When a buyer is trying to understand what they’re actually paying for, reported earnings rarely tell the whole story. A quality of earnings (QoE) analysis is how acquirers examine whether a company’s profitability is real, repeatable, and likely to hold up after close. Sellers typically lead with EBITDA, and for good reason: it’s the most common valuation anchor in valuations. But reported EBITDA can mask one-time items, owner-specific expenses, customer retention issues or accounting treatments that will change under new ownership and more stringent reporting requirements. The QoE normalizes those figures to reveal what the business actually earns. redacted