Comprehensive, competent, and up to date, this textbook dealing with the fundamentals of functional business valuation presents the prevailing doctrine in the theoretically well-founded German-language literature. The book critically assesses the suitability of all important valuation methods and assigns them to the relevant function of business valuation. Breaking down business valuation into three stages is a major step toward improving the transparency of the process. The steps introduced in this book are 1. Determination of relevant data acquisition, 2. Transformation of elevant data in a value, 3. Use of the determined value. A key aspect of this textbook is its analysis of the valuation process from the perspective of both buyer and seller. Ultimately, the book will present readers with the key principles of functional business valuation, which if it had been applied more widely, the authors argue, could have mitigated the severity of at least some recent financial crises.