Buy or sell a business with support

Get your questions and documents ready. Then talk with an AmPac advisor.

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This page is education only. Nothing here is a valuation, a loan offer, or an approval.

Where do you start?

Pick the question closest to yours.

Buy a business

Check the business, the financing, and the paperwork before you make an offer.

See the buyer steps

Sell a business

Get your records and questions ready before you meet a buyer.

See the seller list

Estimate a value

See a rough figure from a published market average.

Open the estimator

Finance a purchase

Learn what to ask a lender about buying a business.

See the questions

Buying a business: four steps

Work through them in order.

  1. Step 1

    Define the target

    Pick the industry, the place, the size, and the price range.

  2. Step 2

    Talk about financing

    Ask an advisor how a lender looks at a purchase. Do it before you make an offer.

  3. Step 3

    Check the business

    Review the financials, debts, leases, customers, and staff.

  4. Step 4

    Offer and close

    Agree on price, terms, and a handover plan. Have a lawyer and a CPA review.

Checklists

Open a list. Ask your CPA and lawyer which items apply to your deal.

Buyer: what to check12 items
  • Business tax returns for the past few years
  • Profit and loss statements and balance sheets
  • Year-to-date financial statements
  • Reports on money owed to the business and money it owes
  • Contracts, leases, and other agreements
  • Whether the lease can transfer to you
  • Employee list, pay, and years of service
  • Main customers and suppliers, and how much each one matters
  • Equipment list, age, and repair records
  • Existing debts and liens
  • Lawsuits, licenses, and permits
  • The seller's reason for selling, and any owner costs added back to profit
Seller: what to prepare12 items
  • Business tax returns for the past few years
  • Monthly profit and loss statements for the last two years
  • A list of the assets in the sale, with values
  • The lease and its transfer terms
  • Employee pay and any key employee contracts
  • Vendor and supplier agreements
  • Written steps for how the business runs
  • Current licenses and permits
  • Formation papers and ownership records
  • Personal costs run through the business, cleaned up and listed
  • Any lawsuit or tax issue, with a plan to resolve it
  • The help you can give a buyer after the sale

Rough value range

Enter your yearly owner earnings. The tool multiplies them by a published market average.

This is seller's discretionary earnings. It is profit plus the owner's pay and one-time costs.

Your number stays on this page. We do not send or save it.

Your figure

Enter your earnings and choose Show the figure.

Financing questions

A lender treats each part of a purchase price in its own way. Ask before you make an offer.

Goodwill and intangibles

Brand value, customer lists, and systems. Ask how a lender treats them.

Equipment and inventory

Things you can touch that come with the sale. Ask how a lender treats them.

Working capital

Cash the business needs after the sale. Ask how a lender treats it.

Seller note. In many deals the seller carries back part of the price. Ask an advisor how a lender views it.

Talk with an advisor Check capital readiness Open Finance AI

Ask ECO

ECO answers general questions on buying, selling, valuing, and financing a business. It does not give legal, tax, or lending advice.

ECO needs a signed-in account. Everything else on this page does not.

Send a question to a person

Answer five short steps. Never enter a Social Security number, a tax ID, a bank account number, or a tax return.

What do you want to do?

Prefer to talk?

Book a time with an advisor. Or use the contact page.

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AmPac Business Capital is an SBA lender. This page is general education. It is not legal, tax, or accounting advice. It is not a commitment to lend or an offer of credit.