every transaction | Independent buyer, broker led sale |
| % of gross revenue | Quick triangulation / sanity check | All sales |
| Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) | Larger practices, multi site | Corporate or PE backed buyers |
| Asset based valuation | Distressed sale, walk away owner | Closure, retirement with no successor |
If a buyer leads with asset based valuation, you’ve usually lost the negotiation already, they’re telling you the goodwill is zero.
The 7 levers that move price the most (12 to 36 months out)
If you’re not selling tomorrow, here’s where to focus. Pulled from what corporate and independent buyers actually pay premiums for in 2026.
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- Reduce your clinical hours over 12 months and replace them with a second optometrist. This is the single biggest lever. A practice where the owner is dispensable is worth dramatically more than one where the owner is the practice.
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- Get three years of clean, audited (or audit ready) P&Ls. Buyer banks require this. No bank funding = thinner buyer pool = lower price.
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- Document everything in a single operations manual. Recall scripts, frame buying process, contact lens fitting protocol, opening and closing, marketing calendar.
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- Build recall and database engagement. Patients due in the next 12 months are quantifiable future revenue. A buyer will pay for it.
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- Renegotiate your lease 2 to 3 years before sale to give the buyer 5+ years of certainty.
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- Lift your gross margin by 3 to 5 points. Frame buying, lens supplier negotiation and capture rate optimisation each move EBITDA more than revenue growth does at this stage.
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- Diversify referrals and revenue streams. Add speciality services (myopia management, dry eye, behavioural optometry). Each becomes a defensible moat.
| The compounding effect. Each lever above is worth roughly 0.1 to 0.3× on your EBITDA multiple. Pull four of them in 18 months and you’ve moved from a 2.8× practice to a 3.8× practice, on the same EBITDA. On $200k EBITDA, that’s an extra $200,000 at sale. |
The 5 Australia specific traps that catch most sellers
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- Treating Specsavers’ Joint Venture Partnership offer as a baseline valuation. It’s not, it’s a different deal structure entirely (you become a partner employee, retain optometry billings, share retail profits). Comparing it dollar for dollar to an outright sale misleads you (Insight News).
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- Underestimating GST and CGT on the sale. With proper planning (small business CGT concessions, retirement exemption), you can dramatically reduce the tax bill. Without planning, you can lose 25 to 30% of your sale proceeds.
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- Selling on a practice management software report instead of audited P&Ls. No serious buyer’s bank will fund off a Sunix or Optomate report alone (Insight News).
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- Ignoring the lease. A two year lease tail = price reduction. Three year tail with an option = neutral. Five+ years with options = price premium.
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- Failing to normalise your own salary. If you pay yourself $80,000 because your spouse earns the household income, your EBITDA looks artificially inflated. Buyers will adjust this back down at due diligence.
What about the corporate offer?
In 2026 there are essentially three corporate pathways an Australian independent might consider.
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- Specsavers Joint Venture Partnership. You continue as a working partner optometrist, retain 100% of your optometry billings, share retail profits 50/50 with Specsavers. Capital outlay is reduced but you no longer fully own the business.
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- EssilorLuxottica acquisition (OPSM, Laubman & Pank). Typically only interested in high revenue practices in strategic locations.
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- National Pharmacies, Eyecare Plus, ProVision affiliate sale to another member. Usually independent to independent, broker assisted, at the multiples described above.
Each comes with different deal structures, tax treatments, post sale obligations and emotional outcomes. None of them is automatically the highest value option, and the right answer depends on your life goals as much as your numbers.
A simple example, putting it all together
Practice. Suburban Sydney independent, owner operator, 1 employed optometrist part time.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Revenue (3 year average) | $1,100,000 |
| Normalised EBITDA (3 year average) | $230,000 |
| Lease tail | 4 years + 5 year option |
| Owner clinical days | 3 per week (down from 5 two years ago) |
| Recall system | Active, with 1,200 patients due in next 12 months |
| Equipment | Modern, OCT and visual field unit < 3 years old |
| Multiple applied | 3.5× (above average, strong systems, reduced owner dependency) |
| Goodwill value | $805,000 |
| + Stock at cost | $65,000 |
| + Recently purchased OCT | $40,000 |
| Total practice value | ≈ $910,000 |
The same practice 24 months earlier, when the owner was full time clinical with no second optometrist, would have valued at roughly 2.8×, $644,000 plus stock and equipment. The 24 month transition added ~$260,000 of sale value, on the same revenue.
