When a prospective buyer is making an effort to find out whether or not they’re going to buy a particular business for sale, there are a variety of buy business factors to carefully consider. When prospects arise, quite apart from the question of suitability, location and longevity, the issue of real-world business valuation is front and center. At this point, the seller will provide financial documentation – and it is, of course, very much in their best interests to present their business for sale in a “glowing” light. Therefore, the issue of “add backs” will in all likelihood represent one of the most difficult problems to deal with.

In most instances, add backs are included in an effort to present the business from a real world point of view. As a set of rigid principles must be adhered to when compiling traditional accounting reports, there may well be additional footnotes to consider and these can be either negative or positive depending on your perspective. When you’re thinking about buying a business, it’s crucial that you carefully scrutinize each and every add back, as they can often make a significant difference in your final valuation figure.

When conducting a process of due diligence, it can be a fairly straightforward procedure to check recorded sales and purchases against ledgers and against reconciled bank accounts. Very often however the outgoing owner will be keen to draw your attention to items which may be “one-off” or to additional income which may not necessarily appear on the books at all. Of course, it’s always prudent to remain open to all suggestions, but you should nevertheless maintain a certain degree of skepticism at all times, until such point as you’re able to validate – or invalidate, their claims.

Don’t forget that for an item to be claimed as a “one off,” it must not have occurred during any of the previous years. Seller could argue that a particular expense is much larger than it should be due to a particular incident or requirement, but if you see a pattern of any kind, then the add back must be discounted.

One of the most common add backs, especially when the business can be owner operated, is to suggest the value of a manager’s salary. You need to establish that the outgoing owner was not actively involved in the operation of the business in this case and this figure is only of interest to you if you intend to assume the role of the redundant manager.

Add backs may not be asserted whenever they represent intangibles, such as the prospect of additional revenues due to a new marketing initiative that the outgoing owner has just put in place, for example. Nor should you believe an owner claim that you can reduce a certain category of expenses through renegotiation or other initiatives. After all, if the outgoing owner has not being able to do so to this point it seems reasonable to assume that an incoming “newbie” is likely to have even less ability to affect short-term change in this regard.

Be particularly wary when you are told that a business retains a lot of cash sales. You must essentially discount this notion from a strict valuation perspective, even though such a claim made, after review, may be seen as reasonable. If the owner has not entered the cash sales on the books, he or she will not have accounted for taxes correctly and it’s not fair for them to expect to receive a double benefit in this way, a net tax saving and enhanced business value.

When you have reviewed the complete list of business financials, treat each claim for add back on an individual case basis and never roll them into an inflated value. At this stage you must be particularly diligent to enable you to arrive at a real world price for this prospect.

Richard Parker is the author of the How to Buy a Good Business at a Great Price series. As President and founder of Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center, his materials, seminars and consulting have helped thousands of business buyers realize their dream to buy a business.

When a prospective buyer is making an effort to find out whether or not they’re going to buy a particular business for sale, there are a variety of buy business factors to carefully consider. When a prospect appears, besides the usual points dealing with location, suitability and longevity, the question of an accurate real-world business valuation should always be your primary objective. The seller will present a series of financial documents and it is, of course, in their best interests to portray the business for sale in a shining light. As such, the issue of “add backs” is likely to represent one of the thorniest problems.

In most instances, add backs are included in an effort to present the business from a real world point of view. When compiling traditional accounting reports, it’s essential to adhere to a set of very rigid standards – there may also be additional footnotes to consider, and depending on your point of view, these can be either positive or negative. When you’re thinking about buying a business, it’s crucial that you carefully scrutinize each and every add back, as they can often make a significant difference in your final valuation figure.

When performing the process of due diligence, checking recorded sales and purchases against ledgers and reconciled bank accounts is usually a fairly straightforward task. Far more often than you might think however, the current owner will strive to draw your attention to points which may be “one-time” instances, or to extra income which might not actually appear anywhere in the books at all. You should be open to all suggestions of course but maintain a degree of skepticism at all times until you are able to validate the claims, or otherwise.

Remember that for an item to be claimed as “one time,” it must not have appeared during preceding years. Seller could argue that a particular expense is much larger than it should be due to a particular incident or requirement, but if you see a pattern of any kind, then the add back must be discounted.

