Due Diligence Analysis for a Prospective Business Purchase
Due diligence analysis is vital before a business is purchased. It can be a quick review of financials, as simple as looking at the profit and loss statements for the last full calendar year and the current year. Alternatively, it can be as extensive as looking at tax returns and financial statements for the last 3 years plus the current year.
Whenever financial statements are reviewed, questions come up as to why a number seems too high or too low. The financial advisor can call the seller and ask the questions. Better yet, you, as the buyer, can take the opportunity to ask the questions — it’s a good learning experience. This type of due diligence analysis is very successful at pointing out if the seller is (intentionally or unintentionally) misleading you.
If you determine that the seller is being misleading, you may just want to walk away. On the other hand, you may decide that the business is interesting enough you are willing to spend your time and money to find out the truth. Then you can make a counter offer based on the true information. This service is available two ways:
- We can quote you a fixed price after you hand us all the financial information you are in possession of. Fixed price estimates usually range from $800.00 to $5,000.00
- We can sell you blocks of hours to use only for the help you need or want. The blocks of time range from 5 hours to 20 hours. The price per hour goes down with each larger package. You are billed only for the actual time spent rounded up to the nearest 1/6th of an hour.