What to do this week if you’re thinking about selling in the next 1 to 3 years
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- Email your accountant today and ask for ‘normalised EBITDA for the last three financial years.’
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- Audit your lease, write down expiry date, options, transferability clause.
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- Map your clinical days versus total practice consulting days. If you’re above 70%, you have a structural problem to fix before sale.
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- List your top 5 referrers by revenue. If any one of them exceeds 25% of new patients, you have a concentration risk to dilute.
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- Pull your patient database active count (seen in last 24 months) and recall due count (next 12 months). These are two of the first numbers a buyer will ask for.
| If you’d like a structured way to work through this with someone who’s been on both sides of the table, the $1M Optometry Business Accelerator is built specifically for Australian practice owners preparing to scale and eventually exit. Or start free with the 5 Day Freedom Sprint to diagnose your biggest valuation blockers. |
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to sell an optometry practice in Australia?
From listing to settlement, a typical independent practice sale takes 6 to 12 months. Sales involving bank funded buyers, due diligence and lease assignment commonly extend toward the longer end. Practices with clean financials, documented systems and a strong recall list sell faster.
What’s the difference between asking price and what practices actually sell for?
Asking prices in Australia typically settle 5 to 15% below the listed figure for independent buyers, and can settle further below for asset based or distressed sales. Practices with multiple interested buyers can occasionally exceed the asking price.
Do I need a formal valuation before listing?
For sales above approximately $500,000, yes, a formal valuation from a specialist business broker or accountant familiar with the optometry sector gives both you and the buyer a defensible anchor. For smaller practices, a thorough EBITDA × multiple calculation backed by three years of normalised P&Ls is often sufficient.
Can I sell to my employed optometrist?
Yes, and this is one of the most common Australian exit pathways. Vendor finance (where you allow the buyer to pay part of the price over 2 to 4 years from practice cash flow) often makes the deal possible. It typically results in a slightly lower multiple but a faster, lower stress sale.
How is goodwill calculated for an optometry practice?
Goodwill is the portion of the sale price above the value of tangible assets (equipment, stock, fitout). In practice, goodwill is what’s calculated by the EBITDA × multiple formula, minus tangible asset value. It represents the brand, patient list, location and systems the buyer is acquiring.
Does Specsavers or OPSM or G&M pay more than independent buyers?
Not necessarily. Corporate offers often look bigger headline numbers but include earn outs, restraint periods, ongoing employment requirements or partnership structures that change the real value. Always compare on an after tax, after restraint basis, not on headline price.
Will the proposed changes to health fund optical extras or Medicare item numbers affect my practice value?
Yes, both regulatory items shift expected future cash flow, which directly affects what a rational buyer will pay. Sellers who can demonstrate diversified revenue (less reliance on a single funding source) command stronger multiples in regulated environments.
The bottom line
Most Australian optometry practices in 2026 are worth 2.5 to 4.5× normalised EBITDA, plus stock and recent equipment. And the single biggest determinant of where you land in that range isn’t your revenue, it’s how much of the practice’s profit is transferable to a new owner. Reduce your personal clinical reliance, document your systems, secure your lease and clean up your financials, and you can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the same practice without growing revenue by a dollar.
The numbers reward owners who plan their exit years before they need to. If selling is anywhere on your horizon, the work starts now.
Michael Stefanescu is an Australian optometry business coach and former multi practice owner. He spent 19 years as an optometrist before exiting his own practices, and now coaches independent owners through the systems, marketing and operational frameworks that build profitable, sellable practices. Read more about Michael or apply for the $1M Optometry Business Accelerator.