ProbityCheck the broker's number against the tax returns, before you price your offer.
Probity reads three years of the seller's tax returns and shows what the business earned, next to the broker's number. It also finds businesses that fit what you want to buy, and ties the bank statements to the returns before you close.Your first deal is free, no card.
Your first deal is free, no card. Your account opens with a full sample deal to click through.
| Figure | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Broker's SDE (seller's discretionary earnings), from the broker's summary | $609,000 | $576,570 |
| SDE from the tax returns, one-time items out | $398,420 | $298,780 |
| Gap | $210,580 | $277,790 |
Why the broker's 2024 number is $277,790 above the returns:
- -$83,520 Adjustment for market rent.
- -$40,000 Officer replacement salary. Officer pay is already added back in SDE, so this counts it twice.
- -$18,000 Section 179 equipment deduction. It never reduced the return's income, so adding it back counts it twice.
- -$15,050 Owner vehicle and meals. The returns can't show what was personal.
- -$121,220 Not itemized. The broker doesn't say what it is.
Every number in the sample links to the tax-return page it came from.
Before you close, Cash Proof ties the seller's bank statements to the tax returns, month by month. It is a one-time purchase per deal.
- Built by Rob Novak, CFA, a CFO who has underwritten and closed acquisitions.
- Finds businesses that fit what you want to buy, listed or not.
- The seller's documents are visible only to you and the people you invite. Nobody at Probity looks at your deal unless you invite them in.
- Reads federal business tax returns, including a sole proprietor's Schedule C.
Watch the returns come in $277,790 under the broker's number
Sample deal, fictional company. Music: Funkorama by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Open the sample deal yourselfWhy the tax returns
The returns are the floor.
A seller pays tax on the income the return shows and is paid for the income the listing shows. Start from the return and build up.
A lender reads the same returns.
A bank rebuilds the numbers from the returns before it funds a loan, so see that number first. With cash and a seller note, the check is yours to run.
An add-back is a claim.
Each add-back on a broker's schedule says an expense on the books will not be yours to pay. Some hold up. Probity shows which ones the returns support.
From finding the business to closing
The whole deal in a minute
Fit it
Write your buy box. Every listing you clip is checked against it.
Deal Desk screens your forwarded alerts for you.
Find it
Outbound ranks the businesses in your radius that fit your buy box, each with its owner on record and contact details where published.
Free accounts see the counts and a preview.
Price it
The SDE Recast rebuilds three years of the seller's tax returns and walks the broker's number back to them.
Prove it
At the LOI, Cash Proof ties the seller's bank statements to the tax returns, month by month, with seats for your CPA, attorney, lender and insurance agent, and room for every document diligence needs. If this deal dies, it moves to your next one.
The four-stage diligence checklist and the seller upload link.
Fund it
Excel and PDF files formatted for your lender or investor, and just as ready for your CPA and attorney. You also get a five-year forecast and the checklist's closing stages. Deal Desk ($49.99 a month) includes them, and so does Cash Proof on that deal. You need only one.
Buying with cash and a seller note? The same files go to whoever reviews the deal.
Fit it
Write your buy box. Every listing you clip is checked against it.
Deal Desk screens your forwarded alerts for you.
Find it
Outbound ranks the businesses in your radius that fit your buy box, each with its owner on record and contact details where published.
Free accounts see the counts and a preview.
Price it
The SDE Recast rebuilds three years of the seller's tax returns and walks the broker's number back to them.
Prove it
At the LOI, Cash Proof ties the seller's bank statements to the tax returns, month by month, with seats for your CPA, attorney, lender and insurance agent, and room for every document diligence needs. If this deal dies, it moves to your next one.
The four-stage diligence checklist and the seller upload link.
Fund it
Excel and PDF files formatted for your lender or investor, and just as ready for your CPA and attorney. You also get a five-year forecast and the checklist's closing stages. Deal Desk ($49.99 a month) includes them, and so does Cash Proof on that deal. You need only one.
Buying with cash and a seller note? The same files go to whoever reviews the deal.
Find the business, listed or not
Probity finds the businesses that fit your buy box, whether or not they are for sale, and keeps your listings, brokers and calls in one place.
