Subscriber ledger & processor backup
Your own record of every recurring payment and payout, kept outside Stripe or PayPal.
Check Due-diligence pack for small online business buyers
Does the revenue hold up? Check the seller's numbers before you pay for the business.
{{BRAND}} checks what the seller says against what the seller's own Stripe, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy or Shopify exports show: monthly revenue, churn by cohort, your biggest customers, refunds and chargebacks, and traffic from access the seller grants. You also get a handover checklist for the platform you're buying. For $20K to $1M deals on Acquire.com, Flippa or through a broker. A person checks every figure.
- No card needed
- No software to install
- Your workbook stays yours
Tool A · asking $96,0002 don't match
No matchMRR listed at $4,000. The Stripe export gives $3,350
No matchChurn listed "under 2%". The export shows about 4.5% a month
AskClient 03 is 15% of MRR. The top 3 clients are 33%
MatchesPayouts match the bank deposits, 12 of 12 months
HandoverStripe account is in the seller's name: plan how 132 subscriptions move
Sample with made-up business and numbers
The problem
A listing gives you one number. You're about to pay for it.
"Runs itself" at $4K MRR
The listing says one figure for monthly revenue. It doesn't say whether setup fees, annual plans billed in one go, or subscriptions that stopped paying are counted in it.
Real revenue can still be shaky
Half the customers may have joined in the last three months. One client may be a fifth of the total. A margin that leaves out the owner's own 15 hours a week looks better than it is.
The handover is where it drags
One seller on Reddit described a $5,500 sale that went from first contact in March to money in July, mostly on paperwork, moving a Shopify app listing and handover calls. Domains, payment accounts and keys are easier to sort out before you sign.
A marketplace's paid due-diligence report can cost $1,500 to $2,500 a deal. {{BRAND}} checks the revenue, customers and handover from $149, so you can see the numbers before you decide whether a bigger review is worth paying for.
How it works
Three steps. Your first check is one month of the seller's data.
Send the listing, ask the seller for exports
Send us the listing or your offer terms. We reply with a one-page list of what to ask the seller for: processor exports for the last 12 to 24 months, bank statement totals for the same months, and viewer access to Search Console or Analytics. You forward it to the seller.
We recompute every number
We work out monthly revenue from the transactions, not from the summary. Then churn by monthly cohort, your biggest customers, refunds and chargebacks, payouts against bank deposits and where the traffic comes from. A person checks every figure against the files.
You get a report to negotiate with
A short summary, a workbook with the working, questions to put to the seller and a handover checklist for the platform and accounts. It's ready 3 to 5 working days after we get the files.
What changes hands
What you send, and what you get for each deal
You send (once per deal)
- The listing or your offer terms, and the asking price
- The seller's processor exports for 12 to 24 months: Stripe, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy or Shopify (we tell you which reports to ask for)
- Bank statement totals for the same months, so we can match payouts
- Viewer access to Google Search Console or Analytics, or exports from them, where the seller agrees
- For a content site: earnings reports from AdSense, Mediavine or Amazon Associates
- Customer names and emails removed if possible. A customer ID is enough
You get (within 3 to 5 working days)
- A two-page summary: what matches, what doesn't, what to ask
- A workbook in Google Sheets or Excel: MRR, churn by cohort, concentration, refunds and chargebacks (for a store or content site: monthly sales or earnings, repeat buyers and refunds)
- Payouts matched to bank deposits, month by month
- A traffic read: where visits come from and how much rests on one source
- Questions to put to the seller, most important first
- A handover checklist for the platform: domain, DNS, payment account, store or app listing, keys, support inbox
- A real person to reply to: {{FIRST_NAME}}
Sample pack
What you read before you make the offer
A short summary first, then the table behind it and the questions to send the seller. This sample uses a made-up business, made-up customers and made-up numbers.
