Guides
Share sale vs asset sale Canada: deal structure basics
Share sale vs asset sale Canada: how buyers and sellers weigh tax, liabilities, contracts, and financing when choosing a business sale structure.
Archive
October 2026
Rules
Vendor take-back financing in Canada: tax and security registration
Vendor take-back financing in Canada runs on two rulebooks: CRA tax rules under the Income Tax Act and provincial Personal Property Security Act registration.
Guides
Structuring an earnout when selling a business: stage order, the 12 to 24 month window, Section 1060
Earnout structure when selling a business: the stage order, the 12 to 24 month window, metric controls, and the Section 1060 tax character of each payment.
Guides
Normalizing owner salary before listing a business: stages, proof and timing
Normalizing owner salary before listing: role inventory, wage benchmark, S corporation test, written method note, prerequisites, timing, and common questions.
Rules
Seller financing in a business sale: what the promissory note should include
Seller financing terms in a business sale: what the promissory note has to state, who files the UCC-1 and what a lapsed lien costs the seller.
Guides
How the IRS taxes asset sales differently from stock sales
Asset sales and stock sales land the same price in two different tax bills, and the split shows up on IRS Form 8594's asset allocation schedule.
Guides
What SBA 7(a) and 504 acquisition loans require: equity, guarantees, Form 1919
SBA 7(a) and 504 rules for buying a US business: the 10 percent equity injection, Form 1919, personal guarantees, collateral and 13 CFR Part 120 tests.
Industry
How Software Buyers Assess ARR, IP and Engineer Retention
Firm valuation in software deals depends on ARR quality, intellectual-property ownership, engineer retention, customer risk and deal structure.
Features
Chicago family business sales: buy-sell deals, tax and notes
How a Chicago family business changes hands: the buy-sell agreement, redemption or cross-purchase, family notes, estate tax filings and what stalls a deal.
Rules
Hart-Scott-Rodino filing thresholds and what US sellers must disclose
Firm valuation transactions that cross HSR filing thresholds need a premerger notification, a waiting period and full seller disclosures to the FTC.
Features
Valuation Transactions in New York: Dispute Overview
Valuation transactions in New York involve earn-out and shareholder disputes over contract terms, buyout valuation, expert testimony, and court procedures.
Guides
US-Canada acquisitions: treaty gains article, tax forms and HSR
Cross-border acquisitions between the US and Canada: deal structure, IRS and CRA forms, treaty Article XIII, HSR thresholds and Investment Canada review.
Industry
Energy valuations in Houston and Dallas compared, reserves and contracts
Valuation transactions in Texas energy turn on proved reserves, backlog and SEC reserve reporting rules, with Houston and Dallas priced on different bases.
Guides
A succession planning guide for Midwestern family businesses and estate tax
Buying, selling and valuing businesses in a Midwest family handover: estate freezes, valuation discounts, buy-sell funding and state estate tax rules.
Guides
9 valuation methods US appraisers use under ASA and NACVA standards
Firm valuation draws on nine methods, from discounted cash flow to guideline public company multiples, each tied to ASA and NACVA standards.
Guides
Lender documents for a business acquisition loan, and why a valuation calculator is not one
The documents, coverage tests and forms a lender reviews for a business acquisition loan: the purchase agreement, tax returns, SBA forms 1919, 413 and 4506-C, the debt service coverage test and appraisals.
Reviews
Rules for using a valuation calculator without letting it decide the price
This page computes nothing. Rules for using one that does: what a tool must show, where inputs must come from, what the output may do, and when none may be used.
Industry
Which kind of valuation calculator service are you using?
A valuation calculator service is a lead magnet, a subscription database or an appraiser's model. Each has a different ratio source and a different owner.
Features
Valuation calculators examples: six hypothetical runs
Valuation calculators examples: six hypothetical runs show how assumed ratios, missing inputs and earnings definitions shape outputs, not prices.
Industry
Why does a valuation calculator's multiple describe a deal instead of pricing one?
Valuation calculators explained: the stored ratio behind the output, why a multiple describes a deal rather than producing one, and what the form never asks.
Rules
Three families of valuation method, and what each one cannot see
Comparing valuation methods by what each family needs, what it is blind to, how the other side attacks it, and what to do when the answers disagree.
Guides
Valuation methods examples: six cases, three approaches
Valuation methods examples: six invented cases worked in figures across the asset, market and income approaches, showing why methods disagree and why.
Reviews
Valuation methods mistakes usually enter through the base figure, not the maths
Nine valuation mistakes grouped by where the error enters, in the base figure, the period, the comparison or the way the answer is stated, with the correction.
Rules
Valuation methods requirements for a formal appraisal
Valuation methods requirements for a formal appraisal: what to settle with the appraiser, which standards may apply, and what to hand over for each method.
Maintenance
Valuation methods start from two definitions of profit, and that is where they diverge
Valuation methods use different earnings bases: compare SDE with EBITDA, see named valuation approaches, and understand how owner labor changes the analysis.
Rules
Several examinations hide inside due diligence, and each one needs a different signer
Diligence is several examinations, not one service. Which your deal needs, who is qualified to sign each, and what to verify about scope, output and liability.
Features
Four approaches to due diligence before buying a business
A due diligence comparison of four ways to examine a business before purchase, focused on their trade-offs and the situations each approach suits.
Maintenance
Due diligence mistakes compared between buyer and seller, and the one both share
Nine diligence mistakes split by side: four the buyer makes by verifying documents instead of cash, four the seller makes managing what a buyer sees, and one shared.
Guides
What transaction lawyers, accountants and brokers handle in deal structures, and who to engage first
What transaction lawyers, accountants and brokers each handle in a deal structure, the order to engage them, what to verify, and warning signs to watch.
Industry
Where do deal structures mistakes actually start, long before signing?
Nine deal structures mistakes grouped by stage, from comparing offers by headline to leaving the price allocation until the end, with the correction for each.
Rules
Due diligence: the parts worth your attention
Due diligence reduced to three questions a buyer is really asking, what kills a deal against what merely reprices it, and each side's part in the process.
Reviews
Deal structures requirements for business sales
Deal structures requirements for asset and share purchases, seller notes, earn-outs and escrows: key documents, consents and failure points to check.
Guides
How deal structures shift risk in a business sale
See how deal structures shift risk through asset and share sales, seller notes, escrow, earn-outs, rollover equity, and negotiated terms.
Guides
Judging businesses for sale services starts with a buyer's checklist
Businesses for sale services: judge any listing site by who funds it, run a one job test before subscribing, and know what no platform can verify for you.
Costs
Businesses for sale examples: 4 anonymized listing patterns
Businesses for sale examples: four anonymized listings that hid owner dependence, customer concentration, unevidenced add-backs or a final-year spike.
Guides
Deal Structures in Business Sales: What a Stated Price Actually Means
Deal structures in business sales decide what a buyer pays and what a seller keeps. Here is how notes, equity rollovers and headline prices really work.
Reviews
Businesses for sale requirements: a seller's readiness check
A seller's readiness check for businesses for sale requirements: six details to produce, what to release at each stage, and the signs a listing is not ready.
Guides
What to expect from businesses for sale listings, and when to stop reading one
What a business listing is really for, what the advert leaves out, the order information arrives after a confidentiality agreement, and when to stop reading.