One of the most common add backs, especially when the business can be owner operated, is to suggest the value of a manager’s salary. You need to establish that the outgoing owner was not actively involved in the operation of the business in this case and this figure is only of interest to you if you intend to assume the role of the redundant manager.

Add backs may not be asserted whenever they represent intangibles, such as the prospect of additional revenues due to a new marketing initiative that the outgoing owner has just put in place, for example. Nor should you believe an owner claim that you can reduce a certain category of expenses through renegotiation or other initiatives. After all, if the outgoing owner has not being able to do so to this point it seems reasonable to assume that an incoming “newbie” is likely to have even less ability to affect short-term change in this regard.

Be particularly wary when you are told that a business retains a lot of cash sales. You must essentially discount this notion from a strict valuation perspective, even though such a claim made, after review, may be seen as reasonable. If the owner has not entered the cash sales on the books, he or she will not have accounted for taxes correctly and it’s not fair for them to expect to receive a double benefit in this way, a net tax saving and enhanced business value.

When you have reviewed the complete list of business financials, treat each claim for add back on an individual case basis and never roll them into an inflated value. At this stage you must be particularly diligent to enable you to arrive at a real world price for this prospect.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the prestigious Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His celebrated materials, seminars and consulting have encouraged thousands of aspiring business buyers from around the World to pursue their dream to buy a business.

A liquor store for sale can be one of the most attractive prospects for those who are seeking to enter the world of entrepreneurialism. Traditionally they are seen as purveyors of “essentials,” with good turnover and reasonable margins. However, considering a liquor store valuation can be quite a difficult proposition. The entire industry is somewhat reliant on antiquated barometers and the owner may be seeking to offer you the business based on traditions rather than real world elements.

Due to these traditions, the industry has a somewhat veiled view of measures used to assess actual, individual business values. No two liquor stores are the same, as they have different footprints, different specialities, the existence or absence of certain subsidiary products which can represent substantial values in themselves, etc. Always remember that you need to focus on the claim of profits and not by reference to given percentages or to the fact that the business may have solid sales, but sales in and of itself means nothing.

While you can certainly go over the percentages which are provided to you and use them to clarify any abnormalities which come up, the most useful method of business valuation, liquor store experts all agree, is specifically based on cash flow or owner benefits. Often they will refer to a figure which represents a “multiple,” and this multiple can be three, four or five times. So, what exactly does this particular multiple refer to?

Across the board, the most commonly utilized figure represents the owner benefits. This refers to the money that you will have left after you have taken all expenses into account and essentially represents the funds you will use to service the debt, pay yourself accordingly and to build the business. When looking at the books your owner benefit is defined as net income added to the owner salary, perks, depreciation and interest less capital expense allocation. The latter element refers to any major alteration or investment you will need to make in the foreseeable future, by installing updated computer systems or redecoration, as examples. Always be sure that any “add backs” are appropriate and reasonable.

As you are going to buy liquor store business at a premium, in relation to the “multiple” attached to the value, you must of course be sure that it is being sold as an ongoing concern. This claim is particularly appropriate when it comes to the inventory of the business. Make sure that you buy this inventory at terms which are realistic to you. Often, buyers will seek to remove the cost of the inventory from the valuation and add it on separately. It should always be treated as an integral part of the valuation and not used to inflate the seller’s position. Typically an inventory is turned over by a liquor business between eight and 10 times per year and you should ensure that your particular stock does not include a large element of items which may be unsalable or seasonable.

Be wary of an owner who claims a large amount of cash sales, as if they cannot prove it, you should never pay for it. In other words, they should not benefit twice – first when they fool the tax department and secondly from an inflated business sale value.

Remember that you must have a good conversation with the leaseholder or management company, assuming that the business occupies a rented space as is most common. Understand before you go any further what you would need to do to assume the lease or to qualify for a new one.

A word on owner financing, which may be offered. Generally speaking, you may add the value of between 30 and 50% of the amount financed by the seller and consider that to be a premium to the stated business value, versus an all cash transaction.

