What Is My Security Company Worth?

Security companies vary enormously in value depending on whether they provide monitoring services, guard services, or both. Monitoring revenue — with its recurring monthly fees and high margins — commands premium valuations.

Typical Valuation Ranges

Guard services companies: 1.5x to 2.5x SDE

Alarm monitoring companies: Valued on monthly recurring monitoring revenue (RMR) — typically 30x to 45x monthly RMR (equivalent to 2.5–3.75x annual monitoring revenue)

Integrated companies (guards + monitoring + systems): 2.5x to 4x SDE

Factors that push toward the higher end:

• High percentage of recurring monitoring revenue
• Long-term contracts with commercial clients
• Low customer attrition (under 10% annually)
• Diversified client base
• Technology-enabled services (video verification, access control)
• Management team handling operations

Factors that push toward the lower end:

• Guard-service-only with no monitoring revenue
• High guard turnover
• Client concentration (one contract is 25%+ of revenue)
• Short-term or cancellable contracts
• Owner manages all scheduling and client relationships

What Drives Value

Monitoring RMR is the gold standard. Monthly monitoring fees ($25–$100+/month per account) create predictable recurring revenue with 70%+ margins. This is what acquirers are willing to pay a premium for.

Guard services are lower-margin and labor-intensive. Value comes from contract terms, client relationships, and operational efficiency.

How to Increase Your Value

1. Build monitoring RMR. Add alarm, video, and access control monitoring to your service mix.
2. Lock in contracts. Multi-year agreements with auto-renewal reduce attrition risk.
3. Reduce guard turnover. Better compensation, training, and working conditions improve retention and service quality.
4. Add technology. Video verification, remote monitoring, and access control systems create higher-margin recurring revenue.
5. Diversify clients. Reduce concentration risk by growing your customer base across industries.

Browse the valuation multiples guide for industry data, or schedule a free call for a confidential valuation.