Exit Readiness
Get Your Books Ready Before
Buyers Come Looking
PE consolidation is accelerating across every trade. HVAC companies are selling at 5–8x EBITDA. Roofing companies are getting acquired at record multiples. Typical range: 5–8x; service-heavy, well-prepared businesses: 7–9x (Breakwater M&A 2026). The contractors who get the best prices are the ones who prepared their books 12–24 months in advance.
4–5
new PE groups
entered commercial roofing in 6 months alone
5–8x
EBITDA
what HVAC companies with clean books are selling for
12–24
months
how early you should start preparing before going to market
“Top 5 customers represented 35% of revenue at one contractor. That's a red flag for any buyer — and a valuation haircut they didn't see coming.”
From our contractor profitability audits
“50 jobs stuck past 90 days with no invoice. That's unbilled revenue sitting on the table — and a revenue recognition risk that tanks buyer confidence in your numbers.”
From our contractor profitability audits
Due Diligence Checklist
What PE buyers look for
Most contractors fail at least 3 of these. Here’s what buyers will examine in your first data room.
Accrual-basis books a CPA can stand behind
Most contractor books are cash-basis and full of personal expenses. Buyers want accrual-basis statements going back at least 3 years. Level converts your books to accrual basis, removes personal expenses, and gets them in shape for your CPA to issue the formal reviewed or audited statements buyers expect.
Job-level profitability data
PE buyers want to see margin by job type, customer segment, and service line — not just a consolidated P&L. This is your story of where the money comes from.
Clean AR aging
Stale receivables signal collection problems. Buyers will haircut your valuation for every dollar past 90 days with no collection plan.
Revenue mix (recurring vs. project)
Recurring maintenance agreements trade at higher multiples than one-time project work. Know your mix and be able to defend it.
Customer concentration below 15%
If your top customer is more than 15% of revenue, buyers will flag it as concentration risk. You need to know your number — and have a plan if it's high.
WIP schedule accuracy
Unearned revenue, over-billing, and under-billing are common issues. Buyers will test your WIP schedule for accuracy. Most contractors can't pass this test without preparation.
Normalized owner compensation
Your salary, truck, phone, insurance, and other owner expenses need to be identified and added back to EBITDA. This is often the biggest single driver of your valuation.
Trailing 12-month EBITDA trend
Buyers want to see trend, not just a point in time. A clean T12 with month-over-month EBITDA shows trajectory and builds confidence.
Our Deliverables
What we deliver
A structured 12-month engagement that prepares your business to pass buyer due diligence — and positions you for the highest possible multiple.
12-month financial cleanup
We review and clean your QuickBooks, reclassify personal expenses, convert to accrual basis if needed, and build a clean 3-year P&L and balance sheet — ready to hand to your CPA for any formal reviewed or audited financial statements buyers require.
Reporting packages buyers want
Job-level profitability summary, service agreement book analysis, customer revenue distribution, and a T12 EBITDA schedule formatted the way PE buyers expect to see it.
EBITDA normalization
We identify and document every legitimate add-back: owner compensation, non-recurring expenses, one-time charges, and above-market owner perks. Most contractors leave 20-40% of their real EBITDA on the table by not documenting this properly.
Customer concentration analysis
We calculate your top-5 and top-10 customer concentration, flag any single-customer dependencies, and help you develop a mitigation narrative for buyers.
Revenue quality assessment
We break out recurring vs. project revenue, maintenance agreement book value, renewal rates, and service contract profitability — the metrics that determine whether you sell at 4x or 7x.
The difference between prepared and unprepared
On a $3M EBITDA business, the spread between a 4x and 7x valuation is $9 million. That gap is almost entirely driven by preparation.
Unprepared contractor
- —Cash-basis books with personal expenses mixed in
- —No job-level profitability data
- —AR aging full of stale receivables
- —Owner compensation not normalized
- —Top customer at 40% of revenue — not flagged
- —Valuation: 3–4x EBITDA
Level-prepared contractor
- ✓3-year accrual-basis books, ready for diligence and your CPA's review
- ✓Job-level P&L by customer, crew, and service type
- ✓Clean AR aging with collection documentation
- ✓EBITDA normalized with documented add-backs
- ✓Customer concentration at 12% — managed proactively
- ✓Valuation: 7–9x EBITDA (service-heavy, best-prepared)
Level Market Monitor
See what the biggest contractors in America are worth — and what it means for your exit
Public company financials, M&A deal tracker, and valuation multiples. Updated quarterly.
From clients
What contractors say after working with us.
“Thought we were running 22% net. Real number was 11 once Sam allocated overhead correctly across labor and materials. Painful conversation but I needed it. We've been repricing every job since.”
“We had 40 service contracts and no idea which ones actually made money once you included drive time and callbacks. Sam ran the analysis — three of our biggest were underwater. Repriced or dropped them, net margin went from 8% to 14% in one quarter.”
“My CPA is great at taxes but nobody was looking at the actual business. Sam found $140K in overhead we were eating on service calls because our flat rates were 3 years out of date. Repriced the menu in 30 days. The pricing fix alone covers his fee for years.”
Simple pricing
Three tiers, one ladder.
$99/mo
Books
Clean monthly books, tax-ready year-end. Same flat rate for catch-up.
$1,500+/mo
Fractional CFO
Cash forecasting, profitability analysis, monthly strategy calls.
$3,000+/mo
CFO + Operations
Dedicated CFO, AI-native workflows, dashboards, and integrations.
Other Trades We Serve
Start your exit preparation
We'll show you exactly what a buyer would find in your books today. Free audit included.
No commitment. Real numbers, not generic advice.