Advanced Broker Analysis Business Valuation
Understand your business’s value and what supports it.
Before you set an asking price, understand how a buyer may assess the earnings and assumptions behind it. Lion’s Advanced Broker Analysis provides a detailed preliminary valuation, makes the important judgment calls visible and explains how different scenarios and transaction terms may affect the outcome.
Texas-based Lion Business Advisors. Serving business owners nationwide.
- Detailed preliminary valuation
- Scenarios and expected deal structure
- Full report, summary and 60-minute review
What is an Advanced Broker Analysis?
Advanced Broker Analysis, or ABA, is Lion’s detailed preliminary business valuation for sale and exit planning. It explains method selection, normalized earnings, the factors behind the valuation multiple and how changes in assumptions affect the conclusion. ABA is our recommended starting point for most owners who want the reasoning behind their business’s potential market value.
Prepare for the questions behind a buyer’s offer
Understand the adjustments
See the earnings judgment calls that materially influence value, with explanations of the adjustments used in the analysis.
Test your expectations
Compare a base case with alternative scenarios so a single optimistic assumption does not drive the entire sale decision.
Consider price and structure together
Understand why cash at closing, seller financing and contingent payments can make two headline offers economically different.
Who should order an Advanced Broker Analysis
- Owners preparing for a potential sale who need more than an initial value range.
- Founders assessing whether expected transaction economics support their exit goals.
- Owners who want to understand earnings adjustments, multiple selection and possible deal structures before entering substantive buyer discussions.
What your ABA includes
Valuation method selection
An explanation of the approach or approaches used and why they fit the company and the intended sale-planning decision.
Normalized earnings with explicit judgments
An earnings analysis that explains material owner-related, non-recurring and other adjustments, including the reasoning for their treatment.
The factors behind the multiple
An assessment of the upward and downward business factors used to support multiple selection, rather than presenting a multiple without context.
Base case, scenarios and sensitivities
Alternative cases and sensitivity tables showing how changes in relevant earnings, multiple or other assumptions affect the estimated valuation.
Expected deal structure
An explanation of potential transaction terms and the assumptions behind them. These may include cash at closing, seller financing or contingent consideration where relevant.
A full report and a 60-minute review
A detailed report, typically about 20 pages, plus a two-page summary. A senior advisor prepares the valuation and reviews it with you and your Lion advisor during a 60-minute call.
See how an adjustment changes the sale discussion
Consider compensation paid to a family member. If a buyer must hire someone to perform the same work, removing the entire expense may overstate normalized earnings. ABA explains the treatment used and the effect of material assumptions so you can discuss the valuation on a better-supported basis.ABA provides detailed current-value analysis. Strategic Market Valuation adds industry and M&A activity research, competitive positioning, a named potential-buyer map and a quantified roadmap for value improvement.
Explore Strategic Market ValuationHow to order and what happens next
- Start your ABA orderTell us what you want to understand about a potential sale, your expectations and your timeline.
- Confirm scope and provide recordsSign the engagement, pay the fee and work with your Lion advisor to provide the required financial and business information.
- Build the valuationA senior advisor evaluates methods, earnings, multiples, scenarios and expected structure within the agreed scope.
- Work through the conclusionsUse the 60-minute review to understand the findings, ask questions and consider what they mean for your next decision.
The ten-business-day delivery target begins after the engagement is signed, payment clears and Lion accepts the complete required records. Missing information or scope changes may extend timing.
What to have ready
- Three years of business tax returns, profit-and-loss statements and balance sheets, plus current year-to-date results.
- Owner and family compensation, related-party expenses and support for proposed earnings adjustments.
- Information about major customers, revenue mix, management responsibilities and operating risks.
- Relevant debt, assets, leases, growth expectations and other information needed for the agreed analysis.
Advanced Broker Analysis questions and answers
How much does Advanced Broker Analysis cost?
The ABA fee is $4,500 for the agreed business and scope. It includes the report, two-page summary and 60-minute review. The engagement confirms the included work, and any additional scope requires a separate written agreement.
Why is ABA the recommended starting point for most owners?
Many owners need to understand why a value estimate is reasonable before making a sale decision. ABA adds explicit earnings judgments, method and multiple reasoning, scenarios, sensitivities and expected deal structure to the initial value discussion.
What does preliminary valuation mean?
It is an analysis for business sale and exit planning using the records, assumptions and scope identified in the report. It supports a possible transaction decision; it is not a buyer’s offer or guaranteed sale result. Certified or lender-specific valuation needs require a separate engagement.
What do the sensitivity tables tell me?
They show how changes in selected assumptions affect estimated value. For example, a different earnings basis or multiple may change the range. The tables help you understand dependence on those assumptions; they do not predict which outcome a buyer will offer.
Does ABA tell me how much cash I will receive at closing?
ABA discusses expected deal structure and its assumptions. Actual cash at closing depends on negotiated terms, debt, working capital and other adjustments. The valuation is not an after-tax proceeds calculation, financing approval or guarantee of transaction terms.
Does ABA include a quality of earnings report?
No standalone QoE report is automatically included. ABA’s normalized earnings analysis supports the valuation. A QoE is separate financial diligence examining the support for earnings, revenue, cash and working capital. Lion can help determine whether you need both.
How long does ABA take, and who prepares it?
A senior advisor prepares the analysis. The target is ten business days after the signed engagement, cleared payment and acceptance of complete records. The senior advisor and your Lion advisor then review the report with you during the included 60-minute call.
When do I pay, and do I have to list with Lion?
The full fee is due before work begins and is non-refundable under the accepted engagement, except as required by law. Ordering ABA does not commit you to a listing. A listing or buyer outreach requires a separate agreement.
Make your next sale decision with the reasoning in view
Order your Advanced Broker Analysis to understand current value, the assumptions behind it and the transaction questions worth addressing before you sell.