Be on the lookout during times when you meet with the owner, visit the premises or otherwise conduct your due diligence. Consider the number of patrons that you see going in and out of the store and use this as a benchmark, bearing in mind the time of day of your observation. Do you see many family members of the owner working there or watch the owner working excessive hours? Ask yourself whether you want to replicate the situation and how you can truly arrive at a value for the work input by the family members, especially if they are being paid off the books.

When considering how to value a liquor store, remember that valuation is an art not a science!

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His inspiring materials, seminars and consulting have assisted thousands of business buyers with achieving their life long dream to buy a business.

When a prospective buyer is trying to establish whether he or she will purchase a particular business for sale, there are many buy business elements to take into consideration. When prospects arise, quite apart from the question of suitability, location and longevity, the issue of real-world business valuation is front and center. At this point, the seller will provide financial documentation – and it is, of course, very much in their best interests to present their business for sale in a “glowing” light. As such, the issue of “add backs” is likely to represent one of the thorniest problems.

In most instances, add backs are included in an effort to present the business from a real world point of view. As a set of rigid principles must be adhered to when compiling traditional accounting reports, there may well be additional footnotes to consider and these can be either negative or positive depending on your perspective. When you’re thinking about buying a business, it’s crucial that you carefully scrutinize each and every add back, as they can often make a significant difference in your final valuation figure.

When performing the process of due diligence, checking recorded sales and purchases against ledgers and reconciled bank accounts is usually a fairly straightforward task. Far more often than you might think however, the current owner will strive to draw your attention to points which may be “one-time” instances, or to extra income which might not actually appear anywhere in the books at all. Of course, it’s always prudent to remain open to all suggestions, but you should nevertheless maintain a certain degree of skepticism at all times, until such point as you’re able to validate – or invalidate, their claims.

Remember that for an item to be claimed as “one time,” it must not have appeared during preceding years. Seller could argue that a particular expense is much larger than it should be due to a particular incident or requirement, but if you see a pattern of any kind, then the add back must be discounted.

One of the most common add backs, especially when the business can be owner operated, is to suggest the value of a manager’s salary. You need to establish that the outgoing owner was not actively involved in the operation of the business in this case and this figure is only of interest to you if you intend to assume the role of the redundant manager.

Add backs may not be asserted whenever they represent intangibles, such as the prospect of additional revenues due to a new marketing initiative that the outgoing owner has just put in place, for example. Nor should you believe an owner claim that you can reduce a certain category of expenses through renegotiation or other initiatives. After all, if the outgoing owner has not being able to do so to this point it seems reasonable to assume that an incoming “newbie” is likely to have even less ability to affect short-term change in this regard.

Be particularly wary when you are told that a business retains a lot of cash sales. You must essentially discount this notion from a strict valuation perspective, even though such a claim made, after review, may be seen as reasonable. If the owner has not entered the cash sales on the books, he or she will not have accounted for taxes correctly and it’s not fair for them to expect to receive a double benefit in this way, a net tax saving and enhanced business value.

When you have reviewed the complete list of business financials, treat each claim for add back on an individual case basis and never roll them into an inflated value. At this stage you must be particularly diligent to enable you to arrive at a real world price for this prospect.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the prestigious Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His celebrated materials, seminars and consulting have encouraged thousands of aspiring business buyers from around the World to pursue their dream to buy a business.

A liquor store for sale can be an extraordinary opportunity for someone who is intending to enter the highly competitive arena of entrepreneurialism. Traditionally they are seen as purveyors of “essentials,” with good turnover and reasonable margins. However, considering a liquor store valuation can be quite a difficult proposition. The whole industry has become overly reliant on out-of-date barometers, and more often than you might expect, an owner will try to sell you their business based on long-standing traditions instead of actual “real world” elements.

As such, because of those traditions, the industry retains a somewhat veiled view of strategies utilized to assess actual, individual business values. When it comes to liquor stores, no two are identical, as they have different locations, specialities, and the absence or existence of certain subsidiary products which could easily represent significant values in themselves, etc. Always remember that you need to focus on the claim of profits and not by reference to given percentages or to the fact that the business may have solid sales, but sales in and of itself means nothing.

