The same ten procedures, the same deliverable and the same flat fee, whoever engages us.
Updated October 7, 2026
We prepare Quality of Earnings reports for business buyers using SBA 7(a) financing, searchers, independent sponsors and their capital partners, the SBA lenders who finance these deals, business owners preparing to sell, and the brokers who bring them together. The scope, the deliverable and the fee are the same whoever engages us: $7,500 flat for SBA-sized deals, with larger deals scoped and priced to the work after a call.
| Who | When they usually call us | What the report is used for |
|---|---|---|
| Business buyers | After the LOI is signed, during exclusivity | Confirming the earnings before committing, negotiating price and terms, and supporting the loan file |
| Searchers | After the LOI, often with an SBA lender lined up | The same, plus a report investors and lenders can read |
| Independent sponsors | After the LOI, before capital partners commit | A third-party view of earnings, add-backs and working capital for the equity and debt providers |
| SBA lenders | When SOP 50 10 8.1 calls for a lender-engaged report, or the credit file needs one | Underwriting from tested earnings, proof of cash and tax returns tied to the books |
| Business owners | Before going to market | Finding and fixing issues before a buyer's QoE does |
| Brokers | When a buyer or owner on their deal needs one | Keeping the deal on schedule |
Self-funded searchers often finance the purchase with an SBA 7(a) loan, so the report has to work for the buyer and the lender at the same time. Traditional searchers answer to the investors who funded the search, and those investors commonly expect independent financial diligence before they fund the acquisition.
For a first-time owner, the items that matter most are usually owner compensation and what it costs to replace the owner's role, customer concentration, and whether the add-backs in the CIM hold up. The report covers all three, and the five-year monthly projection model and the debt service coverage illustration show how the business carries the debt you are about to take on.
An independent sponsor finds the deal first and raises the equity deal by deal. Capital partners commonly ask for a third-party Quality of Earnings before they commit. Our report gives them what they usually look for: recalculated adjusted EBITDA with the support for the adjustments, proof of cash against bank statements, three years of tax returns tied to the books, a working capital analysis, and the full management Q&A so they can read the company's answers themselves.
SBA-sized deals are $7,500 flat. Sponsor deals are often larger than that, and those are scoped and priced to the work after a call, with the fee quoted before we start. A deal that includes more than one business carries an added fee.
Under SBA SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026, Initial Acquisition and Business Expansion loans where the business purchase price is $3 million or more need a Quality of Earnings report from an independent provider engaged by and acting on behalf of the lender. We take lender engagements on the same scope and fee as buyer engagements. How the report lines up with what the SOP asks for is on Quality of Earnings for SBA lenders.
An owner who goes to market with a sell-side Quality of Earnings has already seen what a buyer's diligence will find, and has had time to fix it. See sell-side Quality of Earnings and our sell-side cleanup and bookkeeping work.
Brokers bring us in when a buyer or owner on their deal needs a report. We keep the broker and the lender informed on open items, so the deal stays on schedule.
No. The scope is the same ten procedures listed on the pricing page, and the deliverable is the same full report in a slide deck plus the workbook, walked through on a call. You can download a sample deck and workbook.
For Initial Acquisition and Business Expansion loans at or above that price, SOP 50 10 8.1 calls for a report from a provider engaged by and acting on behalf of the lender, so a report the buyer ordered for its own purposes does not meet the requirement on its own. Below the threshold, lenders set their own requirements. Confirm with your lender before the engagement letter goes out.
Yes. Larger deals are scoped and priced to the work after a call, and we quote the fee before we start. How the national firms compare is on Quality of Earnings providers compared.
Generally two to four weeks from the day we have the documents. The company's response time sets most of the pace.