There are a few notes to make on the above:
Businesses that have a lot of undeclared cash - These will need special handling. We can help with that on a case-by-case basis. In general, the Seller needs to give a Buyer an idea of the cash they are taking and then he will need to prove this in due diligence, there are many methods for this. Businesses that work on a % completion method (i.e. builders) - These require the accountant to calculate the revenues, costs and WIP based on the progress of projects. Usually, they will do this twice a year so we may have to use previous financials and then look at cash flow, new contracts, etc. to ascertain the business is still performing at the same level. These businesses should have no problem producing the above reports but the profit (EBITDA) figures will need to be calculated by the accountant and we will come up with strategies during due diligence to work with this. Businesses that take a lot of pre-payments spanning many months/ years - Typically, we find the revenue and profit are recognised in a very conservative fashion to minimise tax. As with the above point, the accountant typically needs to come in and adjust the financials in order to reflect revenue and profits correctly. These are generally great businesses with recurring revenue, so worth the effort, but it is not as simple as producing an accounting system report. Quality of Earnings - Valuation is mathematically based on Normalised EBITDA which in turn is driven by sales and gross profit. During the due diligence process, a Buyer will be determining what they think the ongoing EBITDA is going to be post-sale. This will drive the valuation, lending, cash flow, etc. Gaining confidence in this revenue stream is therefore critical.
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