For accountants
Refer the transaction. Keep the client.
When a client tells you they are buying a business, you are handed a problem. Transaction due diligence is not compliance work, and doing it properly, mid-deal, on a vendor's timeline does not fit inside a compliance practice's workflow or pricing. We built our practice to be the referral that is safe to make.
Why this exists
Your options today are all bad
Do it yourself.
Hours you cannot recover at compliance rates, on work outside your core discipline, with your name on the conclusion. Interrogating a vendor's P&L mid-deal, on a vendor's timeline, is a different job from preparing accounts.
Decline.
And watch the client buy on the vendor's untested numbers. If the deal goes wrong, the question they will ask is why nobody looked.
Refer to another accounting firm.
Firms that do transaction work also do tax and BAS. A referral to one of them is an introduction to a competitor, and you risk the relationship you were trying to protect.
We built our practice to be the fourth option.
Why we are safe to refer to
We do not do compliance. Ever.
No tax, no BAS agent services, no bookkeeping, no audit, no financial statements. It is in our terms of engagement and our public disclosures. Your client comes to us for the transaction and comes back to you for everything else, including the post-settlement structure, registrations and onboarding work the acquisition creates. A referral to us generates compliance work for your practice; it never takes any away.
The scope is defined and the fee is fixed, set by transaction value, on the site, and confirmed in writing before engagement. Nicholas scopes every engagement, reviews every finding and takes every debrief call.
What your client gets
- Earnings rebuilt from source documents: bank statements, BAS lodgements, general ledger. Not the vendor's adjusted P&L
- Add-backs tested line by line; owner wages, related-party rent and missing capex put back in
- A written report and working model, a debrief call, and 30 days of follow-up questions answered
- A number built the way a commercial credit assessor reads one, so the analysis and any finance submission tell the same story
What you get
Your client back.
With the transaction handled and a clean handover note covering everything with tax or structuring implications. Flagged for you, never advised on by us. The structure, registrations and onboarding work the acquisition creates comes straight back to your practice.
A named contact, not a portal.
You can call Nicholas directly before, during and after the engagement. On several engagements we have gone line by line through the P&L with the client and their accountant together. You know the history; we know what a credit team does with the numbers.
Full conflict transparency.
Our fee is fixed and payable regardless of what the analysis concludes, so we have no incentive to bless a bad deal. Finance applications, if the client wants them, are handled separately by The Lending Lab Pty Ltd and disclosed in writing. If your client prefers a firm with no broker relationship at all, we say so and refer them on. That policy is on our website.
How a referral works
Four steps, then the client comes back to you
1
You introduce
Or the client contacts us and names you. Either way, you are recorded as the referring accountant.
2
Scoping call with Nicholas
Free, no obligation. Straight advice on whether the work is worth doing at all. Sometimes it is not, and we say so.
3
Fixed fee in writing
Within two business days of seeing the financials, off the standard schedule, less the 25% referral discount.
4
Report, debrief, handover
Work performed, report delivered, debrief held. You are welcome on the call. Then the handover comes back to you for structure, registrations and ongoing compliance.
Referred by a mortgage or finance broker, a business broker or an accountant? A 25% referral discount applies to our fixed fees. Files that come through these professionals arrive with the records the work needs, and the fee reflects that. The discount assumes the standard information request is met.
Every other due diligence referral you could make is a competitor. We are the one that isn't.
Want a straight read on your deal?
Book a free call with Nicholas. Bring the numbers you have, and we will tell you the right service level and the fixed fee. No obligation.
Common questions
No, and the incentive runs the other way. We do not do compliance: no tax, no BAS agent services, no bookkeeping, no audit, no financial statements. Your client comes to us for the transaction and goes straight back to you, along with the structure, registrations and onboarding work the acquisition creates. A referral to us generates compliance work for your practice. It never takes any away.
Earnings rebuilt from source documents such as bank statements, BAS lodgements and the general ledger, not the vendor's adjusted P&L. Add-backs tested line by line, with owner wages, related-party rent and missing capex put back in. A written report and working model, a debrief call, and 30 days of follow-up questions answered. Anything with tax or structuring implications is flagged for you, never advised on by us.
From the schedule on our pricing page, by transaction value, confirmed in writing before engagement. Clients you refer receive a 25% discount on our fixed fees. The fee is not contingent on the deal proceeding or on what the analysis concludes, so your client will never come back to you asking why the quick review you suggested blew out.
Yes, and it is often the strongest setup. On several engagements we have gone line by line through the P&L with the client and their accountant together. You know the client's history; we know what a credit team will do with the numbers. You are welcome on the debrief call, and the handover note back to you lists every tax and structuring question the transaction raised.
We do not arrange credit. Finance applications are handled by The Lending Lab Pty Ltd, a separate broking business, and that relationship is disclosed in writing. Our advisory fee is fixed regardless of whether finance is approved. And if your client would prefer the analysis done by a firm with no referral relationship to any broker, we tell them so and refer them on. That policy is on our website.