Now that we are approaching year end, it is important to take stock of your closely held business. We can do this by comparing your company to another company in the same industry or a group of companies in the same industry. You should check your inventory levels to make sure that they aren't too high. Sometimes after a number of years if you might have a buildup of non-sellable inventory. If this is the case you need to clean this up. Valuing your business should be done in two forms net cash flow should be determined without extra ordinary expenses and updating your payroll to match percentages in your industry based on your sales. Once you have completed this, a multiple for your industry should provide a value to you. You need to compare that to your net asset value. If your net asset value is greater than your income value then you have a problem. You are either not doing something right or you have non-income producing assets on the books. This might be items excess inventory or items that are not related to your primary business. You should do this at the end of each year to not only determine whether your business has increased in value but to determine whether you're operating efficiently.