How to Switch Your 409A Provider (and When You Should)
Author: Redwood Valuation Content Team
Published: September 21, 2026
Switching your 409A valuation provider is more routine than most founders assume, and the Pulley shutdown is forcing the question for a lot of companies at once. Whether you are being pushed off a platform or simply rethinking who does your valuations, here is when a switch makes sense and how to do it cleanly.
When to Switch
There are a few common triggers. Your current provider is going away, as Pulley customers are experiencing now. Your financial statement audit keeps getting held up because your valuation provider cannot adequately support its conclusions. You have raised a round, added complexity to your cap table, or are approaching a financing or exit where the valuation will get real scrutiny. Or your valuation is bundled into software and you have decided you want an independent valuation firm instead. Any of these can be a legitimate reason to move, and none of them requires waiting for your current 409A to expire.
Switching Is Lower-Risk Than It Sounds
Changing providers does not by itself require you to redo prior valuations. A new firm can pick up from your current position and produce your next valuation. Changing providers is separate from the question of whether you can continue relying on the existing 409A value. Under the Treasury regulations, a previously calculated value is not reasonable for a later grant if it is more than 12 months old or if new information may materially affect the company's value. In practice, that usually means a new valuation within 12 months or potentially sooner after a value-changing development. During the transition, the goal is continuity: a clear valuation history that holds together if an auditor, acquirer, or the IRS ever reviews it.
What to Hand Off
To make the transition smooth, your new provider will typically want your current cap table with all security terms, along with your most recent 409A report and earlier reports. They will also typically want your latest financials, any board materials tied to prior valuations, and details of any recent financing. The prior reports matter because they show how your company's value was derived historically and help a new appraiser understand what changed from one period to the next. That context can also help if an auditor later compares the valuations.
What to Ask a Prospective Firm
Focus on defensibility and support, not just price. Is the firm independent, and does it specialize in valuation rather than treating it as a software add-on? Does the firm sign the opinion, and will they stand behind it under audit? If a valuation is questioned, is any audit support included or is it all billed separately? If you are inheriting a prior year valuation from a provider that is disappearing, can the new firm help with audit questions for a report it did not issue?
If you are a Pulley customer, pay particular attention to the existing valuations . Moving your future 409A valuations to a new firm is straightforward. The harder question is how audit questions about those prior valuations will be handled once the firm that issued them is gone.
Redwood is an independent valuation firm. If you are coming over from Pulley, we take over valuation relationship and include audit support related to the most recent valuation as part of the package. That means one firm can answer questions about your prior valuation and the valuations we prepare going forward. If you are weighing a switch, we can walk you through exactly what it involves.