Know What You're Actually Buying.
Independent diligence on adjusted EBITDA, addbacks, cash conversion, revenue quality, and working capital, so you can underwrite the deal with confidence.
What earnings should you actually underwrite?
A Quality of Earnings report is not an audit and it is not a valuation opinion. It is financial diligence designed to determine whether reported earnings reflect the economic reality you are buying and what else in the financials could affect transaction economics.
Start at the level of diligence the deal deserves.
Choose CIM Snapshot or QoE Lite at a published fixed fee. Standard and Comprehensive engagements are quoted to fit your transaction.
CIM Snapshot
High-level screen of the CIM and seller-provided financials. Not a full QoE.
- Asking multiple / reported EBITDA sanity check
- High-level addback review
- Three key diligence flags
- PDF summary + debrief
QoE Lite
Focused three-year annual review with documented addback and earnings-quality analysis.
- Annual EBITDA bridge
- Addback support review
- Revenue / margin analysis
- PDF report + Excel workbook
Standard QoE
Monthly analysis, source-document reconciliations, working capital, debt-like items, and transaction-focused findings.
- 3–5 years monthly analysis
- Cash / tax / payroll reconciliations
- Working capital peg & seasonality
- Debt-like / transaction flags
- PDF report + Excel workbook
Comprehensive QoE
Standard QoE plus deeper management, revenue, customer, operational, and transaction analysis tailored to the deal.
- Everything in Standard
- Management interviews
- Deeper revenue / customer analysis
- Operational risk review
- Lender / investor coordination as scoped
Two-stage diligence: Standard and Comprehensive engagements begin with financial validation, addback analysis, and proof of cash. We review those findings with you before proceeding. If you elect not to proceed beyond Stage 1, 50% of the engagement fee is refunded.
Pricing: Standard and Comprehensive engagements are scoped to the transaction. Final fees are fixed and agreed upfront based on complexity, data quality, number of entities, and requested scope. Priority delivery may be available at a 25–40% premium.
Common buyer questions
Do I still need my own QoE if the seller has one?
A seller-side QoE can be useful, but it was commissioned to prepare the seller for market. A buyer-side engagement is directed by the buyer's underwriting questions and provides work product to the buyer. For meaningful transactions, many buyers still want independent buy-side diligence.
Is the CIM Snapshot a full Quality of Earnings report?
No. It is a pre-LOI or early-stage screen designed to identify obvious issues and questions. It does not include the source-document testing, reconciliations, or working-capital work in the Standard QoE.
Which tier is appropriate for an SBA-financed acquisition?
Lender requirements vary. If a lender has requested a QoE, confirm their expectations before ordering. Standard QoE is designed around the types of monthly analysis, reconciliations, and working-capital work commonly relevant to acquisition underwriting, but the lender ultimately decides what it requires.
What if the seller's books are messy or cash-basis?
That generally increases the importance of scoping before you buy a fixed package. Send the deal details so we can assess the records, determine what can be reconstructed, and identify whether the Standard or a custom scope is appropriate. We can schedule a call if needed.
Useful before you sign or close.
What should a seller give you before an LOI?
What is reasonable to request before full diligence begins.
EBITDAEBITDA addbacks explained
How to separate legitimate normalization from wishful thinking.
Working capitalPrice the evidence, not the aging report
Why reported receivables can be materially different from collectible cash.
QoEPro serves both buyers and sellers, but never opposite sides of the same transaction. Once engaged by one side, we remain independent of the other.