Straight Answers

No spin. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll tell you.

Do I have to sign up for an ongoing engagement?

No. Most people start with a single, fixed-fee deal service, a Quality of Earnings, a readiness review, or a financial model. If it makes sense to keep us on afterward as your CFO and operating partner, we can. It is never required.

Are you independent?

Yes. On a deal we work for you and only you, and we do not stay on unless you ask us to. On sell-side work we never take the listing, and we hand the client back to their advisor. Our read only helps if it is honest, so we show the add-backs we reject.

What will it cost?

Deal services are fixed-fee, scoped to the work, with one number quoted up front after a short call. No public rate card, no meter running. Embedded work is a monthly engagement. Book a call and we send a scoped number, usually within one business day.

How long does a Quality of Earnings take?

A focused sell-side review is typically about three weeks from the last critical item on our request list. Larger scopes run longer. We reply to every inquiry within one business day.

What size businesses do you work with?

For deal services, lower-middle-market and Main Street Indiana deals, roughly $500K to $3M EBITDA (up to about $30M in revenue). For embedded work, established owners roughly $3M to $30M in revenue. It is our sweet spot, not a hard limit; if you are near the edges, ask.

Isn’t this my CPA’s or my broker’s job?

Different jobs. Your CPA reports the past. Your broker runs the sale. We prove and build the value in between, and we work alongside both. We are not brokers or investment bankers, and we do not compete for their fee.

Do you take equity?

Sometimes, and only where it fits and you want it. On embedded engagements we can align through equity or value-based pricing: a retainer for the work and a share of the value we create, so we win when you do. It is never required to work with us.

Advisory or Embedded, what is the difference?

Advisory is senior judgment on a regular cadence, experienced eyes on the big calls. Embedded is both partners in the seats doing the work with your team. Embedded is the flagship, for when the business runs through you and needs operators in the building.

Who is this not for?

Pre-revenue startups, and owners who just want bookkeeping or steady-state back-office help. To be clear, an established, revenue-generating business raising capital to grow is very much a fit. By “startup” we mean pre-revenue and unproven, not a real business that is growing. If you are not sure, ask, and if we are not the right fit we will point you somewhere better.