Every business transaction starts with understanding the numbers. These free calculators help buyers, sellers, and brokers evaluate key financial metrics used throughout the buying and selling process, including Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE), business value, financing costs, and potential investment returns.
Begin with SDE, the earnings metric most often used to assess the performance and value of a small business. Then use the calculators individually or together to gain deeper financial insight and make more confident business decisions.
Understand Cash Flow
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Calculate Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE)
Calculate Seller's Discretionary Earnings: the owner-operator cash flow used to price most small, owner-run businesses for sale.
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Calculate Cash Flow (SDE & EBITDA)
Calculate SDE and EBITDA together: the two earnings figures buyers and lenders use to value larger or management-run businesses.
Benchmark & Value a Business
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Calculate Business Listing Benchmarks
Benchmark a business for sale against all other industry listings to evaluate asking price and financial performance.
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Calculate the Value of Your Business
Get a market-based value estimate using BizBuySell listing data, with outliers removed and real estate excluded from asking prices.
Evaluate Financing Capacity
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Calculate How Much Business You Can Buy
Estimate the purchase-price range you can afford based on your available cash and expected financing before you start evaluating businesses.
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Calculate Debt Service Coverage
Evaluate whether a business's cash flow can support its loan payments, a key metric used by SBA and conventional lenders.
Analyze Investment Returns
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Calculate the ROI on a Business Purchase
Estimate a business's annual return relative to your total investment, after accounting for an owner's replacement salary.
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Calculate the Cash-on-Cash Return on a Business Purchase
Calculate the return on the cash you invest in a deal—making it easier to compare leveraged, seller-financed, and all-cash purchases.
Estimate Operating Capital Needs
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