Finex Chartered Certified Accountants

Advisory Services │ New Zealand

Financial Due Diligence

Before You Buy the Business, Know What You're Really Buying

A business can look profitable on paper. But before you commit your money, you need to understand what's really happening behind the numbers.

Finex provides Financial Due Diligence for prospective business buyers, helping you examine the financial information behind the opportunity, identify areas that deserve closer attention and make your decision with greater financial clarity.

Don't discover the problems after you've inherited them.

A Finex accountant working through a target business's financial records
A buyer and adviser examining the numbers behind a business for sale

Don't Buy the Story. Investigate the Numbers Behind It

When you're considering buying a business, the financial statements aren't simply historical paperwork. They're evidence. They can help you understand how the business has performed, how money moves through it and where questions may need to be asked before you commit.

Our Financial Due Diligence service provides an independent accounting perspective on the financial information available to you. The goal isn't to tell you whether you should love or hate the business.

It's to help you understand what the numbers are saying before you decide what the opportunity is worth to you.

Look Beneath the Headline Numbers

The exact scope of financial due diligence should depend on the business, transaction and information available, but the review may consider areas such as:

Revenue & Sales

Understand how the business generates revenue, how performance has changed over time and whether anything in the numbers deserves further investigation.

Profitability

Look beyond the headline profit figure to better understand the financial performance of the business.

Expenses & Cost Structure

Review significant costs and expenditure to understand what it takes financially to operate the business.

Cashflow

Consider how cash actually moves through the business and whether reported profitability translates into healthy cash generation.

Assets & Liabilities

Understand relevant assets, debts and other financial obligations reflected in the information being reviewed.

Historical Financial Performance

Compare available financial information across periods to identify trends, changes and unusual movements worth discussing.

Tax & Accounting Information

Review relevant available tax and accounting information from a financial due diligence perspective.

Areas Requiring Further Questions

Identify inconsistencies, unusual items or areas where additional information or explanation may be required before you proceed.

Why Use Finex Before Buying a Business?

Independent Financial Perspective

Get an accounting view from someone who isn't trying to sell you the business.

Look Beyond Headline Revenue

Dig deeper into the financial information instead of making a major decision based on turnover and reported profit alone.

Identify Questions Before You Commit

Surface areas requiring further explanation while you still have an opportunity to investigate them.

Understand What You're Reading

Financial statements shouldn't simply be handed to you as hundreds of numbers. We help explain what the important information means.

Specialist Tax Expertise

Where relevant, Finex's broader specialist tax expertise can help identify tax matters that may warrant further consideration.

Support Beyond the Purchase

If you proceed, Finex can provide ongoing tax, accounting and finance support as you take ownership and move the business forward.

Next Step

Know What the Business's Numbers Say Before You Step Inside.

Buying a business is too important a decision to make based on assumptions. Let Finex help you examine the financial information, ask better questions and understand the numbers behind the opportunity before your money is committed.