Listings. Free.
Save a listing from any site and it is checked against your buy box.*
Off-market search. Deal Check and up; free accounts see the counts and a preview.
A ranked list of the businesses near you that fit your buy box, each with its owner on record, contact details where published, and whether it is still open. Revenue is an estimate, so check it against the seller's tax returns. Download your list to work from. Whether an owner would sell is a conversation you start.
Pipeline and call list. Call list on Deal Check and up.
Every deal from first look to close. The call list shows who to call today and proposes the next date.
* On Deal Desk, forwarded listing alerts are screened for you. Screening reads what the alert email itself contains. Listing sites' terms limit what can be pulled from their pages, so a figure the email leaves out shows as not disclosed.
- Tier A
Fennrow Heating & Cooling
Elgin, IL · Owner: Marta Lindqvist
Est. revenue $2M to $3M · Still open
- Tier A
Brackenhall Mechanical
St. Charles, IL · Owner: Paul Brannock
Est. revenue $3M to $5M · Still open
- Tier B
Quillmark Plumbing
Geneva, IL · Owner: Dev Raman
Est. revenue $1M to $2M · Still open
- Tier B
Oswin & Tarn Air
Batavia, IL · Owner: Ines Calloway
Est. revenue $1M to $2M · Still open
- Tier C
Larkspur Ridge Plumbing
Huntley, IL · Owner: Not on record
Est. revenue Under $1M · Still open
Know what the business earned before you price your offer
The recast rebuilds three years of the seller's tax returns line by line, with every number linked to the page it came from. One-time items come out. Your own estimates for rent and manager pay go in. Then it walks from your number to the broker's number, so you can see what the gap is made of.
Free on your first deal, no card.
Prove the cash before you close
The tax returns tell you what the seller reported. The bank statements tell you what came in and went out. At the letter of intent (LOI), Cash Proof ties the two together month by month, with the statement page behind every figure, and gives your CPA, attorney and anyone else you invite a seat on the deal.
$995 once per deal. If the deal dies, it moves to your next one within 12 months. Run it before you decide whether a quality of earnings report is worth paying for. The same files go to whoever reviews the deal, whether that is a lender, an investor or only you.
How Cash Proof works
Free with every account
- Buy box and listing clipper
- Check the NDA before you sign it
- One link for the seller's documents
- 92-item diligence checklist in four stages
- Deal journal and site visits from your phone
- SBA deal calculator
Your first deal is free, no card. Plans for more deals start at $19.99 a month. See pricing
Create your free accountQuestions
- Will it work on the business I'm looking at?
- It works from a federal business tax return: Form 1120-S, 1120 or 1065, or a sole proprietor's Schedule C.
- Where do the seller's tax returns go, and who can see them?
- They are stored in the United States, visible only inside your account and to the people you invite onto that deal. They stay until you delete the document, the deal or your account. The Privacy Policy has the full statement on how documents are processed and kept.
- Does it work with no bank in the deal?
- Yes. Buying with cash and a seller note works the same way, and the same files go to whoever reviews the deal.
- Does it replace my CPA or a quality of earnings report?
- No. Probity builds the numbers from the tax returns and, with Cash Proof, the bank statements, and shows you the gaps. It is not an audit, a quality of earnings report or an opinion of value. Cash Proof covers money that went through the bank. Run it first, to decide what is worth paying a professional to look at.
- Does Probity contact owners or brokers for me?
- You make every call and send every email yourself. On Deal Check and up, the call list shows who to call today and proposes the next date.
- What does it cost after the first deal?
- Deal Check is $19.99 a month for two new deals each month. Deal Desk is $49.99 a month for twenty new deals each month, and one subscription covers every deal in your pipeline. Cash Proof is $995 once, on the deal you sign an LOI on. See pricing
Buying with an SBA loan? See what changed for buyers on October 1, 2026. What changes for buyers
Check the broker's number against the tax returns, before you price your offer.
On the sample deal, the broker's number was $277,790 above the returns. See what yours shows.
Create your free accountNo card. Your first deal is free.