When you’re buying a business, choosing the wrong accountant can cost you far more than their fee. Financial due diligence and deal support are not extensions of compliance work. They sit in a completely different skill set, one that blends technical accounting, commercial judgement, negotiation awareness, and lived experience of transactions. These are the questions a business owner should be asking, what good answers sound like, and how OnPoint Accounting stacks up against them.
The Question: What experience do you have supporting business acquisitions rather than just running accounts?
The responses they should look for:
A suitable accountant should be able to clearly explain their role in acquisitions from the buyer’s side, including financial due diligence, deal analysis, and post-acquisition considerations. The answer should focus on transaction work and risk assessment, not compliance or year-end accounts. If the response sounds like a rebranded bookkeeping service, that’s a warning sign.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
OnPoint Accounting actively supports buyers through business acquisitions, providing financial due diligence and deal advisory that goes far beyond compliance. Our leadership team has direct experience acquiring businesses, and Johann Goree regularly speaks about buying businesses, valuations, and FDD, ensuring our buyer-side advice is grounded in real transactions.
The Question: Can you walk me through deals you’ve supported from a buyer’s perspective, including financial due diligence and post-deal considerations?
The responses they should look for:
A strong answer demonstrates end-to-end involvement in deals, including pre-offer analysis, diligence findings, and how those findings influenced price, structure, or the decision to walk away. Vague or high-level answers usually indicate limited deal exposure.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
We support buyers throughout the acquisition lifecycle, from early financial analysis and diligence through to post-completion considerations. Our work regularly informs negotiation strategy, deal structure, and go-no-go decisions, not just report delivery.
The Question: What types and sizes of businesses do you typically support buyers to acquire?
The responses they should look for:
The accountant should demonstrate familiarity with businesses of a similar size, complexity, and maturity. Buyers need advisors who understand the financial realities of businesses at that level, including funding, reporting quality, and operational risk.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
OnPoint Accounting supports buyers acquiring founder-owned and owner-managed businesses across a wide range of sectors, typically from early growth through to multi-million-pound operations. Many of these acquisitions involve businesses transitioning from informal financial systems into more structured environments.
The Question: How often do you work with first-time acquirers versus experienced buyers?
The responses they should look for:
A credible answer will acknowledge the different needs of first-time buyers, including education, expectation management, and decision support. Experience with both groups is valuable, but the ability to guide a first-time buyer is critical.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
We regularly work with both first-time acquirers and experienced buyers. For first-time buyers, we place particular emphasis on education, clarity, and helping them understand what truly matters in a deal, rather than overwhelming them with technical detail.
The Question: Have you identified issues in diligence that changed a buyer’s valuation or stopped a deal entirely?
The responses they should look for:
The accountant should be comfortable discussing situations where diligence uncovered risks that materially affected valuation or resulted in the buyer walking away. Avoiding this question or soft-pedalling outcomes is a red flag.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
Yes. Our diligence work has identified earnings risks, working capital issues, and structural weaknesses that have led buyers to renegotiate price, change deal structure, or exit the transaction entirely. Protecting the buyer’s capital is a core part of our role.
The Question: What does your financial due diligence actually cover, and what doesn’t it cover?
The responses they should look for:
A good answer clearly defines scope and limitations. Buyers should be wary of accountants who imply diligence covers everything without explaining boundaries.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
Our financial due diligence focuses on earnings quality, sustainability, working capital, debt-like items, and financial risk. We are transparent about scope and work closely with legal and commercial advisers to ensure there are no gaps in coverage.
The Question: How do you assess the quality and sustainability of earnings, not just historical profits?
The responses they should look for:
The accountant should explain how they normalise earnings, identify one-offs, and assess whether profits are repeatable post-acquisition.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
OnPoint Accounting analyses earnings beyond headline profit, stripping out non-recurring items, owner distortions, and timing anomalies. Our focus is on what the buyer can reasonably expect the business to generate going forward.
The Question: Can you help me understand where the numbers might be flattered, overstated, or not repeatable?
The responses they should look for:
A strong accountant is willing to challenge the numbers and explain where presentation or accounting choices may overstate performance.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
We actively look for areas where earnings may be flattered, including aggressive capitalisation, deferred costs, or unsustainable cost structures. These insights are central to protecting buyers from overpaying.
The Question: How do you help buyers think about working capital, debt-like items, and normalisation adjustments?
The responses they should look for:
The answer should demonstrate a clear understanding of how these items affect cash at completion and overall deal value.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
OnPoint Accounting helps buyers identify true working capital requirements, debt-like items, and appropriate normalisation adjustments so there are no surprises at completion or immediately post-deal.
The Question: Can you help me translate diligence findings into price negotiations or deal structure changes?
The responses they should look for:
The accountant should explain how financial findings are turned into leverage during negotiations, not just delivered as a report.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
We support buyers by translating diligence findings into clear negotiation points, whether that means price reductions, earn-outs, deferred consideration, or protective clauses.
The Question: Will you challenge my assumptions if I’m too optimistic about the deal?
The responses they should look for:
A good accountant acts as a sounding board and reality check, not a cheerleader.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
Yes. We challenge assumptions where necessary and provide an objective, independent view. Our role is to protect the buyer, even when that means uncomfortable conversations.
The Question: Can you explain complex financial findings in plain English so I can make confident decisions?
The responses they should look for:
The buyer should feel informed, not confused. Clear communication is essential.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
We prioritise clarity. Our findings are explained in plain English so buyers understand the implications, not just the numbers.
The Question: How do you ensure confidentiality while still giving me confidence in your credibility and experience?
The responses they should look for:
A professional firm will balance confidentiality with visible expertise.
The OnPoint Accounting response:
While we do not disclose client details, Johann Goree regularly speaks publicly about buying businesses, valuations, and financial due diligence. This provides transparency into our expertise while maintaining strict client confidentiality.
Buying a business is one of the most financially exposed decisions a business owner will ever make. Yet many buyers still rely on accountants whose experience stops at compliance and historical reporting. Financial due diligence is not about confirming that the numbers add up, it’s about understanding whether the business will deliver what you think you are buying, and what could go wrong once the keys are handed over.
The difference between a good deal and an expensive mistake often comes down to whether your advisor is prepared to challenge assumptions, surface uncomfortable truths, and translate complex financial issues into decisions you can act on. A buyer-side accountant should not simply report findings, they should help you decide whether to proceed, renegotiate, restructure, or walk away entirely.
At OnPoint Accounting, we see our role as protecting buyers, not just producing reports. Our work is grounded in real acquisition experience, commercial judgement, and a deep understanding of how deals actually unfold. Through financial due diligence, valuation insight, and transaction advisory, we help buyers understand what they are really buying, how much risk they are taking on, and how to structure deals accordingly.
Johann Goree’s regular involvement in acquiring businesses himself, combined with his speaking engagements on buying businesses, valuations, and financial due diligence, ensures our approach stays practical, current, and buyer-focused. We are not observers of the deal market, we are active participants in it.
If you are considering buying a business and want an accountant who will challenge the numbers, protect your capital, and help you make confident decisions, the right questions matter. And so does who you ask them to.
Please seek professional advice and guidance when considering implementing the content of this blog, and always advise the seller to seek independent advice.
To learn more about the financial due diligence process in buying a business, why not purchase the book “Buying a Business The Smart Way” By Johann Goree: https://amzn.eu/d/0anwcVBk