Know the risk in the deal before you sign.
Independent analysis of the numbers for Canadians buying, selling or running a small business. Fixed fee, fast, in plain language. Prepared by a CFA charterholder and FRM who has bought and run businesses himself.
Four questions every buyer needs answered
Can the earnings be trusted?
We rebuild the owner's real earnings and test every add-back.
Does the cash exist?
We trace reported revenue to the bank statements.
Will it carry the debt?
We test the price against the cash flow at the structure you plan to use.
What breaks after closing?
Customer concentration, owner dependency, staff, subcontractor and compliance exposure, backlog and holdbacks for trades businesses.
Every screen scores the deal on four pillars: financial health, operations and people, market and competition, external and regulatory.
Five steps, no surprises
- Tell us about the deal. Five questions, two minutes.
- Ballpark quote within one business day. The fixed fee is agreed before any work starts.
- Send the documents you have: the listing package, statements, bank statements, tax returns.
- A Deal Risk Screen in three business days, or a full Earnings Risk Assessment in 7 to 10.
- A call to walk through what we found and what to ask next.
Buying, selling, or running your own
Buying
Buyers before an LOI, to decide whether to go further, and under LOI, to know what the earnings and the cash really support before closing.
Selling
Sellers who want to see what a buyer and a lender will find, before they find it.
Your own business
Owners who want a clear read on the risk in their own business and what moves the number.
Canada only.
What a Deal Risk Screen looks like
Two sample screens prepared from public BC listings, to show the format. Listing figures are the seller's; no seller documents were reviewed.
Concrete contractor, South Eastern BC
Moderate risk. The price is inside what the cash flow supports if the listed earnings hold; equipment is outside the price.
Plumbing and HVAC contractor, Okanagan
Elevated risk. Sold with its property; the operating earnings do not carry the bundled price on a conventional structure.
First reads on BC businesses for sale
A short, dated read on owner-operated and trades businesses listed for sale in BC, from the listing's own figures. General information, not advice on any purchase.
- Concrete contractor, South Eastern BC. Listed at 2.9x adjusted EBITDA; the cash flow covers the debt with room to spare if the earnings hold. Equipment is listed as not included.Read the first read
- Plumbing and HVAC contractor, Okanagan Valley. Sold with its property at 12.6x adjusted EBITDA; the operating earnings do not carry the bundled price on a conventional structure. The property value is the first number to get.Read the first read
- Roofing contractor, Okanagan. Listed at 5.3x the stated cash flow on a 4% margin; coverage is about 1.2x on a standard structure and goes under 1.0x if the cash flow slips. A share sale brings the roof warranties with it.Read the first read
- Plumbing and HVAC contractor, Okanagan (asset sale). No cash flow published. On a standard structure the price needs about $76,000 a year of owner cash flow, 6% of the stated sales, and the business leans on new home construction.Read the first read
- Automotive film and tint shop with building, Interior BC. A $1.1 million property with a $480,000 business attached; the business earnings cover about 0.56x of the bundled debt service, so the deal is a real estate decision first.Read the first read
Guide: can a CSBFP loan pay for goodwill when you buy a business?
Guide: what does BDC need before it will finance a small business purchase?
Not an audit, review or assurance engagement, and not an opinion on anyone's financial statements. Not a valuation report under any professional standard.
It is the analysis a careful buyer needs before the lawyers and the lender get involved. All businesses carry risk; our job is to show you where it is.
Not for litigation, matrimonial or tax-dispute use.
Devon Murtagh, CFA, FRM
Devon has sat on every side of a small-business deal. He co-founded and ran the finance side of a wholesale business that grew from a basement to $2 million in annual sales, launched a retail store from a budget and a forecast, co-founded a trades company, and today operates a food franchise.
He has underwritten commercial credit, reading financial statements and credit profiles to decide what a lender should and should not finance, and he has managed a holding company's investments.
He is a CFA charterholder and a Financial Risk Manager, with a Bachelor of Arts from UBC Okanagan and accounting training from Okanagan College. He is also the founder of Murtagh & Co. Financial Services, an accounting practice in Kelowna.
Tell us about the deal
Fixed fee, agreed before work starts. You will hear back within one business day.