While you can of course review percentages given to you and use them to interpret any abnormalities accordingly, the best method of business valuation, liquor store experts all agree, is based on cash flow or owner benefits. Often they will refer to a figure which represents a “multiple,” and this multiple can be three, four or five times. So, what exactly does this particular multiple refer to?

Across the board, the most commonly utilized figure represents the owner benefits. This refers to the money that you will have left after you have taken all expenses into account and essentially represents the funds you will use to service the debt, pay yourself accordingly and to build the business. When looking at the books your owner benefit is defined as net income added to the owner salary, perks, depreciation and interest less capital expense allocation. The latter element refers to any major alteration or investment you will need to make in the foreseeable future, by installing updated computer systems or redecoration, as examples. Always be sure that any “add backs” are appropriate and reasonable.

As you are going to buy liquor store business at a premium, in relation to the “multiple” attached to the value, you must of course be sure that it is being sold as an ongoing concern. This claim is particularly appropriate when it comes to the inventory of the business. Make sure that you buy this inventory at terms which are realistic to you. Often, buyers will seek to remove the cost of the inventory from the valuation and add it on separately. It should always be treated as an integral part of the valuation and not used to inflate the seller’s position. Typically an inventory is turned over by a liquor business between eight and 10 times per year and you should ensure that your particular stock does not include a large element of items which may be unsalable or seasonable.

Be wary of an owner who claims a large amount of cash sales, as if they cannot prove it, you should never pay for it. In other words, they should not benefit twice – first when they fool the tax department and secondly from an inflated business sale value.

Remember that you must have a good conversation with the leaseholder or management company, assuming that the business occupies a rented space as is most common. Understand before you go any further what you would need to do to assume the lease or to qualify for a new one.

A word on owner financing, which may be offered. Generally speaking, you may add the value of between 30 and 50% of the amount financed by the seller and consider that to be a premium to the stated business value, versus an all cash transaction.

Be on the lookout during times when you meet with the owner, visit the premises or otherwise conduct your due diligence. Consider the number of patrons that you see going in and out of the store and use this as a benchmark, bearing in mind the time of day of your observation. Do you see many family members of the owner working there or watch the owner working excessive hours? Ask yourself whether you want to replicate the situation and how you can truly arrive at a value for the work input by the family members, especially if they are being paid off the books.

When considering how to value a liquor store, remember that valuation is an art not a science!

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the prestigious Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His celebrated materials, seminars and consulting have encouraged thousands of aspiring business buyers from around the World to pursue their dream to buy a business.

A liquor store for sale can be an extraordinary opportunity for someone who is intending to enter the highly competitive arena of entrepreneurialism. Traditionally, liquor stores have been viewed as providers of “essentials,” with excellent turnover and fair margins. However, considering a liquor store valuation can be quite a difficult proposition. The entire industry is somewhat reliant on antiquated barometers and the owner may be seeking to offer you the business based on traditions rather than real world elements.

As such, because of those traditions, the industry retains a somewhat veiled view of strategies utilized to assess actual, individual business values. No two liquor stores are the same, as they have different footprints, different specialities, the existence or absence of certain subsidiary products which can represent substantial values in themselves, etc. Always remember that you need to focus on the claim of profits and not by reference to given percentages or to the fact that the business may have solid sales, but sales in and of itself means nothing.

While you can of course review percentages given to you and use them to interpret any abnormalities accordingly, the best method of business valuation, liquor store experts all agree, is based on cash flow or owner benefits. Often times, these individuals will refer to a figure which represents a “multiple,” and this multiple could easily be three, four or five times. What does the multiple refer to?

Across the board, the most commonly utilized figure represents the owner benefits. This refers to the money that you will have left after you have taken all expenses into account and essentially represents the funds you will use to service the debt, pay yourself accordingly and to build the business. When looking at the books your owner benefit is defined as net income added to the owner salary, perks, depreciation and interest less capital expense allocation. The latter element refers to any major alteration or investment you will need to make in the foreseeable future, by installing updated computer systems or redecoration, as examples. Always be sure that any “add backs” are appropriate and reasonable.

