Quality of Earnings Analysis: What You Need to Know Before Buying a Business

This week's podcast episode is likely to be especially relevant to this group of aspiring SMB buyers and CEOs, as it focuses entirely on the financial due diligence process that you're sure to engage in before consummating your own acquisition(s). My guest is Chris Hutchinson, a Partner in Ernst & Young's Transaction Advisory Services Group. Our discussion covers three primary topics, including:

- The Quality of Earnings Analysis: What is it, why it's important, how to save on professional fees, and common mistakes made by both buyers and sellers

- M&A in the Current Market Environment: Why SMB M&A is growing to become increasingly competitive, how buyers should think about 2020 company performance in light of COVID-19, and increasingly common seller add-backs to be wary of

- The Working Capital Adjustment: How to explain what it is and why it's necessary to a seller, how to define working capital, how to select a peg, and common mistakes made by both buyers and sellers

Link to the episode & show notes is below. Please enjoy!

Quality of Earnings Analysis: What You Need to Know Before Buying a Business