How It Works

How BizBuyScore Works

Four steps. Under two minutes. A Business Attractiveness Score you can actually trust.

Upload Your Listing

Got an information memorandum? Drag it into BizBuyScore and the AI takes over. No formatting required — it reads whatever the broker sent you.

✓Supported: PDF information memoranda from any broker
✓Upload takes under 10 seconds
✓No PDF? Enter numbers manually — it takes about 90 seconds

Pro plan required for PDF extraction. Free users use manual entry.

Review Extracted Data

Claude reads the IM and extracts the key numbers — asking price, revenue, earnings (EBITDA or SDE), prior-year earnings, and owner dependency signals. You review the extracted fields before scoring. Anything missed or wrong? Edit it in-line.

✓Extracts: price, revenue, earnings, earnings type (EBITDA/SDE), prior two years of earnings, headcount, and owner dependency signals
✓Null fields highlighted in amber so nothing slips through
✓You confirm before any score is calculated

See Your Deal Flags

Before your BAS score appears, BizBuyScore shows you the RED and AMBER flags that matter most. These are the deal conditions that serious buyers — and lenders — look at first.

RED —DSCR below lender minimum: the deal probably cannot be financed at this price

RED —Multiple above sector ceiling: the asking price is above typical market range

AMBER —High owner dependency: the business may struggle without the current owner

AMBER —Below-benchmark margins: profitability is lower than the industry norm

AMBER —Declining earnings trend: earnings have contracted over the past two years

AMBER —High-risk industry: this sector carries above-average acquisition risk

Deal flags are calculated against industry-specific benchmarks, not generic rules of thumb.

Get Your BAS Score

The Business Attractiveness Score combines all six dimensions into a single 0–10 number. You can see exactly how each dimension contributed — and what to investigate further in due diligence.

✓Score range: 0 – 10 (displayed to one decimal place)
✓Colour-coded: green ≥ 8, teal ≥ 6, amber ≥ 4, red < 4
✓Six sub-score bars: Financial Quality, Valuation, Financing Feasibility, Industry Risk, Owner Dependency, Earnings Trend
✓Interpretation label: Highly Attractive / Good Opportunity / Moderate Risk / High Risk

The Score

The six BAS dimensions explained.

BizBuyScore does not produce a single opaque number. Every score is the sum of six measurable, explainable dimensions. Here is what each one measures and why it matters.

Financial Quality

Weight: 20%

Measures EBITDA or SDE margin against the benchmark range for the industry.

Why it matters: Margin tells you how efficiently the business converts revenue into earnings. Below-benchmark margins compress your returns and can signal cost problems or pricing weakness.

Scored higher when actual margin exceeds the industry benchmark high.

Valuation Quality

Weight: 20%

Measures the asking multiple (price ÷ earnings) against the typical range for the industry.

Why it matters: Overpaying destroys returns regardless of business quality. A multiple well above the sector ceiling is a red flag — even for a good business.

Scored higher when the multiple is below the industry benchmark low (you're getting a discount).

Financing Feasibility

Weight: 25%

Calculates the Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) based on standard SBA-style financing assumptions (60% LTV, 8.5% interest, 7-year term) and compares it against the industry minimum.

Why it matters: If the deal cannot service its debt at standard lending terms, most buyers will need a larger deposit — or will be unable to finance it at all.

Scored higher when DSCR exceeds 1.5× the industry minimum threshold.

Industry Risk

Weight: 15%

A fixed risk score for the industry, based on sector volatility, fragmentation, and sensitivity to economic cycles.

Why it matters: Some industries are structurally harder to finance and operate than others. A restaurant scores lower here than an accounting practice — regardless of the specific business.

Scored higher when the industry has historically low failure rates and stable demand.

Owner Dependency

Weight: 15%

Five yes/no questions assess whether the business can operate without the current owner: primary customer contact, absence of SOPs, daily operational involvement, staff retention risk, and critical skills or licences held personally.

Why it matters: High owner dependency is one of the most common reasons SMB deals fail post-acquisition. Lenders also penalise it heavily.

Scored higher when all five questions are answered No (the owner is not a single point of failure).

Earnings Trend

Weight: 5%

Calculates the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of earnings over the past one or two years and converts it into a trend score.

Why it matters: A business with growing earnings is worth more — and is a better long-term bet — than one in decline. Trend is given the lowest weight because one- or two-year data can be noisy.

Scored higher when earnings CAGR exceeds 10% per year. Scored 5/10 when no trend data is available.

Dashboard

Dashboard and deal comparison

Your deal dashboard

Every evaluation you run is saved to your dashboard, sorted by BAS score by default. You can sort by date, industry, or BAS and filter by category. Flag counts are shown so you can see at a glance which deals need more attention.

Side-by-side comparison

Select up to three deals and open them in a side-by-side comparison view. All six sub-scores are shown for each deal, and the highest score in each dimension is highlighted green — so you can see immediately where each deal is strongest and weakest.

Dashboard available for free users (up to 5 deals). Unlimited with Pro.

Ready to evaluate your first deal?

Three evaluations are free. No credit card required. Most buyers complete their first evaluation in under two minutes.

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