A funeral home in Decatur is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Forsyth — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. The statewide funeral homes playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Decatur file. Confidential sale. No upfront listing fee.
Confidential • No upfront fees • Illinois statewide
Decatur market
Selling a funeral home in Decatur
A funeral home in Decatur is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Forsyth — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. The statewide funeral homes playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Decatur file.
Decatur is a Macon County agri-processing city: ADM and related plants, lake and river industry, and a downtown that serves a factory-and-farm MSA, not a campus.
Industrial-service and trucking books track plant schedules and union history. Forsyth’s Hickory Point retail strip is a different buyer than a Decatur plant-services file. Chicago PE is uncommon; environmental and customer-concentration work come before any multiple talk.
Decatur has about 70,522 residents in Macon County, inside the Decatur area. Nearby markets buyers already compare this book to include Forsyth, Mount Zion. That comparison changes who shows up: a buyer who will drive from Forsyth is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.
Planning facts
Typical multiple
4x–7x EBITDA
Typical timeline
9–18 months
SBA eligible
Often — confirm
County
Macon County
Population
70,522
Metro
Decatur
Nearby comps
Forsyth, Mount Zion
Closing clock
Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago
Springfield, Bloomington-Normal, Decatur, and nearby county seats sell to operators who already know the trade area. State-vendor and campus calendars matter on some books.
File CBS-1 on time. Do not paste a Naperville multiple onto a Sangamon or McLean file.
Decatur demand for funeral homes is the customer list and the license path — not the Census population figure. About 70,522 residents is context for who already lives in the trade area. It is not a sale price.
Funeral Home in Decatur
What a Decatur buyer will underwrite on this funeral home
Personal-service licenses are personal. A funeral home in Decatur sells the chairs and the walk-in book that is not one stylist’s following. Neighbors in Forsyth, Mount Zion are the comparison set, not a statewide salon multiple.
Funeral Homes statewide typically plan around 4x–7x EBITDA and a 9–18 months process when books and the lease are ready. That is a planning range, not a price for this Decatur shop. Buyers here usually argue call volume, preneed backlog, facility condition, location market share, cemetery affiliation.
Closing clock for this Decatur file: Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. License path: IDFPR licenses funeral directors, embalmers, and the funeral-home establishment. The industry hub teaches the statewide rule. This URL is the Decatur application of it.
In a major Illinois city like Decatur, funeral home chains (sci, loewen), independent operators, licensed directors are the names that usually appear on the NDA list. A buyer who will drive from Forsyth is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.
Buyer pool
Who buys a funeral home in Decatur
Industrial and owner-operator. Chicago PE is uncommon.
Illustration: a family funeral home in a central-Illinois county seat with 140 calls, a funded preneed book, a chapel that needs HVAC, and a selling director who still lives upstairs. Not a closed sale.
A funeral home whose customers already sit in Forsyth, Mount Zion is a larger business than one that stops at the Decatur city limit. Tell the truth about the route. Buyers will map it.
SDE recast
How a buyer will read the books on this Decatur funeral home
Funeral buyers recast EBITDA after a market-rate licensed director, not SDE that still hides the seller living above the chapel. Pull a high-call flu year and any cemetery or preneed commission that belongs to a different entity. Preneed is trust-and-liability, not revenue to multiple twice. A 4x–7x EBITDA band assumes call volume that stays with the name and a director who is not only the seller.
Illustration only — not a quote for any Decatur shop. A funeral home whose tax return shows $157,000 of net profit is not worth $157,000 × a rumor multiple.
Add back the owner’s $83,000 W-2 and payroll tax, $19,000 of discretionary benefits, $11,500 of accepted one-time cost, and $6,000 of personal expenses that a buyer will not run. Then subtract $1,000 of replacement labor if the owner still diagnoses, sells, or closes the books.
Adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings are $275,000. At the planning range 4.0x–7.0x, enterprise value is $1,100,000 to $1,925,000. Mid-range 5.50x is $1,512,500 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. A Decatur buyer will argue the multiple after they ride with the staff and read the lease.
At 5.50 times $275,000 of seller’s discretionary earnings, enterprise value is $1,512,500 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. That is the planning conversation. It is not a listing-site guess.
SDE line items
Reported net profit (tax return, not the marketing P&L)
+ Interest expense
+ Income taxes (not payroll, sales, or property tax)
+ Depreciation and amortization
+ Owner W-2, bonuses, and payroll taxes on the owner
+ Discretionary owner benefits that a buyer will not keep (auto, personal travel, family on payroll with no role)
+ Accepted one-time or non-recurring expenses
− Market-rate replacement labor for owner work that will not transfer
= Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)
Illustration recast for a Decatur funeral home — not a quote
Net profit
$157,000
Owner W-2
$83,000
Benefits
$19,000
One-time
$11,500
Personal
$6,000
Replacement labor (subtract)
−$1,000
Recast SDE
$275,000
Planning EV at 5.50x
$1,512,500
Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for funeral homes.
