Your buyer's lender will adjust your earnings. Do it first.
Since October 2026, SBA acquisitions of $3M or more require a lender-engaged Quality of Earnings. Owners who know their adjusted earnings, and fix what won't survive diligence, sell faster and keep more of the price.
Book a readiness call CFO servicesReply within one business day · Fixed fee in writing · No obligation
Exit readiness assessment
A buyer's-eye review of earnings quality, owner dependence, customer concentration, records, and the add-backs a lender will reject. You get a prioritized fix list and a realistic earnings range.
Sale-readiness CFO
Twelve to twenty-four months of CFO leadership aimed at the sale: accrual books, monthly close, documented add-backs, a clean data room, and a management team that can answer diligence questions.
Value acceleration
CEPA-based value drivers, KPI dashboards, and quarterly owner reviews for owners three to five years from a transition.
Sell-side QoE
The add-back file, a remediation memo, and a broker readout, built to hold up to several buyers’ diligence teams. It helps you sell; it is not the report your buyer’s SBA lender relies on.
Bring-down update
After you sign an LOI: a refreshed trailing 12 months and cash proof with an update letter.
A note on independence
The SOP says the lender's QoE "must not be prepared by or for the seller." Readiness work helps you prepare, but it is not the report your buyer's lender will rely on. Because we advise owners, our independence policy bars us from preparing a lender QoE on any business we've served in the prior 24 months. We'll tell you that up front.
What a readiness engagement fixes
- Cash deposits that don't tie to reported sales
- Personal expenses run through the business without documentation
- Cash-basis books that hide working capital swings
- Revenue concentrated in a few customers or referral sources
- Owner-dependent relationships with no transition plan
- Missing contracts, leases, and payroll records
Thinking about selling in the next three years?
Start with an exit readiness assessment. You'll know what a buyer's QoE will find before it finds it.