SBA Quality of Earnings Reports.
Built for the Credit File.

Under SOP 50 10 8.1, which applies to loans assigned an SBA loan number on or after October 1, 2026, lenders must obtain a quality of earnings report for Initial Acquisition and Business Expansion transactions with a business purchase price of $3 million or more. Owner-occupied real estate is excluded from that price, and Owner Buyout and ESOP transactions are exempt.

Every change of ownership also needs an independent business valuation ordered by the lender, with no dollar threshold. Borrowers can see what to expect on our quality of earnings report page.

The report must include a cash proof reconciling bank statement data to the income statement and tax return for the trailing 12 months and the last 2 fiscal years. It should also document add-backs and assess customer concentration and contract continuity.

Our SBA quality of earnings reports run 17 sections, from the adjusted EBITDA bridge and cash proof through the DSCR calculation, closing on a findings table that puts a dollar figure on every risk.

The SOP requires an independent, experienced financial professional who performs the work for the benefit of the lender. A report prepared by or for the borrower or seller does not qualify, and a sell-side report commissioned by a broker will not satisfy the rule.

Every report is reviewed and signed by Cathy Mitchell, CPA, ABV, who has held a CPA license since 1987. She reads the workpapers, traces every adjustment in the bridge to its source document, and either signs the report or sends it back.

Seth Kimble, our Director of Accounting, owns the technical build and first review, and Kaylee Philbrick-Theuerkauf reads every report before it is issued.

We accept lender-ordered engagements only. We decline any engagement on a transaction where we prepared the business plan, the projections, or the loan package for the applicant, and we do not perform a valuation, act as a packager, or act as a referral agent on any file where we prepare the report.

Our borrower-side services, such as acquisition business plans and M&A preparation, stay on separate files.

Hourly, at the same rate for every role on the file, from the analyst who rebuilds the ledger to the CPA who signs. We do not price by loan amount, because deal size only predicts how many hours a file takes.

Within 24 to 48 hours of the scoping call, you receive a written not-to-exceed figure and a delivery date. Time is recorded in 0.25-hour increments with a timesheet on every invoice. Schedule a scoping call to get a quote on your next file.

A Focused engagement is delivered in 10 business days and a Full scope engagement in 15, measured from a complete document list. No file exceeds 3 weeks.

The clock starts on our written confirmation that the list is complete, which comes within 1 business day of the final upload. If we miss the date, a 10% credit is applied to the invoice automatically.

The fixed list covers annual and monthly financial statements for 3 fiscal years plus the current stub period, the general ledger, bank statements and reconciliations, merchant processor reports, federal and state tax returns, payroll registers, a client schedule, client contracts, receivable aging, deferred revenue, loan and lease documents, related-party agreements, and the purchase agreement or term sheet.

We send that list to your team for review against your own closing checklist before any borrower sees it. Borrowers with an organized data room clear this step fastest.

Yes. We coordinate timelines and document requests with your valuation firm so the borrower is not asked for the same files twice. We never perform the valuation on a file where we prepare the report.

Yes. Many lenders order an SBA quality of earnings report on smaller deals when add-backs are large, the business is cash-heavy, or the records are thin. The same 17 sections, conflict rules, and CPA signature apply at every deal size.