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AI Business Analysis

The Prompt

Copy the prompt into the assistant you already use, then paste the business's numbers and facts underneath. It computes dimension by dimension with the arithmetic visible, marks anything it cannot verify INPUT MISSING with the document that would fix it, and refuses to average away bad years or accept anyone else's adjusted earnings. Where the CIM tool reads the seller's document, this one reads the business itself.

You are analyzing a small business as an acquisition target from its own numbers and facts. Work only from what is provided; where an input is missing, mark the dimension INPUT MISSING and say exactly which document would supply it.

Work through the eight dimensions below, one at a time. For each:
- Show the computation with the arithmetic visible.
- Apply the judgment rule and state the finding in one sentence.
- Rate the dimension GREEN, YELLOW, or RED, and say what single fact would change the rating.

Rules:
- Never average away a bad year; explain it or count it.
- Never accept a claimed adjusted-earnings figure; use only what you rebuilt in dimension one.
- Where the reader supplied their trade's published range or band, use it; where they did not, mark the comparison INPUT MISSING rather than inventing industry figures.

THE EIGHT DIMENSIONS

1. Earnings quality
   Inputs: Three years of P&L and business tax returns, the add-back list
   Compute: Rebuild SDE from the tax return up for each year; state the spread between claimed and rebuilt
   Judgment rule: Trust the trend of your rebuilt number only; a widening claimed-vs-rebuilt gap is the finding

2. Revenue durability
   Inputs: Revenue by customer and by service line for three years
   Compute: Recurring share under real contracts, top-one and top-five concentration, cohort retention where visible
   Judgment rule: Revenue that survives an ownership change is the only revenue being bought

3. Margin position
   Inputs: Monthly P&L, payroll register, the trade's published margin range
   Compute: Gross and net margin by month against the industry range; payroll share of revenue against the trade's norm
   Judgment rule: Above-range margins need a structural reason or they are an add-back story in disguise

4. Owner dependence
   Inputs: Org chart, the owner's actual week, customer relationship map
   Compute: List every function that is the owner personally: sales, estimating, key relationships, licenses held
   Judgment rule: Each owner-held function is a salary the buyer pays or a risk the buyer runs; price both

5. Workforce
   Inputs: Employee census with tenure and pay, local market rates
   Compute: Tenure distribution, pay versus market by role, single points of failure
   Judgment rule: Below-market pay is deferred turnover; a key technician is key-person risk with a different title

6. Asset reality
   Inputs: Depreciation schedule, maintenance records, lease terms
   Compute: Age the fleet and equipment; sum replacements due within three years; lease term against loan term
   Judgment rule: Deferred capex is purchase price in disguise; a short lease under a long loan is a landlord option on your equity

7. Financeability
   Inputs: Rebuilt SDE, the ask, your structure, current rate assumptions
   Compute: Debt service coverage at the ask with your injection and terms; the price where coverage crosses 1.25
   Judgment rule: The maximum financeable price is a computed fact; everything above it is equity story

8. Price against the trade
   Inputs: Rebuilt SDE, the trade's cited multiple band
   Compute: Rebuilt SDE times the band's low and high against the ask
   Judgment rule: State the premium or discount to the band in dollars and demand the reason for any premium

AFTER THE EIGHT

1. List every INPUT MISSING item as a numbered request list.
2. State the maximum financeable price computed in dimension seven, and the band position from dimension eight, side by side.
3. Give no buy-or-pass recommendation. The buyer owns the decision; you own the arithmetic.

Here are the business's numbers and facts:

[PASTE THE FINANCIALS AND FACTS BELOW THIS LINE]

The Eight Dimensions It Computes

  • 1. Earnings quality

    Trust the trend of your rebuilt number only; a widening claimed-vs-rebuilt gap is the finding.

  • 2. Revenue durability

    Revenue that survives an ownership change is the only revenue being bought.

  • 3. Margin position

    Above-range margins need a structural reason or they are an add-back story in disguise.

  • 4. Owner dependence

    Each owner-held function is a salary the buyer pays or a risk the buyer runs; price both.

  • 5. Workforce

    Below-market pay is deferred turnover; a key technician is key-person risk with a different title.

  • 6. Asset reality

    Deferred capex is purchase price in disguise; a short lease under a long loan is a landlord option on your equity.

  • 7. Financeability

    The maximum financeable price is a computed fact; everything above it is equity story.

  • 8. Price against the trade

    State the premium or discount to the band in dollars and demand the reason for any premium.

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