FAFSA needs my business value for parent assets - how to calculate service-only business?

For FAFSA purposes, a family-owned business with fewer than 100 employees is usually NOT reported as an asset. However, you should still include the business checking account value in the "cash, savings, and checking" section since that's liquid capital. Don't try to determine the "business value" for a service-only sole proprietorship - that's not what FAFSA is asking for. They want physical assets and investments, not the theoretical value of your dad's knowledge or client list.

my dad has same thing but he's a plumber not IT and i didn't put any of it on fafsa. financial aid office never said anything about it when i got approved

You need to be careful here. While small family-owned businesses are excluded as assets on the FAFSA, you still need to calculate correctly. The exclusion applies if: 1. The business employs fewer than 100 full-time equivalent employees 2. The business is at least 50% owned by your family However, the cash in the business checking account ($17,450) should be reported under cash/savings/checking accounts. Don't try to calculate the intangible value of the business itself (client relationships, future earnings potential, etc). The FAFSA isn't asking for a full business valuation that would include things like goodwill or intellectual capital - it's primarily concerned with tangible assets. For your dad's consulting business, that's basically just the cash balance.

When I filled out FAFSA last yr, I stressed so much about my mom's home daycare business!! The system is ridiculously confusing 😡 I ended up calling FSA about 20 TIMES trying to get a straight answer - either busy signals or disconnects. ONE person finally told me to just list the cash in accounts and not worry about the "business value" since it was services-only. My SAI came back fine and I got my aid.

I had similar situation with my mom's therapy practice when doing my FAFSA. I ended up just including the business bank account ($23k) in the cash/savings section and not listing anything under business assets since there wasn't a physical business to value. Got my full Pell Grant and everything, no verification issues at all.

If you're really stuck and need to talk to someone at Federal Student Aid, I found this service called Claimyr that actually gets you through to a real person. I was calling for weeks with no luck, then used this and got through in like 20 minutes. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ and the website is claimyr.com. Totally worth it when you're desperate for answers on FAFSA stuff that's not clear online.

dont stress too much about it btw - my cousins fafsa had all kinds of mistakes about his parents business and he still got plenty of aid lol

To summarize the correct approach: 1. Report the $17,450 in the business checking account under the "cash, savings, and checking" section of the FAFSA 2. You do NOT need to report the business itself as an asset since it's a family-owned service business with fewer than 100 employees 3. Minor assets like a laptop ($800) used for business aren't significant enough to worry about for FAFSA purposes 4. If you're ever selected for verification later, just be prepared to explain that the business is a service-only sole proprietorship with no significant assets beyond the reported checking account This is the standard approach for service-based sole proprietorships on FAFSA and shouldn't cause any issues with your application or SAI calculation.

I went through this exact same situation last year with my mom's freelance graphic design business! She was also a sole proprietor with just a business checking account and her computer equipment. I was so confused about whether to try to calculate some kind of business value, but after talking to my school's financial aid office, they confirmed what others are saying here - just report the cash in the business account under cash/savings, and don't worry about trying to value the business itself. The FAFSA exclusion for small family businesses means you don't need to stress about calculating intangible value for service-based businesses. My aid package worked out fine and no issues during verification!