For self-funded searchers: the diligence a lender expects, priced for a solo search, and the one case where a report is the better buy.
A self-funded search runs on a tight budget, often toward one business. Here is what diligence on that business involves, what a lender will ask, and the arithmetic that shows where Acquiror AI pays for itself.
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- Owner add-backs on the SDE metric
- Evidence attached to each
What diligence on one small business involves
Buying a small business on your own money is the same diligence job a fund does, with nobody to hand it to. Most of it is on Solo; Professional adds the other three pieces.
| What you have to do | Solo | Professional |
|---|---|---|
| Read the CIM and statements: extraction with a confidence score on every figure, and Q&A that cites the passage | Yes | Yes |
| Rebuild the earnings: a Quality of Earnings (QoE) on EBITDA or seller's discretionary earnings (SDE), with the owner's add-backs evidenced and the period locked | Yes | Yes |
| Normalize the income statement and the balance sheet | Yes | Yes |
| Set the working capital peg that the closing balance is measured against | Yes | Yes |
| Value it: market multiples on SDE or EBITDA, a discounted cash flow and adjusted net assets, triangulated | Yes | Yes |
| Check whether the customers stay: concentration, contracts and retention | No | Yes |
| Answer the lender: the financing structure, the coverage ratio, stress tests and a credit memo | No | Yes |
| Hand a partner or an investor an investment memo | No | Yes |
On an owner-run business, most of the work is in the add-backs: the owner's pay and perks, family on the payroll, a one-time repair. Each one either has evidence behind it or comes off the number, and the number is what you will pay a multiple of. In the QoE every add-back carries its category, its evidence and a support status, and you lock the period only when you are satisfied.
The valuation is a calculation and the QoE is your own analysis. Neither is a certified valuation or a CPA-signed Quality of Earnings.
The lender's question
If you are borrowing to buy, through an SBA 7(a) loan in the United States or the Canada Small Business Financing Program (CSBFP) in Canada, the lender will ask whether the business's cash flow covers the debt, and by how much. That is the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR):
- Cash available for debt service is adjusted EBITDA less maintenance capex, cash taxes, working capital and other outflows.
- DSCR is that cash divided by the year's debt service.
If the loan is an SBA 7(a), the floor for a buyer acquiring a business they did not own is 1.25× on the business's past results, not on projections, and at a Business Purchase Price of $3 million or more (excluding owner-occupied real estate) the lender orders its own Quality of Earnings and underwrites on it. The rules, read from the SOP text, are in our explainer (SBA 7(a) after 1 October 2026).
Professional computes it on a structure you build, with SBA 7(a) and CSBFP instrument templates, stress tests and a credit memo PDF. Financing is on Professional. On Solo, take the locked adjusted figure from your QoE into your own debt model.
If you need the lender package for one stretch of one deal, there is a cheaper route than a year of Professional. On monthly billing, upgrade to Professional for the weeks you build it: the upgrade applies at once, prorated, and a downgrade back to Solo takes effect at the end of the billing period. It works month to month only. During an annual commitment a plan cannot be downgraded, and an upgrade starts a new 12-month commitment.
The arithmetic
- What self-funded searchers spend. Observed software budgets run from about $20 to $200 monthly.
- Solo on the annual commitment: $139/mo, billed monthly, for 12 months: $1,668 for the year.
- Solo month to month: $249/mo, cancel any time.
- Professional month to month: $699/mo.
- One per-deal AI QoE report: $2,000 to $5,000, for one deal, once.
- One CPA Quality of Earnings engagement: typically $25,000 to $75,000.
A year of Solo on the annual commitment costs less than the low end of the per-deal range, and it covers every business you screen that year, within its deal limit. For one business, the report is the better buy.
Illustrative only: a search with a live deal for five months, four of them on Solo and the lender month on Professional, all billed monthly, comes to about 4 x $249 + $699 = $1,695 before any sales tax. The exact figure depends on when in the billing period you upgrade.
Buy the report if you will look at one business. Buy the platform if you will look at a pipeline.
When it is right for you
- You are screening more than one business, and you want each kill recorded with a reason.
- You will take a deal to a lender and want the coverage ratio built from the same locked earnings as your valuation. That is Professional, for the months you need it.
- You have a partner or investors who expect a memo. That is Professional too.
Walk into any engagement knowing the number
Your own QoE tells you what to expect from an outside engagement before you pay for it, and on a pipeline it shows you which deal earns one. If you are screening more than one business, join the waitlist for the trial.
- You are weighing several targets. Rebuild the earnings on each, and commission the outside QoE on the one that survives.
- Your lender wants a CPA-signed QoE. Buy the one your lender names, and arrive with your own bridge already built and locked.
- You have no live deal yet. The trial is for first-time subscribers, so start it the day the CIM arrives.
Objections, answered
"I am on a budget."
Solo on the annual commitment sits inside the observed software budgets above, and month to month you pay only while a deal is live.
"What happens to my work between deals?"
Solo holds up to 3 deals at once. Delete a dead one to free its slot; deleting removes its documents, so run the Decision Export first. If you cancel, you keep access to the end of the period, so export before it ends. For 60 days after that, an export of your data is available on request, and deletion follows within 90 days after that window.
FAQ
Does Solo include the DSCR model?
No. Financing and DSCR, revenue durability and the investment memo start at Professional.
Is the valuation a certified valuation?
No. It is a calculation by three methods. If your lender or the purchase agreement requires a certified valuation, you still need one.
Which plan, and why
| Plan | When it fits a self-funded searcher | Seats | Deals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | Screening and the earnings work: QoE, normalized statements, working capital and the three-method valuation. | 1 | Up to 3 |
| Professional | The months a deal goes to a lender or a partner: Financing and DSCR, the credit memo, revenue durability and the investment memo. | 5 | Up to 25 |
Compare plans on Pricing.
Join the waitlist for the 14-day trial.
When sign-up opens, start it the day the CIM arrives, and cancel in one click if the deal dies.