Services businesses
Agencies, consultancies, accounting and IT services, staffing firms, and trades like HVAC, plumbing and electrical.
- Retainers & project fees
- Billable time
- Who delivers the work
- Committed work vs pipeline
- Key people
Free QoE readiness check · Under 10 minutes
Your profit, as a buyer will see it.
Before anyone buys or invests in your business, their accountants run a review. This check shows how ready your numbers are, where the gaps are and what to fix first, all in plain English.
or
Prefer to do it yourself? Get our free guide: 8 ready-to-paste Claude prompts to run your own Quality of Earnings check in about 15 minutes. Sent to your inbox as a PDF.
- No documents to upload
- No figures to enter
- Every finance term explained
What a QoE does to your profit
Illustrative
A typical walk from the profit you report to the profit a buyer will pay for.
Profit in your accounts (EBITDA)$1.20M
+ Owner’s personal costs+$60k
+ One-off legal fee+$40k
− Revenue booked in the wrong month−$180k
− Bills owed but not recorded−$100k
− Office rented from owner below market−$80k
Profit a buyer will pay for$0.94M
−$1.3M
At a 5× valuation multiple, that $260k gap is $1.3M off your sale price, and most of it was fixable before the buyer looked.
What is a QoE?
The buyer checking your profit, line by line.
Your accounts say what you earned. A Quality of Earnings review decides how much of it a buyer believes, and the price follows that number, not yours.
Who runs it
The buyer’s or investor’s accountants, usually after you’ve agreed a headline price. It takes weeks, and their questions keep coming the whole time.
What they test
Whether your profit is real, recorded in the right month, repeatable under a new owner, and backed by paperwork you can actually find.
What it changes
The final price, how much you get at closing versus later, what’s held back for risks, and sometimes whether the deal happens at all.
Two pathways
Built for how your business makes money.
A buyer looks at a services firm very differently from a product company. Pick your path and you’ll only see questions that fit.
Product businesses
Software and SaaS, e-commerce, consumer brands, manufacturing, wholesale and distribution.
- Subscriptions & repeat orders
- Inventory
- Warranties & rebates
- Customer concentration
- Key suppliers
What we check
The eight areas a QoE team will test.
Each one comes with the kind of question you’ll hear in a real deal. The check asks how ready your company is to answer it today.
How it works
Ten minutes now, fewer surprises later.
Answer for your company
Most owners answer 20–30 quick questions. Each one has an example, and every finance term has an (i) to explain it.
See your scorecard
A readiness score, a rating for each area, and how long it typically takes to get buyer-ready from where you are.
Get your action plan
A detailed report goes to your work inbox: what a buyer will ask, why it matters to your price, and what to fix first.
Your report
Only what applies to you. Nothing you don’t need.
- Your score and readiness bandWith a realistic time-to-ready, checked against your own timeline.
- Area-by-area findingsWhere your company stands, what a buyer will ask, and why it affects your price.
- Your top three prioritiesConcrete first steps, in the order that protects the most value.
- Things a buyer will look at closelyBased on the loans, deposits, risks and dependencies that apply to your business.
Questions
Before you start.
Anything else? Ask us on your free call after the check.
Is this an actual Quality of Earnings review?
No. It’s a self-check based on how ready your company is to answer the questions a QoE team asks. Nobody reviews your documents, and nothing is verified. It shows you where to look before a buyer does.
I’m not a finance person. Will I understand the questions?
Yes, that’s who it’s written for. Every finance term has an (i) you can tap for a plain-English explanation and a real-world example. If something isn’t in place yet, just say so. That’s exactly what the check is designed to find.
Do I need my accountant or any documents?
No. Answer based on where your company stands today. If something isn’t in place yet, say so. Gaps are exactly what a buyer will notice, so it’s worth capturing them now.
How is the score worked out?
Each readiness answer earns points, and each of the eight areas is weighted by how much it typically affects price in a deal. Records, revenue and adjusted earnings carry the most weight. Areas that don’t apply to you are left out rather than counted against you.
Why do you need my work email?
Your full report is sent there, so it reaches the right inbox and stays with your business. We don’t accept personal or temporary addresses. We won’t share your details, and we’ll only contact you if you tick the box asking us to.
Is my information confidential?
Yes. Your answers are used only to produce your report and, if you ask us to, to prepare for a conversation with you. We never ask for figures, and we don’t sell or share data.
Find the gaps before a buyer does.
Under ten minutes, no documents, no figures. You get a readiness scorecard and a plan for what to fix first.