Tools
11 calculators, by the question you are asking
Buying a business is a sequence of separate questions, and the same figures answer them differently depending on which one you are asking. These are grouped by the decision rather than by the arithmetic. No email gate, no signup, and your figures never leave your browser.
What is it earning, and what is it worth?
Start here. Every other number on this page depends on getting these two right.
SDE calculator
Reconstruct Seller's Discretionary Earnings two ways at once — the optimistic view a listing shows, and the conservative view a lender underwrites. The gap between them is the negotiation.
What is this business really earning? → 7 inputsAsking price sanity check
Works backwards from the asking price to the multiple it implies, how much is goodwill rather than assets, and what the price would be at a multiple you consider fair.
Is this price defensible? →Can I afford it — and what will it actually cost me?
The price is one number. The cash you need is a bigger one.
SBA 7(a) affordability & DSCR calculator
Three ceilings — what you can inject, what the cash flow services at a lender-grade coverage ratio, and the programme cap. Your budget is the lowest of the three, and this tells you which one binds.
How much business can I afford? → 9 inputsCash to close calculator
The equity injection is roughly half of it. Add transaction costs, day-one working capital and a reserve to see what you must genuinely have on hand.
How much cash do I actually need? →What do I get out of it?
The same deal from two angles. One is the operator’s question, the other the investor’s — and they can give very different answers about the same business.
Owner earnings calculator
What reaches you after debt service, tax and reinvestment — and what that works out to per hour. The honest test of whether you are buying a business or a job.
Will this business actually pay me? → 6 inputsCash-on-cash return calculator
Return on the cash you put in, payback period, and what leverage is doing to both — in the good year and the bad one.
What does my capital earn? →Can it carry the costs?
What the business has to produce, and what it has to be handed on day one.
Break-even revenue calculator
Three break-even lines rather than one: fixed costs, then your salary, then the acquisition debt. Only the third decides whether you keep the business.
How far can revenue fall? → 8 inputsWorking capital target calculator
The level the business normally runs at, the target delivered at closing, and the dollar-for-dollar adjustment when the two differ.
What must the seller leave behind? → 9 inputsOccupancy cost calculator
Base rent is not the cost. Add operating charges, taxes, escalations and — in Manhattan below 96th Street — the Commercial Rent Tax.
What does the premises really cost? →What are the deal terms worth?
Structure moves real money. Model it before you agree to it.
Seller note calculator
Payment, total interest and the balloon — plus what the note adds to combined annual debt service, which is the figure your lender tests.
What does seller financing cost? → 6 inputsEarnout scenario calculator
Tiered payout across outcomes — the miss, the target, the overperformance — and the total price each one produces.
What happens if the target is missed? →What none of these will do
- They are not valuations. A multiple times an earnings figure is arithmetic, not a price — and no tool here will tell you what multiple is right, because that depends on things a calculator cannot see.
- They are not loan pre-approvals. A lender reconstructs the earnings independently and will reach a different number. Where they disagree with a figure here, they are right.
- They do not see revenue trend, customer concentration, lease terms, equipment condition or the competitive position — all of which move the answer more than any input you can type.
Every formula is written out on the page that uses it and documented on the methodology page. Where a tool applies a published rule rather than your own figures — the Commercial Rent Tax is the only one — the rule is quoted and sourced on that page.
Talk to an advisor
Got a number out of a calculator you do not quite believe?
That is the most useful twenty minutes on this site. Bring the figures and the listing to a free call — you will find out quickly whether the earnings hold up and what a lender is likely to do with them.
- You're choosing between two or three target industries and want a reality check on each.
- You've found a listing and want a second set of eyes on the financials before you spend on a CPA.
- You're an out-of-state buyer who needs a New York-specific view of taxes, licensing, and deal norms.
- You're stalled on how to source off-market opportunities in your target region.
Prefer email? Reach jason.taken@hedgestone.com.
Not ready to talk? The calculators and the due-diligence checklist need no introduction.