Replacement labor is subtracted. This is a planning tool, not an appraisal.
Recast SDE—
Planning enterprise value—
Before debt, working-capital peg, holdback, and tax. Educational only.
Enter your annual Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) — your net profit plus owner's salary and any personal expenses run through the business — to estimate a range.
$
1x3.0x8x
Estimated Value Range—to—
This is an estimate for planning purposes only. Actual value depends on lease terms, asset quality, customer concentration, and current market conditions. Request a professional valuation for a precise number.
Macon (Decatur) uses state CBS-1 and city licenses. Agri-processing and industrial businesses need environmental and union diligence.
IDFPR licenses funeral directors, embalmers, and the funeral-home establishment. Those licenses are personal and premises-specific; they do not transfer by bill of sale. Illinois preneed (Funeral or Burial Funds Act) trust rules sit on the book. A buyer who is not a licensed director needs a licensed person in charge. Cemetery affiliation, if any, is a separate license track.
Labor and lease
What has to keep working on Monday after close in Decatur
For a funeral home in Decatur, the first labor question is: Stable call volume and a name the community will keep calling.
ADM and related processing shape labor and trucking. Forsyth retail is a different buyer than a Decatur plant-services book.
Central Illinois processing city. Cash flow and customer concentration first.
Diligence
What a serious funeral home buyer will open
Levers that move the multiple in this vertical: Stable call volume and a name the community will keep calling; A staying or incoming IDFPR-licensed director; A clean, funded preneed trust file; Facility and crematory access that do not need immediate capital; Arm’s-length real estate or a rational related-party lease.
Have these ready before anyone hears the name of the Decatur business: Call volume by year and at-need versus preneed mix; IDFPR establishment and director licenses on people who stay; Preneed trust inventory, funding status, and Illinois compliance; Facility condition, crematory access, and any cemetery relationship; Market share versus competing homes and societies; Related-party real estate and true market rent.
Buyer tool
SBA payment sketch for a Decatur funeral home buyer
Most Illinois owner-operator acquisitions use SBA 7(a). This is a payment sketch, not an approval.
SBA 7(a) loans are the most common financing for business acquisitions. Estimate your monthly payment and required down payment based on the purchase price.
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This calculator provides estimates for planning purposes only. Actual SBA loan terms depend on your credit profile, the specific lender, and current market conditions. Contact us to connect with SBA-approved lenders in Illinois.
Sale steps
How to prepare a Decatur funeral home for sale
Recast this Decatur funeral home. Start with the tax return. Add owner pay. Subtract replacement labor if the seller still does the work a Decatur buyer must hire. Do not treat a spike year as the new normal.
Name who can operate on Monday. List every credential that lets this funeral home pull a permit or see a patient in Decatur, and whether that person stays. Personal licenses do not transfer with the assets.
Tell the truth about the Decatur trade area. Map customers against neighboring towns. Buyers will. A book that already covers those towns is larger than a book that stops at the Decatur limit.
Open the lease and the labor file. Remaining term and assignment in Macon County. Whether the crew can run without the seller living eight minutes away.
Calendar the notices that apply here. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. Start them at letter of intent, not the week of funding.
Read the statewide playbook, then talk. The Illinois funeral homes hub is the statute and recast teaching. This page is the Decatur file. Confidential consult — no upfront listing fee.
Answers for owners and buyers in Macon County, including local closing steps.
Illinois funeral homes typically sell for 4x–7x EBITDA. Call volume, preneed backlog, facility condition, market share, and real estate value are the primary value drivers.
A healthy preneed backlog is a significant value driver — it represents guaranteed future revenue. Funeral homes with large, funded preneed portfolios command meaningful premiums because buyers are acquiring future business, not just current performance.
The most active buyers are national funeral home groups (Service Corporation International, Carriage Services, Dignity Memorial), regional chains, and individual licensed funeral directors ready to own. Illinois is an active funeral home acquisition market.
Illinois requires that funeral homes be supervised by a licensed funeral director and embalmer. Buyers who are not personally licensed will need to retain a licensed director. We assess buyer qualifications early in every process.
Funeral home real estate can be sold with the business or retained and leased back to the buyer. Many sellers prefer a sale-leaseback to maximize liquidity at closing while maintaining a real estate income stream.
Most Decatur asset sales file Illinois Form CBS-1 at least 10 business days before closing. Macon County does not use Chicago’s 45-day city notice unless the business also operates there. Municipal licenses and the lease still need their own calendar.
The first serious call in Decatur is usually an owner-operator or a neighboring shop, not a coastal fund. Macon County buyers already know the trade area. Seller financing and a clean lease matter more than a headline multiple.
No. The planning multiple for funeral homes is a statewide starting point, not a Decatur appraisal. Buyers in Macon County still adjust seller’s discretionary earnings, then argue the lease, licenses, labor, and owner dependency.
Service Area
Funeral Home Brokerage Near Decatur
We serve funeral homes owners and buyers across Macon County and the surrounding region.