For business brokers
How many of your sales die at finance?
A sale that falls over at finance or due diligence is weeks of work gone, for you and the vendor. Buyers who reach the bank with a tested earnings case settle more often, and vendors who test their numbers before the campaign set a price that holds. We do the testing, at fixed fees with no hidden costs, and we say what the evidence supports and nothing else.
The problem
Three places a good sale goes to die
At finance.
The buyer's application goes in built on the vendor's adjusted P&L, and the credit team declines it on presentation. Weeks of campaign work gone, and the sale starts again from the top.
At due diligence.
The buyer's adviser finds the untested add-backs late. Now it is a price war, or a walk-away, three weeks before settlement instead of three weeks after the first inspection.
After the handshake.
The deal drags because every number gets relitigated. Buyers with a verified earnings case negotiate once, finance once, and settle.
Two ways to use us
Buyer-side, or before the campaign
Buyer-side: point them at us early
Buyers who test the earnings case before they fall in love with the deal negotiate on facts and reach the bank with a file a credit team can pass. The verified earnings figure flows straight into the finance documents, so the number the price was agreed on is the number the lender sees. The fee is fixed and paid by the buyer.
Vendor-side: prepare the sale
Vendors preparing for sale can engage us before the campaign starts. We test the earnings case the way a buyer's adviser and a credit team will, evidence the add-backs that are real, and flag the ones that will not survive. The number that goes to market is one that holds through negotiation and finance.
Referred by a mortgage or finance broker, a business broker or an accountant? A 25% referral discount applies to our fixed fees. Files that come through these professionals arrive with the records the work needs, and the fee reflects that. The discount assumes the standard information request is met.
Where we stand
Independent, and staying that way.
We do not provide valuations, we do not act as business agents, and we do not arrange finance. Our fee is fixed and payable whichever way the analysis lands, so we have no stake in whether the sale completes. That independence is exactly why a file with our analysis behind it gets a fair reading from the buyer's advisers and the lender's credit team. A tested deal is a deal that settles.
Want a straight read on your deal?
Book a free call with Nicholas. Bring the numbers you have, and we will tell you the right service level and the fixed fee. No obligation.
Common questions
Only if the deal deserved it, and a deal that deserved it was going to die at finance or in a late price war anyway. We say what the evidence supports and nothing else. Where the earnings hold up, the buyer proceeds with confidence and the price holds. Our fee is identical whichever way the analysis lands, so we have no incentive to talk a deal down or up.
Whoever engages us. Buyer-side due diligence is engaged and paid for by the buyer. Vendors preparing for sale can engage us before the campaign starts to test the earnings case, so the number that goes to market survives the buyer's scrutiny. Fees are fixed and on the site, and clients you refer receive a 25% discount.
No. We do not provide valuations and we do not act as business agents. What we provide is earnings analysis: what the business actually earns once an arm's-length owner is running it, evidenced from source documents. Price is your territory. Our number tells everyone what they are pricing.
The fixed fee is confirmed in writing within two business days of seeing the financials, at no charge. Standard turnarounds run from a few business days for a first-pass verification to a few weeks for a full engagement, and expedited delivery is available at a set loading.
The same verified earnings model flows straight into the lender documents, so the number the price was agreed on is the number the bank sees. The documents belong to the buyer and can be lodged through any broker or lender. Where a buyer has no broker and asks for the application to be handled, that goes to The Lending Lab Pty Ltd, a separate broking business, disclosed in writing.