01
Adjusted earnings can hide judgment calls.
We separate defensible add-backs from assumptions that need documentation or negotiation.
Deal Detective
Know the deal before the LOI.
Independent pre-LOI deal reviews for Main Street business buyers.
Human-reviewed
Source-traceable math
Plain-English verdict
A CIM is a sales document.
Treat it like one.
We turn the broker’s story and seller-provided numbers into a clear, skeptical view of the business—so you know what deserves diligence, what needs proof, and what could kill the deal.
Most Main Street deals are too small for a five-figure quality-of-earnings report—and too important to evaluate on a broker’s spreadsheet alone.
02
Documents rarely tell the same story.
We look for breaks between the listing, CIM, P&L, tax returns, and any supporting schedules you provide.
03
A good business can still be a bad deal.
We pressure-test price, debt service, working capital, and downside—not just the headline cash flow.
How it works.
Send your documents
Use the evidence checklist to gather the listing, CIM, financials, and support you already have.
Confidentiality: Your documents are used only for your review—never shared, never sold, never used to train AI models.
Analyst review
We reconcile the numbers, challenge the claims, and pressure-test the deal before the LOI.
Report + debrief call
Receive a clear decision report, then use the included or optional call to talk through the verdict with an analyst.
A disciplined second look.
Software handles the extraction and calculation. An experienced analyst makes the judgment calls. Every conclusion points back to a document, a line item, or an assumption you can challenge.
Every figure is calculated from traceable inputs -- never estimated, never generated.
Our analysis is only as accurate as the documents you provide. We check internal consistency, trace every figure to its source, and flag what doesn't add up — but we can't audit the seller's books from the outside. That's what post-LOI diligence is for, and your report tells your CPA exactly where to dig.
Send the deal materials
Start with a listing or CIM. Add P&Ls, tax returns, add-back schedules, or lender assumptions when available.
We reconcile and recast
Revenue, margins, owner compensation, add-backs, debt service, and key claims are normalized into one review model.
An analyst challenges the draft
Automated findings are reviewed for context, false positives, missing support, and deal-specific risk.
You get a decision memo
Proceed, pause, or pass—with the questions to ask next and the numbers that should move your decision.
What comes back.
Not a wall of AI-generated prose. A compact decision package designed for the conversation you need to have with the broker, lender, partner, or seller.
Normalized earnings bridge
Seller-claimed cash flow rebuilt from the source, with each accepted, rejected, or unresolved adjustment visible.
Claim-support check
Contradictions, gaps, unusual movements, and unsupported claims organized by severity and source document.
Downside scenarios
Debt coverage and buyer cash flow under the base case plus practical haircuts to revenue, margin, or add-backs.
Next-question memo
A prioritized list of requests and questions so the next broker call advances the deal instead of circling it.
Sample report outline
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See the shape of a pre-LOI review.
A review moves from evidence to judgment without burying the decision. Each report centers on three practical outputs:
Decision
A clear proceed, pause, or pass view—with the reasons and open questions behind it.
Earnings view
A concise bridge from seller-claimed cash flow to the earnings the available documents support.
Next steps
Prioritized document requests and seller questions to resolve before an LOI.
A clean report is a successful review. Sometimes the verdict is “proceed with confidence.” We are not deal-killers for hire.
The cost of checking first
The math is in your favor.
Signing an LOI may not carry a fee, but it often sets the price, starts exclusivity, and opens the door to much costlier diligence. A pre-LOI review puts a small, known amount at risk while your leverage is still intact.
“An LOI costs nothing to sign and everything to unwind.”
Illustrative purchase price$400,000
CIM Deep Dive$1,250
Review fee as a share of price0.31%
At a 3× earnings multiple, a modest correction can move the price:
$10,000 unsupported earnings$30,000 price impact
$20,000 unsupported earnings$60,000 price impact
Illustrative only. Actual pricing, adjustments, deal terms, and outcomes vary. A review does not guarantee savings or a successful acquisition.
Buy the depth the deal deserves.
Start before the LOI, when a clear “no” is still cheap. Every package is fixed-fee and scoped around the materials available.
We get paid the same whether you buy or walk away.
Listing Screen
For deciding whether a public listing deserves a broker call.
$495
- Public-listing analysis
- Headline multiple review
- Claim and risk flags
- Questions for the broker
- One-page decision brief
- 30-minute analyst debrief available for $250
Target turnaround: 1 business day
CIM Deep Dive
For serious buyers deciding whether to submit an LOI.
