Compare · Buying a business
BizScore vs a Quality-of-Earnings report
A Quality-of-Earnings (QoE) report and BizScore are sequential, not competitors. A QoE is a deep review by an accounting firm that normalizes a business's earnings and verifies the quality of its revenue; it's the right tool once you're serious about a specific deal, and it typically costs five figures and takes weeks. BizScore is a $49 first-pass that screens a deal in minutes, so you only commission a QoE on a deal that's worth it. Use BizScore to decide whether to keep going; use a Quality-of-Earnings firm to verify before you wire the money.
If you've started looking at buying a business, you've run into the phrase "quality of earnings." It sounds expensive, and it is. So do you need one, and where does a $49 BizScore fit next to a five-figure accounting review?
The honest answer: they do different jobs at different stages of the same process. Here's a straight side-by-side, including the places a Quality-of-Earnings firm is simply better than anything we do.
Side by side
| BizScore | Quality-of-Earnings firm | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $49 Quick Scan · $199 Full Report | Five figures (~$15,000 is representative) |
| Turnaround | Minutes | One to three weeks |
| Who performs it | AI analysis, with every finding cited to your documents | A team of accountants |
| What it reviews | The P&L, tax returns, and bank statements you upload | The full books, plus contracts, working capital, and interviews with the seller |
| Depth | First-pass screen: a 0 to 100 score, red flags, and a fair-price check | Deep, tailored normalization of earnings and revenue quality |
| Coverage | Gas stations and convenience stores (today) | Any industry, any deal size |
| Professional sign-off | No: an information service, not a CPA opinion | Yes: CPA-grade, defensible to lenders and investors |
| Best for | Deciding whether a deal is worth pursuing, before you spend | Verifying a deal you're serious about, before you close |
| When in the process | Early screening, before the LOI | During due diligence, after the LOI |
QoE pricing and turnaround vary by firm, deal size, and complexity; the figures above are representative, not quotes.
Where a Quality-of-Earnings firm is better
This is the honest part, and it matters: on the things that count most for a serious purchase, a QoE firm beats us outright.
- A real accountant signs the work: the kind of independent opinion an SBA lender or an investor will actually accept.
- They work from the complete books, beyond the documents you upload, and can interview the seller's bookkeeper, read the contracts, and reconcile working capital.
- Tailored to your exact deal, in any industry and at any size.
- Human judgment on the complex, unusual, or messy situations a model can't see.
If you're financing the purchase, or the deal is large or complicated, a Quality-of-Earnings review isn't optional: get one.
Where BizScore wins
- Cost: $49, not five figures, so you can run it on every deal you look at rather than only the one you've already fallen for.
- Speed: minutes, not weeks. A seller won't wait three weeks for you to decide whether you're even interested.
- The early "no": it screens out the obvious disasters before you spend $5,000 on an attorney or $15,000 on a QoE. The cheapest "no" is the early one.
- Evidence you can check: every red flag points to the exact document and line it came from.
- Built for the first-time buyer who can't drop $15,000 on a maybe.
They're sequential, not either/or
The mistake is treating these as competitors. They sit at different points in the same process. A first-pass screen tells you whether a deal deserves the time and money of deep verification; the deep verification is what you commission once it does.
Start with BizScore when
- You're screening one deal, or several.
- You haven't spent on an attorney or accountant yet.
- You need to know fast whether a deal is worth pursuing.
- The asking price needs a sanity check against the real numbers.
Get a QoE review when
- You're serious about one specific deal.
- You're financing the purchase, or a lender requires it.
- The books are complex, or the numbers are unusual.
- You're close to signing and need it verified cold.
Why the early screen exists at all
In 2023, someone close to me bought a small business with their entire life savings. The seller's spreadsheets looked great. The broker said the deal was clean. Six months in, the real numbers came out: the books had been padded for two years. By the time we found out, the money was gone and the loan was personally guaranteed.
A competent review would have caught it in two weeks for about $15,000, but they didn't have the time or the money to spend that on a deal they weren't even sure about yet. BizScore is the $49 first pass we wish they'd had: the cheap early answer to “is this worth a closer look?” before you spend on the closer look.
What BizScore is, and isn't
BizScore is an information service: think of it as a Carfax for a business, not a CPA. It is not a replacement for a Quality-of-Earnings report, an accountant, or an attorney, and it isn't financial advice. It helps you decide where to spend your professional dollars. Every report ends with a plain list of what it could not assess, and tells you to bring in a qualified professional before you sign anything. That honesty is the point. It's what lets you trust the parts it does check.
Screen the deal before you spend on the review
Upload the seller's P&L, tax returns, and bank statements, and BizScore computes the real SDE, checks the asking price, and flags every red flag in minutes, each backed by the exact document it came from. For less than a rounding error on a $15,000 review.
Quick Scan $49 · Full Report $199 · One-time, no subscription
Frequently asked
- What is a Quality of Earnings (QoE) report?
- A Quality-of-Earnings report is a review by an accounting or advisory firm that normalizes a business's earnings (adjusting for one-time and non-recurring items) and assesses how sustainable and real the revenue is. It's a standard step in serious mergers and acquisitions, especially for financed or larger deals.
- How much does a Quality of Earnings report cost?
- It typically runs into five figures; around $15,000 is a representative figure for the kind of competent review a small-business buyer would need, and the cost rises with the size and complexity of the deal. Exact pricing varies by firm and scope.
- Do I need a Quality of Earnings report to buy a small business?
- It depends on the stage and the stakes. For a deal you're serious about, especially one you're financing or one with complicated books, a QoE is the right call before you close. For early screening, when you're deciding whether a deal is even worth professional fees, a $49 first-pass is enough to catch the deal-breakers.
- Can BizScore replace a Quality of Earnings report?
- No. BizScore is a first-pass screen, not a substitute for a CPA's independent opinion. It tells you whether a deal is worth the cost of a full Quality-of-Earnings review. Use the two in sequence, not as either/or.
- What's the difference between BizScore and a Quality-of-Earnings firm?
- Cost, speed, depth, and who does the work. BizScore is a $49 AI first-pass that screens a deal in minutes and cites every finding to your documents. A QoE is a deep, weeks-long review by accountants that carries an independent professional sign-off. BizScore decides whether you keep going; a QoE verifies before you close.
Keep reading
About this guide
BizScore is built by first-time business buyers — people who watched someone close to them lose their life savings on a deal that looked clean on a spreadsheet and fell apart in the documents the seller never volunteered. That experience is why these guides exist, and why every BizScore report cites the exact document behind each finding.
Where the numbers come from: the benchmark ranges in our guides — SDE multiples, expense ratios, typical timelines — are widely-used industry rules of thumb, cross-checked against the analytical benchmarks BizScore applies inside its reports. Dollar figures such as a ~$15,000 quality-of-earnings review or a $5,000 deal attorney are representative of what buyers typically pay, not quotes; actual costs and multiples vary by deal. We review these figures periodically — last updated June 2026.
BizScore is an information service — think of it as a Carfax for a small business — not a CPA, an attorney, or financial advice. Use it to decide where to spend your professional dollars, and bring in a qualified professional before you sign anything.
This page is general education, not legal, financial, or tax advice, and is not a Quality-of-Earnings report. Every deal is different. Verify against the actual documents and talk to a qualified professional before you sign anything.