From {{FIRST_NAME}} at {{BRAND}}
Subject Tool A, asking $96,000: 2 numbers don't match the listing, 3 to ask the seller about
Doesn't match the listing (2)
- MRR · The listing says $4,000 at 30 Sep. The Stripe export gives $3,350. The gap is $650: 3 one-off setup fees ($300), 5 subscriptions unpaid for over 60 days ($130), and one annual plan billed in September counted at $240 instead of $20 a month ($220).
- Churn · The listing says "under 2% a month". Over the last 6 months the export shows about 4.5%, around 6 of 132 customers leaving each month.
Ask the seller (3)
- Concentration · Client 03 pays $490 a month, 15% of MRR. The top 3 clients are 33%. Ask how long they've been customers and whether they are on a contract.
- Refunds and disputes · $1,780 refunded over 12 months, 4.0% of charges. 14 of the 31 refunds came in the 30 days after the price rise on 1 Jun. 3 disputes opened and 2 were lost ($580). Ask what changed on 1 June.
- Traffic · In Search Console (viewer access from the seller), 78% of search clicks land on 2 pages. Ask how those pages rank, who wrote them and what happens if they drop.
Checked and matches (2)
- Payouts · Stripe payouts match the deposits on the bank statements for all 12 months. We matched monthly totals, not single customers.
- Customers · 132 paying customers, in line with the listing's "130+".
Handover to plan (4)
- Stripe · The account is in the seller's name. Agree in writing how the 132 subscriptions move to your account and who is responsible for cards that fail on the way.
- Domain and DNS · Registered in the seller's personal account. Ask for a transfer at closing, not a shared login.
- Keys and logins · 6 third-party API keys and 3 admin logins to change on day one.
- Support inbox · Customer emails go to the seller's own mailbox. Set up forwarding before closing.
Attached: the workbook (also in your Google Sheet, tabs "MRR", "Cohorts", "Refunds" and "Payouts") and the handover checklist. This checks the numbers the seller gave us. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and not a code audit.
Checked by {{FIRST_NAME}} · reply to this email with any question
Checked by {{FIRST_NAME}} · reply to this email with any question
The numbers behind it
In your workbook, each figure links to the transactions it came from.
| Measure | Listing says | Export shows | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| MRR at 30 Sep | $4,000 | $3,350 | −$650 |
| Revenue, last 12 months, after refunds and lost disputes | $46,800 | $41,930 | −$4,870 |
| Monthly churn, last 6 months | under 2% | about 4.5% | about 2.5 points more |
| Paying customers | 130+ | 132 | matches |
| Largest customer, share of MRR | not stated | 15% | ask the seller |
| Refunds, last 12 months | not stated | $1,780 (4.0%) | ask the seller |
| Payouts vs bank deposits | not stated | 12 of 12 months | matches |
From You (we draft it, you send it)
To The seller of Tool A
Subject A few questions on the numbers before we go further
Hi,
We've gone through the Stripe export and the bank totals you sent, and most of it lines up. Could you help with four things?
1. The listing shows $4,000 MRR. We get $3,350 from the export. Are the 3 setup fees, the annual plan and the 5 unpaid subscriptions counted in your figure?
2. What changed on 1 June? 14 of the 31 refunds in the last year came in the following 30 days.
3. Is Client 03 on a contract, and when does it renew?
4. Can you add me as a viewer on Search Console so I can see the two pages that bring most of the traffic?
Thanks,
[Your name]
Pricing
Priced by the size of the deal, not by seat
Deal up to $50K
$149/deal
For a first small SaaS, content site or store
Deal from $50K to $250K
$299/deal
For a business with a real customer base
Deal from $250K to $1M
$599/deal
For many customers or several revenue streams
Every deal includes
- Claimed revenue checked against the seller's processor exports
- MRR, churn by cohort and customer concentration
- Refunds and chargebacks counted
- Payouts matched to bank deposits
- Traffic read from access the seller grants
- Questions to put to the seller
- A handover checklist for the platform you're buying
- A workbook that stays yours
- A named person, not a ticket queue
- Buying several a year? Ask about one monthly invoice
- Over $1M, or a very large export? Ask us.
