What it costs to buy a security business in Australia

Security businesses on live Australian listings ask from $80,000 for a licensed company that has never traded to $2.5m for a Melbourne business earning over 95 per cent of its income from monthly equipment rentals. Alarm and CCTV installers mostly ask $249,000 to $699,000. Where profit is shown, listings imply 3.1 to 4.6 times profit.

A security business is priced on the profit left after the owner is paid, and on how much of that profit repeats without winning new work. That is why a home-based CCTV installer asks $249,000 while a Melbourne rental and monitoring business with $775,000 of profit asks $2,500,000. Contract length and transferability, monitoring income, state licences and award wages move the price. This guide sets out what nine live listings ask, how the price is built, the licences you need, the staff costs, and how lenders look at the purchase.

What security businesses sell for

Security is three different businesses under one name. Guarding and patrol firms sell labour by the hour. Alarm, CCTV and access control installers sell equipment and labour. Monitoring books sell a monthly fee. If you are comparing it with another contract-based service, see our guides to buying a cleaning business and buying a trades business. The table surveys listings on Bsale and BusinessForSale that we opened on 1 November 2026. Figures are the vendor's, indicative market data and not Ventas offers. SAV means stock at valuation, paid on top of the price. Several guarding listings on SEEK Business could not be opened for this guide, so none is in the table.

Three things stand out. First, the cheapest rows are licences or small installers, not going concerns: $80,000 buys a Queensland master licence and labour hire licence for a company that has never traded, with no contracts. Second, only three listings show profit, and vendors often hold financials back until a confidentiality agreement is signed. Third, the Sydney CBD listing is safes, vaults and locksmithing with a security logistics arm, so treat it as an adjacent business and not a guarding or alarm company. The Perth row is a distribution licence, shown only so you can see what is being sold under the Security tag. The remaining rows are the closest to a normal alarm and CCTV purchase, at $249,000 to $699,000.

What drives the price: contracts and monitoring

Brokers price a security business on adjusted profit, meaning profit after the owner is paid a market wage. Where a listing shows both price and profit, the implied multiples are below. We found no published rule of thumb for private Australian guarding or monitoring businesses, so treat three data points as a guide to questions, not a price list.

What moves the number:

• Recurring revenue. The Melbourne region listing says over 95 per cent of income is monthly equipment rental, and it asks $2,500,000. The Bayside listing shows about 50 monitoring lines and school and hospital contracts. A monthly fee that continues after the sale is worth more than a job that must be won again.
• Contract length and transferability. Guarding contracts are often short and may allow the client to end them on notice. Read each one. Check whether it can be assigned to you, whether the client must consent, and when it expires. The Geelong listing says its monitoring and patrol response runs through long-term contractors, so ask who owns that relationship.
• Customer concentration. One client at 40 per cent of revenue is a risk a lender will price in.
• Owner dependence. A business where the owner is the licence holder and does the work sells for less than one that runs without the owner.
• Licences. If the licensed entity or key person does not transfer, the contracts may not be able to continue.

Licences by state

A security business cannot trade without its licence, and each state has its own. The summary below comes from ASIAL, the industry body, which says it is not complete. Check the regulator's current rules before you sign.

ASIAL's page does not cover change of ownership, and we found no regulator page that sets out a sale procedure, so ask the regulator how a sale works in your state. Licensing takes time, so allow for it. In Victoria all private security activities have been licensed since 19 June 2025, and registrations not moved to a licence by 19 June 2026 are no longer valid. In Queensland the Office of Fair Trading assesses key staff against the same criteria as individual licence holders. In our reading, buying the shares of the licensed company keeps its licence in place, while buying only the assets means you apply in your own name. In either case the buyer and any key staff must meet the licensing criteria, so a vendor's sale can fall over on a buyer's background check. Make settlement conditional on the licence outcome, and ask your accountant and solicitor about duty and GST, which depend on the state and the contract.

Staff and award costs

For guarding, wages are most of the cost, and the Security Services Industry Award 2020 (MA000016) sets the minimum rates. We could not open the official Fair Work pay guide for this guide, so we quote no rates: check the current Fair Work pay guide for your classifications. The award carries penalty rates for nights, weekends and public holidays, so a contract priced on weekday hours and staffed on weekends can lose money. When you read the accounts, check that wages, super, insurance and subcontractor costs are all in, and ask the vendor how pay compares with the award.

Installers and technicians may fall under a different award, so confirm which applies to each worker. Ask for a staff list with each person's classification, hours and employment type, and for any underpayment or Fair Work claims in the last six years.

Who buys a security business

Three kinds of buyer pay for security businesses, and each reads the same listing differently.

• Licensed operators adding contracts. They already hold the licence and the guards, so they pay for the contract book and can fold the staff in. They tend to pay most for contracts that transfer cleanly.
• Installers buying a monitoring book. They want the monthly lines and a customer list to sell upgrades to. They discount heavily if the monitoring is run by a third party under contract.
• First-time owners with industry experience. A former supervisor or technician usually needs a smaller business and a good handover, and has the most to prove to a lender.

Financing a security business purchase

Lenders are cautious about security businesses, and guarding is the harder end. Guarding has thin margins, a high wage bill, short contracts and little security to take, because a guard firm owns few assets. Alarm and monitoring businesses are easier to fund, because the monitoring book is steady income and the vehicles and equipment can be financed. Some lenders will say no to a pure guarding purchase, and the funding gap is usually met with your own money or property. Ventas is a finance broker, not a lender, so we do not quote rates here. They change with the lender, the security and the file.

Illustrative only, subject to lender assessment. A realistic purchase of an alarm, CCTV and monitoring business at a $450,000 asking price:

And how it is typically funded across lender types:

Debt here is under half the total, and lenders look at what each layer is secured on. Equipment finance is valued on what used vans and gear would resell for, which can be below the vendor's figure. A property-backed loan secured on your home or another property can fund the equity gap, because the lender relies on the property. The cost is that the property is at risk if the business fails. Read how lenders treat goodwill in can a lender finance the goodwill when I buy a business.

What makes a security deal fundable:

• Recurring income. Monitoring lines or contracts with years left that can be assigned to you.
• Trading history. Two to three years of financials that reconcile to lodged BAS and bank statements.
• A licence path. Evidence that you and your key staff can be licensed in the state, and a settlement condition tied to it.
• Your experience. Time in the industry, ideally in management.
• Security. Property, equipment and cash you can put in.

To get a number from Ventas, send the listing, the vendor's split between goodwill, equipment and stock, two to three years of financials and BAS, a schedule of contracts with end dates and who the clients are, your licence position and experience, and the security you can offer. Start at business acquisition finance. Finance is subject to lender assessment and approval.

This is general information only and not financial, credit, or tax advice. Figures are indicative market data from the sources listed, not Ventas offers, and move with the market. Consider your own circumstances and speak to a professional. All finance is subject to lender assessment and approval.

This article is general information only and not financial, credit, or tax advice. Ventas Asset Lending is a finance broker, not a lender. Approvals are subject to lender assessment. Consider your own circumstances and speak to a qualified professional, including your accountant for any tax questions.