I take the work you’re not allowed to take.
For accountants, transaction lawyers and lenders whose clients are heading toward a sale, a transition or a raise.
Firms that do assurance work are restricted in what they may do for a client whose books they audit or review. Those restrictions exist for good reasons and good firms hold to them carefully. The result is that a partner can have a client heading into a transaction and be unable to take the work that client needs most.
That is the work I take.
I get an owner’s numbers and records ready for the other side of the table, well before the business goes to market. Normalised earnings. The working capital the business actually needs, month by month, so the closing adjustment is a calculation rather than an argument. What the revenue is actually attached to. Whether the buy-sell clause has any money behind it. And a written list of what is missing, what it costs to fix, and how long it takes.
I do no assurance work, so there is no conflict with anyone’s auditor. I do not provide opinions of value — that is a Chartered Business Valuator’s work, and I will tell a client when they need one.
Who this is for
Accountants whose independence rules block the pre-sale work, or whose practice does not do it.
Transaction lawyers with a client who needs the numbers to survive a buyer’s reading before the process starts.
Commercial and ABL lenders who can see from the balance sheet that an owner is approaching a transition.
How it works between us
Your client engages me directly. You keep your relationship and your mandate; I carry the numbers.
No referral fee is paid or accepted in either direction. Any compensation arrangement anywhere in a file is disclosed in writing to the owner and to any board involved.
The honest part
I take on a small number of files at a time, because the work is senior and I do it myself. If a file is not one I can help with, I will say so quickly rather than take it on and find out later.