$1,250
- CIM and financial review
- Normalized SDE bridge
- Add-back assessment
- Debt-service scenarios
- Red-flag and question memo
- 30-minute analyst debrief available for $250
Target turnaround: 2 business days
Pre-LOI Package
For deals that need a fuller decision and financing view.
$2,500
- Everything in the deep dive
- Expanded scenario model
- Valuation discussion range
- Lender-ready summary memo
- Tailored diligence roadmap
- 30-minute analyst debrief included
Target turnaround: 3 business days
Who this isn’t for: Buying a $5M business with institutional backing? You need a full QoE firm, not us.
Founding member offer
Help shape the first case files.
Early buyers get the full review at a launch rate while helping us sharpen the service for the next acquisition.
First 10 completed reviews
50% off
The exchange is simple: the discounted rate for a candid feedback call after delivery and, if the work earns it, permission to quote your testimonial. No obligation to endorse the service.
Prepare your materialsLimited to 10 founding-member review engagements.
Technology for speed. Experience for judgment.
The workflow is grounded in M&A, fractional-CFO, and financial-audit experience. Our software delivers exact calculations. The analyst delivers the verdict.
No black-box verdicts
Scores summarize the work. They never replace the source-backed analysis beneath them.
No seller-side incentive
The review is commissioned by the buyer. It is not paid by the broker or seller.
No pretending this is a full QoE
We are a pre-LOI screen. When a formal quality-of-earnings engagement is warranted, we say so.
Good questions.
The same skepticism you bring to a deal should apply to the people reviewing it.
Can't I just upload these documents to ChatGPT?
A chatbot can produce a confident-sounding first pass. Our figures are not generated by the AI model: every one is calculated—not estimated—by deterministic software using traceable inputs. Each number points to its source document and page and carries a status: verified, illustrative, or pending; scenarios are kept separate from facts. A named analyst reviews and signs the report, putting accountable judgment behind the work.
What does analyst accountability actually mean?
Every report is signed by a named analyst—not an anonymous “expert review.” Every number in your report traces to the exact document and page it came from -- or is labeled as our estimate when it is one. Scenarios are structurally separated from verified facts, never blended. If we get something wrong, we fix it and tell you.
Why pay for a review if signing an LOI costs nothing?
The signature may be free, but the commitment is not. An LOI can set the price expectation, restrict you from pursuing other deals during exclusivity, and trigger legal, accounting, and diligence costs. Reviewing the numbers first helps you negotiate while you can still walk away clean—and can surface a pricing issue worth many times the review fee.
Is this a quality-of-earnings report?
No. This is a fast, pre-LOI decision review designed for smaller acquisitions where a formal QoE engagement may not be economical yet. It does not replace post-LOI accounting, legal, tax, lending, or operational diligence.
What happens after I sign the LOI?
Deal Detective is pre-LOI by design, so our engagement ends when you sign. Formal post-LOI diligence belongs with your attorney, CPA, and lender. The report hands off cleanly: its document requests, open questions, and LOI posture give those professionals what they need to pick up where we leave off, and your debrief includes guidance on using the report with your attorney. We can also refer you to attorneys, CPAs, and SBA lenders experienced with Main Street deals; referrals are not endorsements.
What if I only have a public listing?
Start with the Listing Screen. We can assess the headline economics, compare the narrative with the numbers provided, and identify the documents and questions needed before you spend more time.
Do you trust the seller’s financials?
No document is treated as truth simply because it is in the deal room. The purpose of the review is to identify what is supported, what conflicts, and what still needs independent verification.
Can I discuss the report with an analyst?
Yes. A 30-minute live analyst debrief is available for $250 with the Listing Screen or CIM Deep Dive, and it is included with the Pre-LOI Package. Use the time to test the conclusions and prioritize your next questions.
Can you tell me whether to buy the business?
We provide decision support, not a directive or guarantee. You receive a plain-English view of the economics, risks, and unanswered questions so you and your licensed advisers can make the call.
Before you review the deal, collect the right evidence.
Download a one-page pre-LOI checklist covering the claims, financial records, add-backs, customer mix, working capital, and owner role you should clarify first.
Pre-LOI evidence checklist
A practical text checklist you can paste into your deal notes or send to a broker.