As you are going to buy liquor store business at a premium, in relation to the “multiple” attached to the value, you must of course be sure that it is being sold as an ongoing concern. This claim is particularly appropriate when it comes to the inventory of the business. Make sure that you buy this inventory at terms which are realistic to you. Often, buyers will seek to remove the cost of the inventory from the valuation and add it on separately. It should always be treated as an integral part of the valuation and not used to inflate the seller’s position. Typically an inventory is turned over by a liquor business between eight and 10 times per year and you should ensure that your particular stock does not include a large element of items which may be unsalable or seasonable.

Be wary of an owner who claims a large amount of cash sales, as if they cannot prove it, you should never pay for it. In other words, they should not benefit twice – first when they fool the tax department and secondly from an inflated business sale value.

Remember that you must have a good conversation with the leaseholder or management company, assuming that the business occupies a rented space as is most common. Understand before you go any further what you would need to do to assume the lease or to qualify for a new one.

A word on owner financing, which may be offered. Generally speaking, you may add the value of between 30 and 50% of the amount financed by the seller and consider that to be a premium to the stated business value, versus an all cash transaction.

Be on the lookout during times when you meet with the owner, visit the premises or otherwise conduct your due diligence. Consider the number of patrons that you see going in and out of the store and use this as a benchmark, bearing in mind the time of day of your observation. Do you see many family members of the owner working there or watch the owner working excessive hours? Ask yourself whether you want to replicate the situation and how you can truly arrive at a value for the work input by the family members, especially if they are being paid off the books.

When considering how to value a liquor store, remember that valuation is an art not a science!

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His inspiring materials, seminars and consulting have assisted thousands of business buyers with achieving their life long dream to buy a business.

When a prospective buyer is making an effort to find out whether or not they’re going to buy a particular business for sale, there are a variety of buy business factors to carefully consider. When a prospect appears, besides the usual points dealing with location, suitability and longevity, the question of an accurate real-world business valuation should always be your primary objective. At this point, the seller will provide financial documentation – and it is, of course, very much in their best interests to present their business for sale in a “glowing” light. Therefore, the issue of “add backs” will in all likelihood represent one of the most difficult problems to deal with.

In a majority of cases, add backs are included to try and present the operation from a real world perspective. As a set of rigid principles must be adhered to when compiling traditional accounting reports, there may well be additional footnotes to consider and these can be either negative or positive depending on your perspective. When you’re thinking about buying a business, it’s crucial that you carefully scrutinize each and every add back, as they can often make a significant difference in your final valuation figure.

When conducting a process of due diligence, it can be a fairly straightforward procedure to check recorded sales and purchases against ledgers and against reconciled bank accounts. Far more often than you might think however, the current owner will strive to draw your attention to points which may be “one-time” instances, or to extra income which might not actually appear anywhere in the books at all. Of course, it’s always prudent to remain open to all suggestions, but you should nevertheless maintain a certain degree of skepticism at all times, until such point as you’re able to validate – or invalidate, their claims.

Don’t forget that for an item to be claimed as a “one off,” it must not have occurred during any of the previous years. Seller could argue that a particular expense is much larger than it should be due to a particular incident or requirement, but if you see a pattern of any kind, then the add back must be discounted.

One of the most common add backs, especially when the business can be owner operated, is to suggest the value of a manager’s salary. You need to establish that the outgoing owner was not actively involved in the operation of the business in this case and this figure is only of interest to you if you intend to assume the role of the redundant manager.

Add backs may not be asserted whenever they represent intangibles, such as the prospect of additional revenues due to a new marketing initiative that the outgoing owner has just put in place, for example. Nor should you believe an owner claim that you can reduce a certain category of expenses through renegotiation or other initiatives. After all, if the outgoing owner has not being able to do so to this point it seems reasonable to assume that an incoming “newbie” is likely to have even less ability to affect short-term change in this regard.

Be particularly wary when you are told that a business retains a lot of cash sales. You must essentially discount this notion from a strict valuation perspective, even though such a claim made, after review, may be seen as reasonable. If the owner has not entered the cash sales on the books, he or she will not have accounted for taxes correctly and it’s not fair for them to expect to receive a double benefit in this way, a net tax saving and enhanced business value.

