Of these six things — three years of financials, tax returns, formation documents, your customer contracts, an employee roster, insurance certificates — how many could you put your hands on this week?

About half, and some only as summaries rather than the documents

How old is the most recent version of your key paperwork — financials, insurance certificates, licences?

Several are stale — financials more than two quarters old

When you state your revenue, EBITDA, headcount and customer count, can you point to a document that shows each number?

Several appear only in a CIM, overview or memo

Which corporate records do you hold — formation documents, the operating or shareholder agreement, a current cap table, board or member minutes?

Formation and ownership documents; governance records are thin

For your material customer, vendor and lease agreements, do you hold signed copies you could retrieve on request?

A representative sample rather than the full set

What employment paperwork exists — offer letters or agreements, a handbook, an org chart, work-eligibility records?

A roster exists but supporting documents are largely absent

If a buyer asked for three years of financials, contracts, and corporate records tomorrow, how long would it take you to produce them?

Days — it's already organized in one place

If you decided to step back permanently, who takes over, and how far has that been prepared?

I have a view on who it would be, but nothing is written down

If a long-standing employee left tomorrow, how much of what they know is written down somewhere another person could follow?

Core things are written down; a lot still sits with individuals

If you stepped away for 60 days, what would happen?

Mostly fine; I'd handle a few decisions remotely

If your most important employee resigned next month, what happens?

We'd manage, with real disruption

How much of your revenue comes from your largest customer?

10–25%

How much of next year's revenue is already under contract or on recurring agreements, rather than needing to be won again?

Around a third to a half; terms vary

Are your customer and vendor agreements signed, current, and transferable to a new owner?

Mostly signed and current; transferability not checked

Of the customers you had this time last year, how many are still with you — and how do you know?

Roughly 80–90%; tracked informally

How are your books kept?

Accrual, prepared in-house, reviewed annually

When you calculate your real earnings for a buyer — SDE or adjusted EBITDA — what do you add back to reported profit, and could you document each one?

A meaningful amount added back; most are legitimate but only partly documented

When do you record revenue — and has that been the same in each of the last three years?

Mostly consistent, with some irregular timing

Over the last three years, what have revenue and profit done?

Grown around 10-15% a year with stable margins

How much of the day-to-day work is written down?

Some written procedures, applied unevenly

If your volume tripled over two years, what would your current systems do?

Strain — some systems are dated or poorly documented

Is there any single supplier, platform or subcontractor you could not replace within a month without hurting customers?

Two or three would be genuinely disruptive and costly to switch

How long after month-end do you have financials you'd act on, and who reviews them?

Quarterly, handled by a bookkeeper

If you were unavailable, could someone else get into every system the business depends on?

Mostly, but nothing is documented and some accounts are personal

When did you last review who has access to your systems, and test that your backups restore?

Within the last year or two

If you needed to know your revenue by service line and customer for last quarter, how would you get it?

Assemble it from several systems by hand

Do you have a list of every software subscription the business pays for, with who owns the account and when it renews?

We know what we use, but it isn't written down

Is anything you rely on running on software that is out of date, unsupported, or that you have been putting off replacing?

A mixed picture; some deferred upgrades, all known

Are every licence and permit you operate under current — and do you know whether they survive a change of ownership?

All current; transferability never formally checked

Have your key customer, vendor and lease agreements been read for what happens to them when the business changes hands?

The contracts exist but nobody has checked the assignment language

Where do you stand on employment paperwork — work-eligibility records, written agreements, and how staff and contractors are classified?

Eligibility records inconsistent, agreements informal, some classification questions

Who legally owns your software, brand, customer data and processes — the business, or a person?

Assumed to be the entity's, but never formally assigned

What disputes, claims or potential liabilities exist that a buyer would want disclosed?

None open, none threatened, and a clean history

Of the people working here two years ago, how many are still here — and how long has the average person been with you?

A clear majority; average tenure three to five years

How do you decide what to pay people, and when did you last compare it to what others in your industry pay?

Roughly market rate for most roles; benchmarking is occasional

The last time you hired, how much of it did you personally do — and what did the new person's first month look like?

A written process and a standard onboarding checklist

Setting yourself aside — for each key role, is there a second person who could do it?

At least one backup identified for each key role

Is anyone paid or given benefits in a way that only works while you own the business — handshake bonuses, personal arrangements, family terms?

Mostly formal and portable, with minor exceptions

When a customer calls outside business hours, what happens — voicemail, an answering service, or an automated agent that can book work?

After-hours line routes to the on-call tech.

Which CRM or job-management system do you use, and is every lead entered into it?

CRM for the pipeline; job data lives in the accounting system.

Can a prospective customer reach you or book time at 9pm on a Sunday without a person being involved?

Web form overnight, answered next morning.

Are appointment reminders and confirmations sent automatically by text?

Some SMS confirmations for service visits.

Is a review request sent automatically after a completed job, or does someone remember to ask?

Not systematic.

When a quote goes unanswered, does anything follow up automatically?

PM follows up on open quotes.