Acquisition analysis for small-business buyers
Walk Dig Bid turns seller materials into a buyer-focused acquisition analysis — normalized earnings, cash flow, valuation, financing, downside, and the questions that matter next. Fixed fees, built for buyers of $1–10 million-revenue businesses, delivered within 48 hours as a structured WALK / DIG / BID analytical screen.
* The Quality of Earnings requirement under SOP 50 10 8.1 applies to certain SBA-financed change-of-ownership transactions from October 1, 2026 — confirm the operative provision and its applicability to your transaction with your lender.
Services
Fees are fixed and published. Every engagement is delivered in writing, structured around the questions an acquisition committee would expect an analyst to address.
$600
Fixed fee · 48-hour delivery
Fee credits in full toward Transaction Modeling.
$2,000
Fixed fee · 4–5 business days
$3,000 / month
One active transaction · month to month
Walk Dig Bid provides informational and analytical support for business-acquisition evaluation. It does not provide investment, financial, legal, tax, accounting, valuation, brokerage, securities, lending, or other regulated professional advice. WALK / DIG / BID is an analytical screening framework, not a recommendation to enter into or refrain from a transaction. Analyses are based on available information and stated assumptions and are not guarantees of future results.
Analysis tool
Enter three figures from the offering memorandum. The analysis restates the asking price under partial acceptance of the add-back schedule — before buyer-side adjustments, which typically move the figure further.
Add-backs represent — of reported EBITDA. In our experience, schedules above thirty percent warrant line-by-line substantiation.
Illustrative analysis based on the figures you enter and stated assumptions — not a valuation, and not a prediction of any outcome.
Sample report
An excerpt from a screening of a residential HVAC services business, US Southeast. Asking $3.98 million — 3.75× the seller's adjusted EBITDA of $1,062,000.
| Reported EBITDA, per tax returns | $650,000 |
| Add-backs claimed in the offering memorandum | +$412,000 |
| Sustained under review — five items | +$348,000 |
| Rejected, undocumented — two items | −$64,000 |
| Buyer-side adjustments omitted from the memorandum | −$232,000 |
| Market management salary · market rent · key-person replacement · capital expenditure normalization | |
| Supportable EBITDA | $766,000 |
| Value at the offered 3.75× | $2,870,000 |
| Variance to asking price | −$1,110,000 |
CALL — DIG. The opportunity appears to warrant further investigation on a repriced basis. Customer concentration and the working-capital peg are the next lines of inquiry.
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Perspectives
Briefing · September 2026
Under SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026, SBA lenders must obtain a Quality of Earnings analysis for certain SBA-financed business acquisitions with a purchase price of $3.0 million or more — typically a five-figure, post-LOI cost. A $600 screening helps ensure that spend is committed only to transactions that merit it. Below the threshold, where a formal Quality of Earnings may not be required, buyers may otherwise proceed without a dedicated buyer-side analytical screen of the seller's numbers.
Client commentary
The desk
Walk Dig Bid applies the analytical methods commonly used in institutional M&A — add-back substantiation, lender-oriented modeling, and working-capital analysis — to transactions below the size at which those methods are typically accessible. The analysis is led by an investment banking professional with experience across institutional deal teams, bringing the same disciplined approach to every file: skeptical, quantitative, and focused on the issues that matter to a buyer.
Two positions we hold deliberately: we are not a CPA firm, and we are not a broker. Our deliverables are analysis, not attestation. Where a transaction may require a formal Quality of Earnings, we help identify the issues that warrant deeper review and assess whether specialized diligence may be appropriate. We also accept no success fees, so our analysis is not economically tied to whether a transaction closes.
When the numbers hold, we will say so. When they do not, we will show you where they break. The decision to pursue or complete the transaction remains yours.
Walk Dig Bid is designed for the initial acquisition screen. Where a deal advances, specialized professional diligence — including legal, tax, Quality of Earnings, insurance, and lender underwriting — may still be appropriate. The screen is designed to help you understand where that deeper diligence should focus.
Frequently asked
They are analytical screening classifications, not recommendations. WALK: the available information raises issues that may not justify additional diligence under the assumptions reviewed. DIG: the opportunity appears to warrant further investigation, subject to resolving the identified risks and questions. BID: the opportunity appears to warrant consideration for advancement to the next stage, subject to further diligence. BID does not mean "buy the business," and WALK does not mean "do not invest" — the decision, always, is yours.
No. A Quality of Earnings is a formal engagement — required from October 1, 2026 for certain SBA-financed transactions of $3.0 million or more, and typically $9,000–$23,000. The screening is designed for an earlier stage than a full QoE and does not replace one: it determines whether the transaction merits that commitment, and provides the question set when it does.
The arithmetic is not proprietary. The engagement provides pattern recognition across a large volume of offering memoranda, a documented basis for your lender and your negotiation, and time — most buyers are screening several transactions concurrently. If the plausible variance does not comfortably exceed the fee, the engagement may not be worth pursuing.
Most offering memoranda permit disclosure to advisors and financing sources. We countersign a standard confidentiality agreement on request, never disclose your materials or the identity of a transaction, and delete files upon request.
The offering memorandum, together with any financial statements or tax returns in your possession — ideally three years. Missing materials do not prevent the engagement; they are identified as lower-confidence areas, which is itself of value in negotiation.
The engagement is complimentary. The period begins when your materials are received and runs on US business days.
No. Deliverables are financial analysis prepared for your information. The decision remains yours, and your attorney and accountant remain essential.