National firms, low-cost recasts and a $7,500 flat report, side by side on price, scope and the management Q&A.
Updated October 6, 2026
For a lower middle market acquisition, Quality of Earnings fees run from about $1,500 to $50,000 and up. Most of that spread comes from scope: what the provider actually checks, and what it hands back. The market roughly sorts into three tiers. Tonnesen Accounting Services sits in the middle, at $7,500 flat for SBA-financed and lower middle market deals under $50 million.
| National and regional accounting firms | Tonnesen Accounting Services | Low-cost QoE providers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical fee | $25,000 to $50,000 and up | $7,500 flat for deals under $50 million | $1,500 to $3,000 |
| Built for | Large transactions, often $100 million and up | SBA-financed acquisitions, searchers, independent sponsors and lower middle market deals | A quick recast of the CIM or broker figures |
| Deliverable | Full report | Full report in a slide deck, plus the workbook, walked through on a call | Usually a recast spreadsheet |
| Proof of cash | Typically included | Included | Usually not included |
| Reconciliation to filed tax returns and IRS transcripts | Varies by engagement | Included, three years | Usually not included |
| Add-backs | Documented | Documented, with the support | Often carried over from the CIM |
| Working capital analysis | Typically included | Included | Usually not included |
| Management Q&A | Management discussions; documentation varies | Full Q&A, documented question by question | Usually not included |
| Projection model | Varies by engagement | Five-year monthly model | Not included |
| Billing | Varies by firm | Flat. No hourly billing, no change orders | Flat |
| Turnaround | Varies by firm | Generally two to four weeks from receipt of documents | Varies by firm |
The tiers describe how the market commonly prices and scopes this work. Individual firms differ, so ask any provider for its procedure list and a sample report before you engage.
National and regional accounting firms build their Quality of Earnings practice around large transactions, often $100 million and up. The depth is there, along with a fee structure and timeline designed for a different size of deal. On an SBA-financed acquisition, a $25,000 to $50,000 fee can be a meaningful share of the buyer's total closing costs.
Some deals call for that. If a buyer or lender requires a particular firm's name on the report, or the transaction is well above $50 million, that tier is built for it. For larger or more complex transactions, we also scope and price individually after a call.
At $1,500 to $3,000, what comes back is usually a recast of the company's P&L: the reported figures, the add-backs from the CIM, and a recalculated SDE or EBITDA. Early in a search, before an LOI, that can be enough to screen a deal.
What those reports generally leave out is the work that tests the numbers. Nobody ties deposits back to reported revenue. Nobody reconciles the books to the filed tax returns. And there is no management Q&A, so the add-backs are accepted rather than questioned. Under SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, the Quality of Earnings report a lender commissions covers proof of cash, reconciliation to filed returns and IRS transcript data, documented add-backs and customer concentration. A recast spreadsheet does not cover those items.
Most of what a QoE finds comes out of the questions. Why did margins move in the third quarter? Which of these expenses stop after closing? Who is this related-party vendor? The answers are what turn an add-back from a claim into something a lender can underwrite.
Our reports include the full Q&A: the questions we asked and the answers the company gave, documented in full. The buyer and the lender can read it, follow up on open items, and see what supports the adjustments.
More detail on what drives the fee is in How much does a Quality of Earnings report cost?, and our full scope is on the pricing page.
No. The scope is the ten procedures listed on the pricing page, including proof of cash, reconciliation to three years of filed returns and IRS transcripts, documented add-backs, working capital, a projection model and the full management Q&A. The fee comes from how we work. We have completed more than 600 Quality of Earnings engagements and run about 40 a month, so our team has seen most of the patterns that show up in small business books and knows where to look. The work is done by a U.S.-based team and reviewed in-house by our CPAs. Sample reports are available on request so you can compare the work directly.
When the buyer or lender requires a specific firm, when the transaction is well above $50 million, or when the deal has a level of complexity that calls for a larger team. For deals above $50 million, we scope and price after a call.
Before an LOI, to decide whether a deal is worth pursuing. For an SBA loan where the business purchase price is $3 million or more, SOP 50 10 8.1 requires a Quality of Earnings report that covers procedures a recast does not include. Below that threshold, lenders set their own requirements.