Education
How Long Does a 409A Valuation Take? 24 Hours to a Draft, 5 Business Days to a Signed Report
A 409A takes two days to four weeks depending on what the provider counts. What draft, final and express timelines measure, and how to plan a grant date.
By 409.AI Team - 2026-10-01
A 409A valuation takes anywhere from two days to four weeks, and most of that spread comes from which milestone a provider is quoting. At 409.AI the numbers are a draft report in about 24 hours once intake is complete, the expert-reviewed final report in 5 business days, and 1 business day with express delivery.
If you're a founder or finance lead with an option grant or a board meeting on a fixed date, "how fast?" is the wrong first question. Ask "how fast to what?" and the quotes you've collected start to make sense.
The timeline, stage by stage
A 409A moves through four stages, and each has its own clock.
Intake. You answer questions about the company and hand over the cap table, the charter, and recent financials. With a digital workflow and an accounting connection (QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks) this is about 15 minutes of your time. Over email with a traditional firm, the same step can run a week or more.
Draft. The analysis runs and you get a full report to read. At 409.AI that takes about 24 hours from complete intake. You see the fair market value, the method, and the assumptions, and you can raise questions before anything is final.
Expert review and final report. A valuation expert reviews the work and signs off. The standard timeline is 5 business days from complete intake. This is the document your board relies on.
Express. If the date is tight, express delivery brings the final report down to 1 business day for a flat $500.
Your own time sits around those stages. Reading the draft and answering follow-up questions happens on your side of the calendar, and a provider can't compress it for you.
Three clocks hiding inside one number
When two providers quote "3 days" and "10 business days," they may be describing the same amount of work. Three definitions decide what a turnaround figure means.
When the clock starts
Some timelines start at payment. Others start when the engagement letter is signed. The honest ones start when your data is complete, because nothing can be valued before then. That last definition sounds like the slowest and usually isn't: it's the only one that tells you what the appraiser controls.
The stretch before the clock starts is yours. We've covered the [ten documents that set it](https://409.ai/articles/409a-turnaround-time-data-request-checklist), and for a company that has never assembled them, that stretch is often longer than the valuation itself.
What stops it
A draft and a signed report are different deliverables. The draft tells you the number early, which matters when you're modeling a grant or answering a candidate. The final is what carries weight. Treasury's safe harbor presumption attaches to a valuation determined by an independent appraisal as of a date "no more than 12 months before" the grant ([Treas. Reg. 1.409A-1(b)(5)(iv)(B)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.409A-1)). Your board wants that finished appraisal in hand when it approves grants. Our piece on [the safe harbor and the qualified appraiser](https://409.ai/articles/409a-safe-harbor-price-vs-qualified-appraiser) explains what the presumption is worth.
So a "24-hour" claim and a "5-business-day" claim can both be true for the same provider. One measures the draft. The other measures the signed report.
Which days count
Five business days that start on a Thursday end the following Thursday. Ten business days is two calendar weeks. "48 hours" quoted on a Friday afternoon may mean Tuesday. Convert every quote to a calendar date before you compare it with anything.
A worked example: backing into a board date
Say your board meets on Thursday, October 22 to approve a batch of option grants, and you want the signed report in the board package by Tuesday, October 20.
On the standard timeline, count back 5 business days from October 20. Intake has to be complete by Tuesday, October 13. The draft lands on Wednesday the 14th, which leaves you most of a week to read it and ask questions while the expert review runs.
Now add your own half. If the cap table reconciles to the charter and the last round's closing documents are in one folder, intake is a 15-minute job and you can start on the 13th. If two SAFEs have terms nobody has written down, give yourself the week before as well and start gathering on October 5. [SAFEs change the analysis](https://409.ai/articles/how-safes-affect-your-409a-valuation) more than founders expect, and their terms are the item most often missing.
Express changes one part of that math. With intake complete on Monday, October 19, the final report arrives Tuesday the 20th. That buys back four business days for $500, which on an $899 report is more than half the price again. It's worth paying when an offer letter is waiting on a strike price. It does nothing if the delay is a missing document, because the express clock also starts at complete intake.
Why the date matters more than the speed
The deadline is real because of what happens on the wrong side of it. An option is exempt from Section 409A only if its exercise price is never less than the fair market value of the stock on the grant date. Grant first and value later, and you're betting that the later number comes in at or below the price you already set.
Losing that bet is expensive for the employee, who pays for the mistake: the deferred amount becomes taxable income, with an additional 20% federal tax and an interest charge on top ([IRC Section 409A(a)(1)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/409A)). There is a repair path for a discounted option, and it has [its own deadlines](https://409.ai/articles/discounted-stock-option-correction-notice-2008-113). Nobody wants to use it.
The second reason is shelf life. A 409A supports grants for up to 12 months, and less if a material event such as a priced round lands first. If yours is about to expire, the new report has to arrive before the next grant, so the turnaround you need depends on the date printed on the old one. We've written about [when a refresh is required](https://409.ai/articles/409a-valuation-frequency-how-often-should-you-get-one).
What slows a 409A down at any provider
Speed claims assume a clean file. Three things break that assumption.
The first is a cap table that disagrees with the charter or the stock ledger. Someone has to reconcile them, and it's rarely the appraiser. The second is an instrument with undocumented terms: a SAFE with a side letter, a note with a discount nobody recorded, warrants issued with a loan. The third is a pending event. If a term sheet is on the table, the valuation has to account for it, and a report finished the week before a round closes may be stale the week after.
None of these is a provider problem, which is why the same company can get a report in a week from one firm and in five weeks from the same firm a year later. The [step-by-step process](https://409.ai/articles/inside-the-409a-valuation-process) is the same each time. The file isn't.
Five questions that make turnaround quotes comparable
Before you pay anyone, get these answered in writing.
1. Does your quoted turnaround end at a draft or at a signed final report? 2. Does the clock start at payment, at signing, or when my data is complete? 3. Are those business days or calendar days? 4. Is the fast option the standard price or a rush fee, and how much? 5. Who reviews the report before it's final, and how long does my own review usually add?
Our answers are on the [409A product page](https://409.ai/products/409a) and the [cost page](https://409.ai/409a-valuation-cost): draft in about 24 hours, final in 5 business days, both counted from complete intake, express in 1 business day for a flat $500, and a valuation expert reviewing every report.
Start from the grant date
Put the grant date on the calendar first. Count back five business days for the report, then add an honest estimate of your own document week. If that lands in the past, you need express, and you need the file complete today. If it lands next month, you have time to build the folder properly, and the advertised turnaround will be the one you get.