I don't care if your lawyer calls it "aggressive negotiation." I don't care if your broker says "everyone does it." You're telling me you don't know the difference between taking home $1M vs $800k? That's $200,000. Not a rounding error. Not a "misunderstanding." I see this weekly. Sellers claiming numbers they know are BS, hoping buyers won't dig deep enough. Then acting shocked when caught. "Oh, we included that one-time contract." "We projected Q4 would be strong." "Our bookkeeper made an error." Stop. You know what you take home. Every business owner does. Here's what kills me: The same people defending this would fire an employee for lying about their sales numbers by 20%. But when it's time to sell? Suddenly it's "just business." No. It's fraud. And it's why 50% of my QoEs find material issues. Where do you draw the line? 20%? 30%? 50%? Or are you one of those "buyer beware" people who thinks lying is fine as long as you don't get caught?