Buy · Grow · Exit - advisers to UK business owners

After the deal closes

Pay for the businessyou actually bought.

Once a deal closes, completion accounts check the agreed assumptions against reality and calculate the adjustment to the price, so you pay for the working capital, cash and debt position you actually acquired, not the one described months earlier.

Fixed fee
Agreed in writing before we start, never on a running clock.
On your SPA terms
Prepared to the definitions and mechanism in your agreement.
Evidence based
Every balance supported, ready to stand up to scrutiny.
Or part of Smart Start
Included in the fuller first hundred days package.
01The problem
Why it matters

Making sure you pay for what you actually bought

Most deals are agreed on a set of assumptions about the state of the business at completion - a normal level of working capital, an agreed cash and debt position. Completion accounts are how those assumptions are checked against reality once the deal closes, so the final price reflects the business you actually acquired rather than the one that was described months earlier.

We prepare the completion accounts on the terms set out in your share purchase agreement, establish the actual position at completion, and work out the adjustment to the price where the reality differs from what was assumed. It is precise, evidence based work, and getting it right can be the difference between paying a fair price and overpaying for working capital or cash that was never there.

Standalone, or as part of Smart Start

You can commission completion accounts as a standalone service, which is the more economical option if the true up is all you need. If you would also like the financial foundations of your new business put in place from day one - live books, a forward forecast, monthly reporting and checkpoint reviews - then Smart Start includes the completion accounts as part of a fuller package for the first hundred days of ownership.

02Deliverables
What you get

The true up, done properly

Careful, evidence based work prepared to the terms of your deal.

Completion accounts on SPA terms

Prepared in line with the definitions and mechanism set out in your share purchase agreement.

The working capital position

We establish the actual working capital at completion and compare it against the agreed target or peg.

Cash and debt at completion

The actual cash free, debt free position confirmed, so the equity price reflects reality.

The price adjustment

We calculate the true up, the adjustment to the price where the completion position differs from what was assumed.

Evidence behind every figure

Each balance is supported, so the numbers stand up if the other side questions them.

A clear deliverable

The completion accounts and the adjustment set out clearly, ready to share with the other side and their advisers.

Next step

Just completed, or about to? Let's get the true up right.

Book a free intro call and we will explain how completion accounts work and what it would cost for your deal. A quick chat about the service and a quote, no pressure.

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