Founder PlaybookBusiness Services
What a clean quality of earnings report actually buys a founder
Sell-side diligence is not a formality. Prepared sellers converted it into schedule certainty and a narrower retrade window.
OptDeals Research Desk6 min read
Sample editorial content. Companies and figures are illustrative placeholders.
In summary
- Sell-side prepared processes closed materially faster.
- Documented add-backs survived buyer review far more often.
- Retrades concentrated in processes without prepared quality of earnings work.
Founders often read sell-side diligence as a cost imposed by advisors. The transactions we reviewed suggest it is better understood as insurance against repricing.
Add-backs are the clearest case. An owner's vehicle, a family member on payroll or a one-time legal settlement are all defensible, but only with contemporaneous documentation. Reconstructed a year later, the same adjustments read as optimism.
Every undocumented add-back is an invitation to renegotiate in week nine.