Quality of Earnings
Revealing the true financial story behind the numbers.
We go beyond the numbers to uncover hidden risks, validate earnings, and give your deal team the clarity to move decisively—whether you’re buying, selling, or raising capital. If you’ve been told you need financial due diligence, this is it—a Quality of Earnings (QofE) is what the work is called.
The diligence practice of Hollywell Partners, now inside Numera
The two offerings
Two offerings. One standard of rigor.
Whether you’re closing a sub-$20M asset deal or running diligence on a target with $200M in annual revenue, the same partners and the same standards apply—calibrated to the complexity of the transaction.
Full scope
Companies up to $200M in annual revenueThe rigor we’ve applied to $500M+ transactions, structured to move at deal speed.
- 01Scope planningStakeholder alignment, diligence calendar, and an internal walkthrough to define scope and deliverables.
- 02Core financial diligenceQoE analysis, working-capital review, cost-out identification, and team-structure assessment.
- 03Robust analysisValuation modeling, benchmarks, risk insights. Optional: SWOT, operational bottlenecks, market deep-dives.
- 04Data room & transaction readinessCoordination with legal and tax, data-room prep, and diligence reports buyers and lenders can act on.
QoE Lite
Sub-$20M asset dealsTo be clear: there is no “lite” diligence. This is the same standard of work, scoped to what a smaller deal actually needs—built because big-firm diligence isn’t cost-effective at this size, and skipping diligence is how small acquisitions go south after close.
- 01Scope & alignmentWe define the right depth based on deal stage, size, and stakeholder needs—before any work starts.
- 02Lean executionFocused financial review, cost-out signals, and working-capital flags structured to move as fast as the deal requires.
- 03Key findings reviewSummary of material risks, with optional add-ons: market scan, ops review, competitive context.
- 04Summary reportingClean, consumable outputs aligned to buyer needs or the next diligence phase—not padded to justify the invoice.
What’s covered
Scope scales with the deal.
From core financial diligence to post-close integration support—the right depth for the deal in front of you.
Financial diligence
Core to every engagement
- Historical earnings and pro forma adjustments
- Full revenue cash-proof procedures
- Multi-year income statement and balance-sheet quality and trend analysis
- Working-capital trends and requirements
- Liabilities and potential off-balance-sheet exposures
Ops & value creation
Layered on for larger or more complex transactions
- Valuation estimate and key assumptions
- SWOT by business function, quantified
- Operational bottleneck analysis
- Customer and relationship portfolio scoring
- Cost-out identification
- Systems, process, and human-capital alignment with growth
Support & post-transaction
Deal-specific modules and after-close continuity
- Regular updates to senior executives and key personnel
- M&A data-room preparation
- Post-transaction integration and value-capture support
- Program design, management, monitoring, and reporting
- Gap staffing and short-term executive support
More than diligence
A finding shouldn’t sit in a silo. Numera Advisory works alongside the broader Numera network—so when a deal needs technical accounting across international standards, a cross-border structuring view, or a controller to hold things together after close, the people who do that work are already in the building.
Every engagement is scoped to the deal, not to the billable hour.
“The market demands sophistication and speed. We deliver both—Big 4 rigor and technical depth, at the pace modern deals require.” Adam Webster — Partner, Numera Advisory
Deep transaction experience
Decades of combined experience across deals from $10M to $500M+. We’ve seen the patterns others miss.
Senior attention, always
Your deal gets experienced eyes from the first call. No juniors handed the work while partners take the credit.
Fast, actionable outputs
Timely reports that support negotiations, lender discussions, and internal decisions—not padded to justify the invoice.
More than a report
Program management and post-close integration support, for when the deal needs more than a deliverable.
A $100M+ acquisition called off
A midstream company wanted a second opinion on a deal the first firm had already cleared. We found undisclosed material legal contingencies the target had no plans to surface before close. Our client walked away.
Read the case study
Funded before the Big 4 started
A tech company needed a pro forma forecast and valuation to close its next funding round. A Big 4 firm quoted five times our price and three weeks to mobilize. We had a final deliverable by the following Friday. Funding closed the day the Big 4 was set to begin.
Read the case study
From roll-up to NASDAQ IPO
A PE client combined three companies—a consulting firm, an oilfield manufacturer, and a rental/services firm—into a single entity with a deal value over $300M. We built the operating model, governance structure, and capital management framework. The combined company IPO’d on NASDAQ at over $1B.
Read the case study
Ready when timing matters
Diligence that moves at deal speed.
Tell us the deal size, the timeline, and what’s keeping you up at night. We’ll tell you what scope makes sense and how fast we can move.
Talk to a diligence expert