Free Quality of Earnings Report Template
A complete QoE report template covering every section lenders and deal parties expect — or skip the template entirely and generate a real QoE report from your QuickBooks file in hours.
8
Standard QoE sections
Excel + PDF
Template formats
Free
To download
What's in the Quality of Earnings Template
The Shepi Quality of Earnings template covers the standard structure used by CPA firms, deal advisors, and lenders. Use it as a workpaper framework for manual diligence, or as a reference for what your QoE report should contain.
Executive Summary
One-page deal overview with adjusted EBITDA, key adjustments, and risk flags
Adjusted EBITDA Bridge
Net income → EBITDA → Adjusted EBITDA with categorized adjustments
Revenue Quality
Recurring vs non-recurring, customer concentration, AR aging, and trend analysis
Working Capital Schedule
Multi-period NWC with turnover ratios and normalized peg calculation
Proof of Cash
GL-to-bank reconciliation surfacing unrecorded liabilities and commingled items
GL Anomaly Findings
Flagged transactions with confidence scores and suggested adjustment amounts
Supporting Schedules
Account-level detail, vendor analysis, and trial balance walkthroughs
Audit Trail
Every adjustment traceable to source GL transactions
Standard QoE Report Sections Explained
Most professional QoE reports follow a predictable structure. Here's what each section contains and why it matters:
- Executive Summary — Adjusted EBITDA, headline adjustments, and the 3–5 most material risks. This is what most readers actually read.
- EBITDA Bridge — Walks from reported net income to adjusted EBITDA with every add-back categorized (owner comp normalization, non-recurring, personal, accounting cleanup).
- Revenue Analysis — Trends, recurring classification, customer concentration, and any one-time revenue items that distort run-rate.
- Working Capital — Trailing-twelve NWC schedule, turnover ratios, and the normalized peg amount used in the purchase agreement.
- Proof of Cash — Reconciles total bank deposits and disbursements to GL — the section where commingled expenses and missing liabilities surface.
- Findings & Risks — Anomalies that don't roll into adjustments but still affect deal terms (e.g., poor segregation of duties, late filings).
How to Use the QoE Template
Download the template
Get the Excel + PDF reference pack tailored to lower middle market deals
Pull your trial balance
Multi-year TB plus current TTM is the minimum data set required
Map the chart of accounts
Map each account to the QoE categories defined in the template
Build the EBITDA bridge
Identify add-backs and document each one with supporting evidence
Layer in working capital and proof of cash
Use the schedules to compute peg and reconcile to bank statements
Write the narrative
Translate the numbers into the executive summary and findings sections
Or Skip the Template Entirely
Excel templates are great for understanding QoE structure — but they require 40–80 hours of analyst work to fill out for a single deal. Shepi generates a complete, lender-ready QoE report from your QuickBooks file in hours, using the same standard structure the template defines.
Starting at $2,000 per project — versus $20K+ for a CPA-led engagement using the same template structure.