Tangible & digital assets
Property, plant, equipment and digital asset valuation
Not every valuation question is about a business. Sometimes it is a building, a production line, an orebody, a herd or a wallet — each with its own evidence base, its own accounting standard and its own set of reviewers.
- Asset classes
- Investment and operational property, plant and machinery, mining projects, biological assets, digital assets
- Standards
- SFRS(I) 1-16 SFRS(I) 1-40 SFRS(I) 1-41 IVS
- Approaches
- Market comparison, income capitalisation, depreciated replacement cost, discounted cash flow
- Purposes
- Financial reporting, transaction support, financing, insurance, tax, liquidation
- Signed by
- Valuers holding MRICS, HKIS, RPS or CVA designations as appropriate to the asset
Property and investment property SFRS(I) 1-40
Property valuation begins with facts that have to be established rather than assumed: tenure and the unexpired term, exact location and its market catchment, a description of the building of which the property forms part, gross floor area and saleable or lettable area, current physical condition and any statutory constraints on use.
Entities applying the fair value model to investment property need a supportable measurement at each reporting date; those applying the cost model still need valuations for impairment testing, insurance, financing and transactions. Where a Singapore-incorporated group holds property in several jurisdictions, we coordinate a consistent basis across the portfolio so that the accounts are not built on a patchwork of local conventions.
Plant, machinery and equipment SFRS(I) 1-16
Industrial plant, production lines, specialised process equipment, laboratory and medical equipment, vehicles and fleet, data centre and mining hardware. The method follows the evidence: where a secondary market exists, direct market comparison; where it does not, depreciated replacement cost, with physical, functional and economic obsolescence assessed separately rather than collapsed into a single age-based factor.
Common purposes include revaluation and impairment for financial reporting, asset-backed financing, sale and leaseback, group restructuring, insurance reinstatement cost, and support in liquidation or receivership where an orderly liquidation value and a forced sale value are both required.
Fuller detail is available at property, plant and equipment valuation on the main site.
Mining and resource projects
Resource project valuation sits at the intersection of technical and financial analysis. The valuation depends on the resource and reserve classification, the mine plan and production schedule, operating and capital cost estimates, commodity price assumptions and the terms of the mining right or concession itself. We work with technical experts on the geological inputs and build the financial analysis around them, including project coordination where several disciplines have to be reconciled into one report.
Biological assets SFRS(I) 1-41
Livestock, aquaculture stock, plantations and standing timber are measured at fair value less costs to sell, with the valuation resting on biological attributes that a purely financial analyst cannot assess alone: species and specification, health condition, quality grade, age within the production cycle and remaining productive life span. Our valuations in this area are supported by specialist input on those attributes, then built into a financial measurement that an auditor can test.
Crypto and tokenised assets
Digital assets raise a classification question before a valuation question. Depending on the rights attached, a holding may be an intangible asset, inventory, a financial instrument or something requiring bespoke analysis — and the answer changes the measurement basis entirely. We cover:
- Liquid tokens with observable exchange prices, where the work centres on principal market determination, price source selection and treatment of exchange-specific spreads
- Illiquid and locked tokens, where vesting schedules, lock-ups and thin trading require discounts that have to be evidenced
- Security tokens and tokenised real-world assets, valued by reference to the underlying asset and the enforceability of the token holder’s claim
- Mining and staking operations, including the hardware itself and the cash flow the operation generates
Further reading: crypto asset valuation, security token valuation and valuation of tokenisation.
Frequently asked questions
Which valuation approach applies to specialised plant with no resale market?
Depreciated replacement cost is normally the appropriate basis where no secondary market exists. The credibility of the result depends on assessing obsolescence properly -- physical deterioration, functional obsolescence where newer designs do the same job more efficiently, and economic obsolescence where demand for the output has fallen. Collapsing all three into a straight-line age adjustment is the most common weakness reviewers find.
How often should investment property be revalued for the fair value model?
At each reporting date, since the model requires the property to be carried at fair value with changes recognised in profit or loss. In practice many entities obtain a full valuation annually with a desktop update at interim dates, provided the market has not moved materially. Auditors will ask what evidence supports the assumption that it has not.
Can you value assets located outside Singapore?
Yes. Singapore-incorporated groups routinely hold property, plant and resource assets across Asia-Pacific and beyond, and we value them on a consistent basis for group reporting, coordinating with local technical input where site-specific knowledge is required.
How are crypto holdings valued for financial reporting?
First the classification has to be settled, because it determines the measurement basis. For liquid tokens the valuation then focuses on identifying the principal market, selecting a defensible price source and reporting time, and documenting the policy consistently across periods. For locked, vesting or thinly traded tokens, discounts for the restriction and the illiquidity have to be derived and evidenced rather than assumed.
Need an asset valued for accounts, financing or a deal?
Tell us the asset, its location, the purpose and the date required. We will confirm which of our valuers will sign and what the fee will be.