M&A, exit, and diligence readiness
Be ready before the buyer asks.
Transactions move on their own timeline, and finance is often the part that has to catch up. Ignition's CFOs help owners, founders, and investors prepare the numbers, supporting materials, and process before diligence begins.
Talk to a CFO about transaction readinessPrepare the explanation
What a buyer’s team may ask
- What is included in these one-time items?
- Which expenses relate to the owner?
- Why did margin change in Q3?
- What do normalized earnings look like?
Recognize the situation
What it looks like.
- A transaction is moving faster than your finance team can keep up.
- You're thinking about selling or bringing in capital in the next year or two, and the finance function isn't sale-ready.
- A quality-of-earnings review or diligence requests are coming, and you're not sure what they will find.
- The reported numbers and the business's real performance tell different stories.
- Succession or ownership transition is on the horizon without a financial plan behind it.
Why it becomes urgent.
Once diligence starts, unexplained inconsistencies can mean more questions, delays, or renewed negotiations over price and terms. Preparing early gives you time to resolve issues and document the answers before the process is under way.
What usually causes it.
- Books built for tax and compliance, not for a buyer's scrutiny
- Adjustments, one-time items, and owner expenses that were never documented
- No clear view of normalized earnings or what actually drives value
- Finance leadership that has never been through a transaction
The work, in practical terms
How we approach it.
We review the financial information a buyer or investor will examine, resolve what can be resolved, and document what needs explaining. We work alongside your banker, attorney, and other advisors—not in place of them.
Review the books
Understand how reported earnings relate to the business’s performance.
Find the questions
Identify one-time items, owner expenses, and changes that need explaining.
Prepare the answers
Resolve issues where possible and organize supporting schedules and records.
Support diligence
Help your team respond to financial requests as the process moves forward.
Preparation, not a promised outcome
Give yourself time before the process starts.
- Before the processFind and resolve issues
Review the books, document adjustments, and gather the supporting records.
- During diligenceExplain and substantiate
Respond to requests and work through questions with your advisors.
- Toward closingSupport the decision
Keep financial information current as terms and the transaction progress.
Start with the decision in front of you
A sensible first step.
A confidential conversation about your timeline and what's in front of you. We'll tell you where we would focus first and what can realistically be ready by when.
Talk to a CFO about transaction readinessBefore we talk
Common questions.
We haven't decided to sell. Is it too early?
Usually the opposite. The most useful preparation happens well before a process starts, when there is time to fix issues rather than explain them.
We already have a banker and attorney. Where does a CFO fit?
Bankers and attorneys run the process and the terms. A CFO makes sure the financial foundation holds up under it.
Can you help on the buy side too?
Tell us what you're evaluating on the first call, and we'll say plainly whether it fits.
Tell us what is changing