GrowGrade Frequently
Asked Questions

GrowGrade is a free online platform developed by M&T Bank to provide business valuations and financial insights to small business owners.

Yes, it’s really free! We designed GrowGrade to simply be a value-add for small business owners. As far as the “catch”, our team at M&T Bank believes the only way to evolve and continue to add more value through products and services is to stay as close as possible to our target audience. GrowGrade allows us to do that.

No, you do not need to bank with M&T to use GrowGrade. It’s made free and available to any small business owner, anywhere in the country.

All of your data is safe. The business information you enter to receive your free valuation is fully encrypted to the highest industry standards, so you can rest assured that your data is secure.

In short, we use your data to learn! By reviewing GrowGrade data, we hope to get a better understanding of small businesses and improve the ways we serve them in the future.

All data in GrowGrade stays within M&T Bank Corporation and its affiliates. We do not sell any GrowGrade data to third parties.

You can receive a GrowGrade valuation with just one year of financial data and a projected growth rate.

The financial data can be pulled directly from your online accounting software like QuickBooks Online, Xero, or entered manually.

GrowGrade uses a patent-pending model that simplifies a conventional Discounted Cash Flow approach. First, GrowGrade leverages historical financial information to calculate an average growth rate. That growth rate is then applied to future free cash flows. To account for risk, the GrowGrade calculation takes the net present value of three years’ future free cash flows. The net present value of future free cash flows, plus cash and cash equivalents, minus long-term debt provides the GrowGrade value.

GrowGrade does not provide certified or accredited valuations as they take considerable time and can cost thousands of dollars.  

Instead, we offer fast and accurate dynamic valuations that change as your information does.

There are few tools that allow a business owner to track the value of their largest asset…. Their business. GrowGrade provides business owners with free, non-accredited valuation, without having to spend thousands of dollars. 

These valuations were tested against accredited valuations and with real business owners. Before spending a significant amount of money on an accredited valuation, you can use GrowGrade to set a baseline. From there, you unlock dynamic features to see how decisions and scenarios can impact your valuation, including: 

• Retirement planning
• Growth and investment planning
• Succession planning 
• Bringing on a new partner 
• Selling the business 
• Divorce 
• Financing debt

We’d love to hear from you! You can email our team directly with any questions, concerns, or comments at help@growgrade.com.