When Good Books Aren’t Good Enough

83% of sellers have never been through due diligence. Guess what buyers exploit first? I sat across from a founder last month. Seven-figure revenue. Solid margins. Real growth. He'd been running the company for 12 years and figured his books were "good enough." Then the LOI came in. Within two weeks of diligence, the buyer's team flagged 14 issues. Revenue recognition inconsistencies. No backup for half the expenses. Personal and business accounts mixed. Every red flag became a negotiation chip. The original offer? 4.2x EBITDA. The revised offer after QoE? 2.9x. He lost $1.3M in enterprise value because his books weren't ready. The brutal truth: buyers don't penalize what they see. They penalize what they can't verify. Clean books aren't just compliance. They're your negotiating power. If you're even thinking about an exit, start now. Get a QoE before the buyer does. Because the cost of unready books isn't fixing them later. It's the deal you'll never get back.