---
title: How to calculate Business Maintainable Earnings [infographic]
description: Business Maintainable Earnings (BME) reflect the ability of a business to generate earnings into the future and is the one of the most important concepts the market will consider when assessing a business’ value.
---

[JPAbusiness Strategic Insights Blog ](https://blog.jpabusiness.com.au/blog)

# [How to calculate Business Maintainable Earnings [infographic]](https://blog.jpabusiness.com.au/blog/how-to-calculate-business-maintainable-earnings-infographic)

 Written by [James Price | JPAbusiness](https://blog.jpabusiness.com.au/blog/author/james-price-jpabusiness) | 06-Jun-2017 18:40:00

Business Maintainable Earnings (BME) reflect the ability of a business to generate earnings into the future.

**[BME](https://blog.jpabusiness.com.au/blog/what-determines-your-business-maintainable-earnings-infographic)** is the one of the most important concepts the market will consider when assessing a business’ value.

The following infographic shows how to take account of abnormal fluctuations in your business’ performance (i.e. normalise) and calculate your business’ BME.

This calculation is often **done on the previous three years’ performance and then looking forward** – to at least the next 12 months. The results are also often weighted based on seasonality and other market and business-related factors.

The calculation involves **analysis over a number of years because BME represents future maintainable earnings**, and therefore the analysis needs to consider business [health factors, risks and other issues](https://blog.jpabusiness.com.au/blog/what-determines-your-business-maintainable-earnings-infographic) that impact the business.

As business owners looking to drive value in a business, the stronger and more consistently you can build the picture of BME and show that it is robust, the better your chances of driving greater value when [looking to sell](https://www.jpabusiness.com.au/business-transactions/selling-a-business), all other things being equal.

If would like assistance to determine your BME or assess business value – whether you are buying, selling or looking to grow the value of your business – [contact the team](https://www.jpabusiness.com.au/contactus) at JPAbusiness for a confidential, obligation-free discussion.

[View full post](https://blog.jpabusiness.com.au/blog/how-to-calculate-business-maintainable-earnings-infographic)

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