When you have reviewed the complete list of business financials, treat each claim for add back on an individual case basis and never roll them into an inflated value. At this stage you must be particularly diligent to enable you to arrive at a real world price for this prospect.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the prestigious Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His celebrated materials, seminars and consulting have encouraged thousands of aspiring business buyers from around the World to pursue their dream to buy a business.

When a prospective buyer is making an effort to find out whether or not they’re going to buy a particular business for sale, there are a variety of buy business factors to carefully consider. When prospects arise, quite apart from the question of suitability, location and longevity, the issue of real-world business valuation is front and center. At this point, the seller will provide financial documentation – and it is, of course, very much in their best interests to present their business for sale in a “glowing” light. As such, the issue of “add backs” is likely to represent one of the thorniest problems.

In a majority of cases, add backs are included to try and present the operation from a real world perspective. As a set of rigid principles must be adhered to when compiling traditional accounting reports, there may well be additional footnotes to consider and these can be either negative or positive depending on your perspective. It is very important when you buy a business to scrutinize each add back as they can often make a considerable difference to your valuation.

When performing the process of due diligence, checking recorded sales and purchases against ledgers and reconciled bank accounts is usually a fairly straightforward task. Far more often than you might think however, the current owner will strive to draw your attention to points which may be “one-time” instances, or to extra income which might not actually appear anywhere in the books at all. You should be open to all suggestions of course but maintain a degree of skepticism at all times until you are able to validate the claims, or otherwise.

Remember that for an item to be claimed as “one time,” it must not have appeared during preceding years. Seller could argue that a particular expense is much larger than it should be due to a particular incident or requirement, but if you see a pattern of any kind, then the add back must be discounted.

One of the most common add backs, especially when the business can be owner operated, is to suggest the value of a manager’s salary. You need to establish that the outgoing owner was not actively involved in the operation of the business in this case and this figure is only of interest to you if you intend to assume the role of the redundant manager.

Add backs may not be asserted whenever they represent intangibles, such as the prospect of additional revenues due to a new marketing initiative that the outgoing owner has just put in place, for example. Nor should you believe an owner claim that you can reduce a certain category of expenses through renegotiation or other initiatives. After all, if the outgoing owner has not being able to do so to this point it seems reasonable to assume that an incoming “newbie” is likely to have even less ability to affect short-term change in this regard.

Be particularly wary when you are told that a business retains a lot of cash sales. You must essentially discount this notion from a strict valuation perspective, even though such a claim made, after review, may be seen as reasonable. If the owner has not entered the cash sales on the books, he or she will not have accounted for taxes correctly and it’s not fair for them to expect to receive a double benefit in this way, a net tax saving and enhanced business value.

When you have reviewed the complete list of business financials, treat each claim for add back on an individual case basis and never roll them into an inflated value. At this stage you must be particularly diligent to enable you to arrive at a real world price for this prospect.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His inspiring materials, seminars and consulting have assisted thousands of business buyers with achieving their life long dream to buy a business.

When a prospective buyer is trying to establish whether he or she will purchase a particular business for sale, there are many buy business elements to take into consideration. When prospects arise, quite apart from the question of suitability, location and longevity, the issue of real-world business valuation is front and center. The seller will present a series of financial documents and it is, of course, in their best interests to portray the business for sale in a shining light. As such, the issue of “add backs” is likely to represent one of the thorniest problems.

In a majority of cases, add backs are included to try and present the operation from a real world perspective. As a set of rigid principles must be adhered to when compiling traditional accounting reports, there may well be additional footnotes to consider and these can be either negative or positive depending on your perspective. When you’re thinking about buying a business, it’s crucial that you carefully scrutinize each and every add back, as they can often make a significant difference in your final valuation figure.

When performing the process of due diligence, checking recorded sales and purchases against ledgers and reconciled bank accounts is usually a fairly straightforward task. Far more often than you might think however, the current owner will strive to draw your attention to points which may be “one-time” instances, or to extra income which might not actually appear anywhere in the books at all. You should be open to all suggestions of course but maintain a degree of skepticism at all times until you are able to validate the claims, or otherwise.

Don’t forget that for an item to be claimed as a “one off,” it must not have occurred during any of the previous years. Seller could argue that a particular expense is much larger than it should be due to a particular incident or requirement, but if you see a pattern of any kind, then the add back must be discounted.

