Valuation Lab · Calculator
Net transaction revenue is total payment volume times the retained take rate in basis points divided by 10,000: $100M of volume at 50 bps is $500,000, not $50M. This calculator adds genuinely separate recurring software fees, deducts company-borne losses, variable costs and fixed costs once, and values the resulting EBITDA (or net revenue) inside the Houlihan Lokey Q2 2026 public payments range (EBITDA P25-P75 5.9x-12.5x, median 7.3x; revenue 1.2x-4.3x, median 2.2x). A take-rate-by-margin heatmap shows what compression or merchant loss does to value.
The single most common error in payments valuation is applying a revenue multiple to gross processing revenue that includes interchange and network pass-through. The tool asks for the retained take rate after those costs so that only economic revenue carries a multiple. A PayFac capturing 2.9% of volume typically retains 70-110 basis points; a PayFac-as-a-Service model 20-40 basis points on embedded volume; an orchestration platform books net revenue at 70%-85% gross margin.
Software ARR and payment fees are kept separate throughout. Buyers price them differently, and a vertical software company with embedded payments is worth more when the two lines can be shown side by side than when they are blended.
The interactive calculator loads here. The published example scenario below is the same model (2026.09.22-1) evaluated at the example inputs.
Indicative enterprise value, EV / EBITDA (Houlihan Lokey payments P25/median/P75, Q2 2026): $949K. $767K to $1.6M at 5.9x to 12.5x; selected 7.3x
Net transaction revenue = TPV x retained take rate / 10,000 = $500K; plus software fees $0 = net revenue $500K. Gross payment volume is never valued as revenue. Equity value $949K.
Net revenue: $500K · EBITDA: $130K · EBITDA margin: 26.0% · Net revenue / TPV: 0.50%
| Line | Value |
|---|---|
| TPV | $100M |
| Retained take rate | 50 bps |
| Net transaction revenue | $500K |
| Recurring software fees | $0 |
| Net revenue | $500K |
| Company-borne losses | -$20K |
| Variable costs | -$100K |
| Gross profit | $380K |
| Fixed operating costs | -$250K |
| EBITDA | $130K |
| Multiple range | 5.9x to 12.5x (EBITDA) |
| Enterprise value | $949K |
| Equity value | $949K |
Software ARR and payment fees are kept separate. Losses and operating costs are deducted once.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual total payment volume (TPV) | $100,000,000 |
| Retained take rate (bps, after network and bank pass-through) | 50 bps |
| Recurring software fees (annual, separate from processing) | $0 |
| Merchant volume retention (annual) | 90% |
| Company-borne losses (bps of TPV) | 2 bps |
| Variable costs (% of net revenue) | 20% |
| Fixed operating costs (annual) | $250,000 |
| Valuation basis | EV / EBITDA |
| Selected multiple (0 = HL payments median) | 0x |
| Same-merchant volume growth | 5% |
| Excess cash | $0 |
| Debt | $0 |
Profitable processors and infrastructure assets are priced on EBITDA (10x-18x and above for mature, scarce assets per the Windsor Drake payments benchmarks; 6.9x forward median for the public payments sector in Q1 2026). Sub-scale or reinvesting businesses are priced on net revenue: 3x-6x for PayFacs and merchant acquiring, 10x-15x for orchestration, 12x-20x for rails and infrastructure, all stated against net revenue. Merchant portfolios and residual streams are priced on a different scale entirely (28x-46x monthly residuals) and should not be run through this tool.
Exploring what your company is worth? A principal will give you a confidential perspective on how the market is pricing businesses like yours: current multiples, the acquirers active in your sector, and where your company would likely land.
Multiply TPV by the retained take rate in basis points and divide by 10,000. $100M at 50 bps is $500,000 of net transaction revenue; at 40 bps it is $400,000. Never multiply volume by 50%.
Gross revenue includes interchange and network fees that pass straight to card networks and issuers, typically 1.8%-2.2% of volume. Net revenue is what the PayFac keeps. Multiples apply to net revenue.
Public payments companies traded at a median 2.2x revenue and 7.3x EBITDA at Q2 2026, with the interquartile range 1.2x-4.3x and 5.9x-12.5x. Disclosed control deals ranged from about 3x revenue (Deluxe / Celero Commerce, June 2026) to 8.5x adjusted EBITDA (Global Payments / Worldpay).
They are kept separate so that argument can be made in a process. The calculator values the consolidated business; the benchmark page shows the embedded-payments mix premiums buyers have paid.
Enterprise value is quoted cash-free and debt-free; equity value adds excess cash and subtracts debt and debt-like items, before fees, taxes, escrow, rollover and earn-outs. Every method states its denominator, period (trailing twelve months unless labelled), currency (USD) and treatment of cash and debt. Results are ranges under stated assumptions, not statistical confidence intervals. Company inputs stay in the browser and are never transmitted. Benchmark snapshot 2026.09.22-1; model 2026.09.22-1; changes are recorded in the Valuation Lab changelog in the Windsor Drake repository.
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