Hi, I'm in the process of assessing the value of a software reseller but in a little bit of a dilemma.

The seller believes her company should be valued like a SaaS company. I am not aligned with this as she is not developing the software but merely reselling it making margin based on the discount received from the software company. In addition, it is not a pure SaaS model, i.e. does not generate a monthly recurring revenue but rather, she collects an upfront payment with annual maintenance that sits as deferred revenue in the BS.

Question: Can anyone point me to precedent transactions, valuation reports, or other sources that I can use to convince the seller otherwise?