One of the most common add backs, especially when the business can be owner operated, is to suggest the value of a manager’s salary. You need to establish that the outgoing owner was not actively involved in the operation of the business in this case and this figure is only of interest to you if you intend to assume the role of the redundant manager.

Add backs may not be asserted whenever they represent intangibles, such as the prospect of additional revenues due to a new marketing initiative that the outgoing owner has just put in place, for example. Nor should you believe an owner claim that you can reduce a certain category of expenses through renegotiation or other initiatives. After all, if the outgoing owner has not being able to do so to this point it seems reasonable to assume that an incoming “newbie” is likely to have even less ability to affect short-term change in this regard.

Be particularly wary when you are told that a business retains a lot of cash sales. You must essentially discount this notion from a strict valuation perspective, even though such a claim made, after review, may be seen as reasonable. If the owner has not entered the cash sales on the books, he or she will not have accounted for taxes correctly and it’s not fair for them to expect to receive a double benefit in this way, a net tax saving and enhanced business value.

When you have reviewed the complete list of business financials, treat each claim for add back on an individual case basis and never roll them into an inflated value. At this stage you must be particularly diligent to enable you to arrive at a real world price for this prospect.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His inspiring materials, seminars and consulting have assisted thousands of business buyers with achieving their life long dream to buy a business.

When a prospective buyer is trying to establish whether he or she will purchase a particular business for sale, there are many buy business elements to take into consideration. When prospects arise, quite apart from the question of suitability, location and longevity, the issue of real-world business valuation is front and center. The seller will present a series of financial documents and it is, of course, in their best interests to portray the business for sale in a shining light. Therefore, the issue of “add backs” will in all likelihood represent one of the most difficult problems to deal with.

In a majority of cases, add backs are included to try and present the operation from a real world perspective. As a set of rigid principles must be adhered to when compiling traditional accounting reports, there may well be additional footnotes to consider and these can be either negative or positive depending on your perspective. It is very important when you buy a business to scrutinize each add back as they can often make a considerable difference to your valuation.

When conducting a process of due diligence, it can be a fairly straightforward procedure to check recorded sales and purchases against ledgers and against reconciled bank accounts. Very often however the outgoing owner will be keen to draw your attention to items which may be “one-off” or to additional income which may not necessarily appear on the books at all. Of course, it’s always prudent to remain open to all suggestions, but you should nevertheless maintain a certain degree of skepticism at all times, until such point as you’re able to validate – or invalidate, their claims.

Remember that for an item to be claimed as “one time,” it must not have appeared during preceding years. Seller could argue that a particular expense is much larger than it should be due to a particular incident or requirement, but if you see a pattern of any kind, then the add back must be discounted.

One of the most common add backs, especially when the business can be owner operated, is to suggest the value of a manager’s salary. You need to establish that the outgoing owner was not actively involved in the operation of the business in this case and this figure is only of interest to you if you intend to assume the role of the redundant manager.

Add backs may not be asserted whenever they represent intangibles, such as the prospect of additional revenues due to a new marketing initiative that the outgoing owner has just put in place, for example. Nor should you believe an owner claim that you can reduce a certain category of expenses through renegotiation or other initiatives. After all, if the outgoing owner has not being able to do so to this point it seems reasonable to assume that an incoming “newbie” is likely to have even less ability to affect short-term change in this regard.

Be particularly wary when you are told that a business retains a lot of cash sales. You must essentially discount this notion from a strict valuation perspective, even though such a claim made, after review, may be seen as reasonable. If the owner has not entered the cash sales on the books, he or she will not have accounted for taxes correctly and it’s not fair for them to expect to receive a double benefit in this way, a net tax saving and enhanced business value.

When you have reviewed the complete list of business financials, treat each claim for add back on an individual case basis and never roll them into an inflated value. At this stage you must be particularly diligent to enable you to arrive at a real world price for this prospect.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the prestigious Diomo Corporation – The Business Buyer Resource Center. His celebrated materials, seminars and consulting have encouraged thousands of aspiring business buyers from around the World to pursue their dream to buy a business.