One month checked free. Send one month of the seller's processor export and the revenue the listing claims for it. No card, no contract.
Get my free checkFor context: a marketplace's paid due-diligence report can cost $1,500 to $2,500 a deal. One independent firm that covers revenue and code charges about $500 for the financial part and about $1,500 for a full audit. Automated listing screens and code scans cost about $7 to $99.
What we don't do: audit code or security, give legal, tax, accounting or investment advice, value the business or advise on the price, act as a broker or take a fee that depends on the deal closing, hold or move money, run escrow, contact the seller unless you ask, or tell you whether to buy.
Questions
FAQ
Who are you?
{{BRAND}} is run by {{FIRST_NAME}} in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The work runs on exports, email and shared files, so the time difference doesn't slow it down: your pack comes back within 3 to 5 working days of getting the files.
What access do you need?
Files, not logins. We ask the seller for exports from Stripe, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy or Shopify, bank statement totals, and ad network or affiliate earnings reports for a content site. If the seller is happy to add you as a viewer on Search Console or Analytics, that helps. We never need a password, a Stripe key or a bank login, and we don't need you to have one either. If you use a processor we haven't listed, send a sample export first.
Is my data safe?
The listing, your offer and the seller's exports are used only to check the deal. They're kept in our Google Workspace account with 2-step login, and seen only by the person working on your account. They're never shared or sold, and are deleted within 7 days if you leave. Exports can hold the seller's customers' names and emails, so please remove those columns if you can: a customer ID is enough. If any personal data does reach us, we handle it as your processor and will sign a data processing agreement. Check that your NDA with the seller lets you share their data with an adviser. We're happy to sign an NDA with you or with the seller. Ask for our one-page data promise.
Is this software or people?
People, with good tools. Software helps us read the exports and work out the totals. A person checks every figure against the files, and decides what goes in as a mismatch and what goes in as a question for the seller.
Can you prove the revenue is real?
No. We check the seller's numbers against the exports and statements they give us, and tell you what matches and what doesn't. A file can be edited, so we match payouts to bank deposits and suggest the seller downloads the reports while you watch. We can't see what isn't shared with us. This lowers the chance of a surprise. It doesn't remove it.
What if the seller won't share exports?
Many sellers only share them once there's a signed letter of intent and an NDA. If a seller refuses, we tell you what we could and couldn't check, and what that leaves open. What the seller will and won't share is useful to know before you pay.
Do you check the code?
No. This isn't a code or security audit. Where the product's hosting, deploy process or keys matter, the handover checklist lists them as questions to put to the seller. If you want the code reviewed, ask a developer you trust or a code-audit service.
What don't you do?
We don't audit code, give legal, tax, accounting or investment advice, or tell you what the business is worth or whether to buy. We're not a business broker, and we don't take a fee that depends on the deal closing. We don't hold or move money, run escrow, negotiate, or contact the seller unless you ask us to. We're not accountants or auditors: this is a screen of the files you're given, not a financial audit. We report what the numbers show and what they don't, and we don't call a seller dishonest.
What happens after the free check?
The free check covers one month: we rebuild that month's revenue from the export, compare it with the listing, and note refunds, chargebacks and anything to ask the seller. Then pick the plan that fits your deal, or stop. Either way, the workbook for that month is yours.
How do I pay?
One invoice per deal, payable by bank transfer (US ACH or UK bank transfer) or by card. If you buy several businesses a year, we can bill monthly instead.
One month checked free
Start with one month of the seller's numbers
Tell us what you're buying and the asking price. {{FIRST_NAME}} will reply within one working day with a one-page list of exports to ask the seller for. Your free month comes back within 3 working days of getting the files.
Prefer email? {{EMAIL}}