Off market seller found, $3.5M in revenue. No accounting system.

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by a searcher from Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management
in Newtown, PA 18940, USA

1yr ago

Off market seller found, $3.5M in revenue. No accounting system.

Thoughts on a $3.5M firm being run on spreadsheets rather than a formal accounting system? I'd be doing a QoE but curious how common this is for off market businesses. Previous experience has all be through intermediary.
The QoE would align bank statements to invoices and taxes, but feels like things would be much easier to hide in a spreadsheet accounting system. Thoughts?

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reply by an intermediary 1yr ago
from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, USA

Depends on the Excel model - I would take a company with a well-thought out Excel financials with an integrated P&L, BS, and CF statement to someone using QuickBooks that doesn't understand the difference between cash and accrual or how the three statements interrelate to each other...

reply by a professional 1yr ago
from Biola University in Escondido, CA, USA

I agree with the above. A fractional accounting firm can help with pre due diligence clean up so that QoE is not a huge hassle and potentially a waste of time (the deal goes south). Connor McAree over at Skyward Solutions has been super helpful to me and my seller clients. redacted