The fastest way to lose leverage in an acquisition talk is to walk in with a fuzzy idea of what your business is worth. We sit down with forensic accountant Allie Aldrich of Turning Numbers to get practical about business valuation in the M&A process, from the first documents a valuator requests to the real reasons a price goes up or down. If you’ve ever heard someone say “just use a multiple” and felt uneasy, this conversation gives you a clearer, more defensible path.

We talk through what a valuation is really measuring and why it becomes the backbone of negotiations. Allie explains the standard inputs valuators rely on, including three to five years of financial statements, tax returns, and corporate or LLC paperwork, plus a detailed questionnaire that surfaces risk factors like customer concentration, debt structure, and owner perks. We also dig into “textbook clean” books versus the messy reality of many small businesses, and how normalization adjustments can change earnings by backing out perks or correcting owner pay to a market-rate replacement cost.

Because Allie brings a forensic background, we also explore what happens when valuations uncover red flags, why secure document sharing matters, and why buyers often want a valuator who knows how to find skeletons. You’ll hear why founder dependence can shrink enterprise value, how a calculation of value can help you plan before a sale, and how concepts like goodwill and intangible value are still evolving in the valuation world. Subscribe, share this with a founder who’s thinking about selling, and leave a review with your biggest valuation question.