Valuing Your SMB Before a Sale: The Checklist That Prevents Discount (Process + IT + Financials)

    Actionable pre-sale checklist: make the business readable, transferable, and less risky. Focus on processes, dependencies, data room, and 'seller-ready' IT.

    Published on •Updated on •8 min•By Théo Fleury, Founder ABC OPTIM
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    Key takeaways

    • Problem: buyers apply a discount when financials, processes, or IT are unclear (risk = lower price).
    • Solution: prepare a scannable data room + reduce dependencies + clean up IT.
    • Result: faster deal, better terms, and fewer post-signing surprises.

    Valuation is something you prepare. Anything 'unprovable' becomes a price discount or a contractual clause. The goal: make your company predictable, transferable, and secure.

    The 3 most common sources of discount

    • Dependency on key individuals (sales, production, IT).
    • Questionable financials (margin, inventory, pipeline, DSO).
    • Fragile IT (shared access, unclear licensing, untested backups).

    'Seller-ready' checklist

    Prepare before opening the data room

    • Key KPIs + calculation method (margin, inventory, DSO, client concentration)
    • Documented processes (sales, delivery, invoicing) — 1 page each
    • IT inventory: applications, licenses, contracts, domains, admins
    • MFA + named admin accounts + shared account removal
    • Tested backups + minimal disaster recovery plan
    • Supplier contracts + reversibility clauses

    Expert insight

    Discounts rarely come from a 'major bug'. They come from dozens of small unknowns. A clear IT inventory + evidence (MFA, tested backups) immediately changes a buyer's perception.

    — ABC OPTIM

    Next step

    If you're targeting a sale within 6–18 months, send us your tool list (ERP/CRM/cloud) + your 3 management KPIs. We'll send back a prioritized checklist and the quick wins. ABC OPTIM can help you strengthen IT and management to reduce discount points.

    Pillar article: 'SMB Acquisition / Divestiture: the Complete IT Due Diligence Guide (risks, costing, clauses, 100-day plan)'.

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