Exit readiness, two to five years out
Be ready for a buyer's diligence before you take the call.
Your books are fine for taxes. A buyer's diligence team asks different questions. We get the reporting, the add-backs and the data room ready while you still have time to fix what they would find.
Where owners usually are
- A broker called. You told them maybe in a few years.
- Your CPA files on time, but the monthly numbers are a week late.
- Half the add-backs live in your head, not in a file.
Or call (316) 555-0179. Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:30 pm.
How it runs
Assess, fix, then keep it ready.
- 01
The readiness assessment
Twelve diligence items scored against your current books, with a written plan. Fixed fee.
- 02
The fix list
Close, reporting, add-backs and contracts, worked through month by month, most valuable first.
- 03
Ready and current
Monthly reporting a buyer can test and a data room kept up to date until you decide.
The checklist
Twelve things a buyer's team checks.
- Monthly close on time for at least 24 months
- Revenue recognised the same way every month
- Gross margin by product line or customer
- Customer concentration shown and explained
- Add-backs listed, each with support
- Owner compensation separated and documented
- Working capital trend for 24 months
- Inventory counted and reconciled
- Debt, leases and guarantees scheduled
- Key contracts and their change-of-control terms
- A forecast a buyer can test against actuals
- A data room indexed and current
The timeline
What happens at 24, 12 and 6 months out.
- 24 months
Fix the close and the reporting
Two years of clean monthly statements is what most buyers want to see. The clock starts when the close is right.
- 12 months
Document the add-backs and margins
Each adjustment written up with its support, margins split the way a buyer will split them.
- 6 months
Build the data room
Financials, contracts, debt and the forecast, indexed. Your advisers and broker work from it.
What we are not
Clear lines, early.
“Will you tell us what the business is worth?”
No. We do not give valuations. We prepare the numbers that a valuation firm, a broker or a buyer will rely on.
“Will you find us a buyer?”
No. We are not brokers and take no success fee. We work alongside the broker, banker, CPA and attorney you choose.
The detail
Diligence, from the other side of the table.
Lena has sat through diligence twice as a finance director. She knows which questions slow a deal down and which missing schedule makes a buyer lower an offer.
Most exit work runs alongside CFO Embedded, because the reporting has to be right every month, not only at the end. If the close is the first problem, it starts with a fractional controller.
Who leads it
Lena LindqvistFounding Partner, Fractional CFOLena leads every readiness assessment and stays on through the sale process.
Where we work
Old Town first, then the whole metro.
We work from 317 N Rock Island St, Suite 210, Wichita, KS 67202, on the second floor of a restored brick warehouse. The first meeting is at your shop, your yard or your office, anywhere in the Wichita metro.
- Old Town
- Delano
- College Hill
- East Wichita
- Derby
- Andover
- Maize
- Haysville
- Park City
- Bel Aire
- Goddard
- Newton
- El Dorado
- Kansas, by video
Q01When should exit planning start?
Two to five years before a sale. Buyers usually want two years of clean monthly reporting, and that clock only starts once the close is right.
Q02What does the readiness assessment cost?
From $7,500 as a fixed fee. It scores the twelve diligence items and gives you a written plan. See pricing.
Q03Is this a quality of earnings report?
No. A quality of earnings report is usually commissioned by a buyer or prepared by an accounting firm during a deal. We get your books ready so that report holds no surprises.
Q04Do you work with our broker and CPA?
Yes. We work alongside them and keep the data room they use.
Q05What if we decide not to sell?
Then you have better monthly reporting and a business that is easier to run and to borrow against. Nothing is wasted.
Next step
Have the data room built before the buyer asks.
The 13-week cash review is a fixed $1,950: your bank data in, a working model and your runway number out, reviewed with a partner in a two-hour session. Three details in the form, or one call.