CareCPA
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Thanks for pulling me in @G-ManI don't know what kind of agreement you'd need with him to do this, but I'd want to do a full audit. The one time I've seen books this bad there were expenses getting capitalized and all kinds of other nonsense that led to the company looking much more profitable than it was.
@CareCPA is probably the guy to answer this question
Look at the tax returns, but assume they're understating income on there. Assume they're overstating income on whatever financials they give you. Somewhere in the middle is the answer.
As mentioned previously, check cash flow. But not the cash-flow report from QB. Check the bank statements, and get them directly from the bank.
If the business is cash-heavy (as in literally, cold hard cash), it's going to be very difficult to get accurate financials. I usually give people the benefit of the doubt, but since you already know the accountant is shoddy, then they probably didn't ask for too much verification of whatever income the client told them to put on the tax return. Meaning all the physical cash probably just disappeared.
Depending on the size and complexity of the business, it may be worth paying a local firm to audit them before purchasing. No matter what, you will never have 100% confidence in the numbers, so there is always some leap of faith when you have to take someone else's word as truth.
Also, instead of owner-financing, consider an earnout. If the price is $1.2 million, maybe agree on $800k cash, and the remaining $400k if the business hits certain thresholds within a defined time period. This transfers some of the risk to the seller.
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