Virtual CFO
M&A due diligence support
A buyer's due diligence team runs on a checklist, and the businesses that move through it fastest are the ones whose Canadian books were already organized before the request list arrived, with adjusted earnings and working capital trend ready rather than assembled under deal clock pressure.
13-week cash forecast
Illustrative client · August 2026
CAD
- Cash today
- $244,220
- Lowest week ahead
- 239,800
- Largest outflow
- Payroll, 46,300
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Diligence moves at the speed of your data room
Most delay in a Canadian M&A deal is not negotiation, it is waiting on financial answers. A well organized data room, built from your books before the first buyer question lands, compresses that timeline meaningfully. A disorganized one adds weeks and invites a buyer's team to assume the worst about anything they cannot immediately verify.
Adjusted earnings, sourced, not asserted
Every add back, owner compensation above market, a one off legal cost, a discontinued product line, needs to trace to an actual invoice or transaction, not just a line in a spreadsheet. Unsupported adjustments are the single fastest way a buyer's advisor starts questioning every other number in the package, including the legitimate ones.
The peg that decides the final price
Working capital at closing usually gets measured against a trailing average, and that average is frequently the most contested number in the entire transaction because it moves the purchase price directly. We build the trend analysis and a defensible proposed peg well before a buyer's team sets their own number.
Whose side we are on
We work one side of a transaction at a time, buyer or seller, never both, to avoid a conflict. We build the schedules and support materials; a formal quality of earnings opinion, when a deal calls for one, comes from an outside firm engaged for that purpose, and we coordinate directly with them and your deal counsel. Ties closely to exit readiness work done before a deal even starts.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: M&A due diligence support
How fast can a data room actually come together?
For a business with clean, current monthly books, often under two weeks. A business carrying a bookkeeping backlog needs that cleaned up first, which adds real time.
What is the single fastest way to slow down our own diligence?
Unsupported add backs. A buyer's advisor who catches one unsourced adjustment tends to question every other number in the package after that, even the solid ones.
Can you support us if we are the one acquiring a company?
Yes, on the buy side we review the target's financials, add backs and working capital trend on your behalf, working alongside your deal counsel.
Do you produce the formal quality of earnings opinion?
No. We prepare the underlying schedules and data. A formal, independent QoE opinion is typically issued by an outside firm engaged specifically for that role.
What exactly is included in m&A due diligence support?
Financial data room assembled from your books, arranged to a standard due diligence request list, and a quality-of-earnings style adjustment schedule (add-backs, one-off items, normalized EBITDA). This work runs inside Excel or Google Sheets, whichever your business already has in place, and it rolls into your regular monthly close rather than sitting off to the side as a separate, unreconciled process.
Do you perform the quality-of-earnings report itself?
We prepare the underlying schedules and support materials. A formal QoE report is typically produced by an outside firm engaged for that purpose; we prepare the underlying schedules and can work alongside them.
Can you support both sides of a deal?
We work with either the buyer or the seller, not both on the same transaction, to avoid a conflict of interest.
How fast can a data room be assembled?
It depends on how current your books already are. Businesses with clean monthly closes can usually have a first-pass data room ready in under two weeks.
What software works with m&A due diligence support?
M&A due diligence support runs inside Excel or Google Sheets, whichever you already use. If you are not yet set up in either, we can configure a file in your name so you keep ownership of it once the engagement is under way.
Related services
- Virtual CFOExit readinessA review of what a buyer's diligence team will see in your books, done before you go to market, so surprises get fixed on your own timeline instead of theirs.
- Virtual CFO13-week cash flow forecastA rolling week-by-week cash forecast that shows what is coming in, what is going out, and where the next 13 weeks get tight.
- Virtual CFOFractional CFOA senior finance lead who works your numbers on a part-time basis: monthly reviews, board and investor prep, and a second opinion before a big decision.
Industries
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.