The financials say what it earned. Not whether it survives the owner leaving.
Below ten million that rarely gets checked. There’s a quality of earnings review, a legal review, sometimes environmental, and generally nobody opens the systems the buyer inherits.
Pre-LOI Screen
Built from the CIM, financials, and listing materials. No seller cooperation, no NDA choreography, no site visit.
Screen four listings for a fraction of what one quality of earnings review costs, then spend the real diligence money on the right deal.
Technology & Operations Diligence
The full workstream. Systems, data, licenses, and what actually transfers. Undocumented process and key-person risk. What it costs to modernize, in what order, plus the specific questions to put to the seller before you commit to a price.
Sell-Side Readiness
The same exam, run while there’s still time to fix what it finds. A problem found a year out costs what it costs to fix. The same problem found inside exclusivity costs a price reduction, an escrow, or the deal.
Timing changes what this does.
Buying — earlier is cheaper
Before LOI it costs $2,500 and tells you whether to spend the real diligence money here. After LOI it costs more and finds more, but you’re already committed to the deal being worth looking at.
Selling — before market, not under contract
Run before listing, it cleans up what a buyer would have found and argues for the asking price. Run under contract, the same findings hand your buyer a repricing lever. We won’t take that engagement.
A $3M business that looked clean everywhere else.
Financials fine, legal fine, CIM fine. Built from the broker’s deal file alone, the report also found a documented $24,428 gap between two systems of record and a contractor network that existed entirely in the departing owner’s head.
Read the audit →Before you decide.
What is technology and operations due diligence?
It is the diligence workstream that examines the systems a buyer inherits rather than the financial results. It covers what software the business runs on, whether licenses and data transfer at close, which processes are undocumented, and what it will cost to modernise after the sale.
Do small business acquisitions include operational due diligence?
Below roughly ten million dollars in transaction value it is rarely performed. Buyers typically commission a quality of earnings review and a legal review, sometimes environmental, and the operating systems are not examined by anyone.
Can a technology audit be done before signing an LOI?
Yes. A Pre-LOI Screen is built entirely from the CIM, financials, and listing materials, requiring no seller cooperation, no NDA process, and no site visit. It costs $2,500 and is delivered in five business days.
When should a seller run a readiness assessment?
Before listing, not under contract. Run before market, the findings can be fixed. Run during exclusivity, the same findings give the buyer grounds to renegotiate. Onizuka Studio does not accept sell-side engagements once a business is under contract.
What did the acquisition audit find in a real deal?
In a three million dollar appliance distribution business whose financials, legal review, and CIM all looked clean, the report identified $88,536 per year in credit card processing overpayment, a documented $24,428 reconciliation gap between two systems of record, and a contractor network that existed only in the departing owner's knowledge.
Send us the listing and we’ll tell you which screen fits.
Pre-LOI if you’re still choosing between deals. Full diligence once you’re committed. Sell-side if you’re the one being looked at.
Advising rather than transacting? Here’s how referring it works →