What Shepi is engaged to deliver, in the format you'd see from a traditional QoE firm — inputs, procedures, deliverables, and what we explicitly do not cover.
Engagement Overview
Shepi is engaged to perform a data-intensive Quality of Earnings analysis on the target company's financial records. The engagement covers 100% of general-ledger transactions across the historical period, builds an adjusted-EBITDA bridge, and produces a structured 27-tab workbook plus PDF report consistent with the format buyers, lenders, and sellers expect from a QoE deliverable.
This engagement is not a CPA attestation, audit, or review. It is the analytical foundation that traditional QoE firms produce — minus the attestation letter. See Out of Scope for the full boundary statement.
Inputs Required
Most of these come from the seller's data room. Begin with the Required tier; add the rest as received.
- Trial Balance
- Chart of Accounts
- Bank Statements
- General Ledger
- AR & AP Aging
- Payroll Reports
- Fixed Asset Schedule
- Tax Returns (3 years)
- Journal Entries
- Credit Card Statements
- Customer & Vendor Lists
- Inventory Records
- Debt Schedule
- Material Contracts & Leases
- Supporting Documents
- Job Cost Reports / WIP Schedule
- Income Statements
- Balance Sheets
- Cash Flow Statements
- CIM / Offering Memo
Procedures Performed
100% GL coverage and account mapping
Every transaction in the general ledger is ingested and mapped to a standardized chart of accounts — not the 10–20% sample a manual team typically reviews.
Anomaly and red-flag detection
AI scans the GL for unusual patterns: round-number entries, weekend postings, duplicate vendors, and other markers consistent with earnings-management or personal-expense activity.
Owner-compensation normalization
Identify owner salary, benefits, and related-party payments; calculate market-rate replacement compensation for the EBITDA bridge.
Personal-expense detection
Surface candidate personal expenses (auto, travel, meals, country club, family payroll) for analyst review and adjustment.
Customer and vendor concentration
Quantify revenue and spend concentration; flag single-customer or single-vendor exposure above standard thresholds.
Working-capital build
Multi-period DSO / DPO / DIO schedule and net working capital target consistent with how buyers structure purchase-price adjustments.
Proof of cash from bank statements
Reconcile reported revenue and operating cash flow to actual bank deposits across the review period.
AI-suggested EBITDA adjustments — every adjustment human-reviewed
AI surfaces candidates with rationale and supporting transactions; you accept, modify, or reject. No adjustment lands in the bridge without human sign-off.
Deliverables
The engagement produces four named artifacts, in the format a real engagement letter would use:
QoE Workbook
Excel · 27 tabs covering Executive Summary, EBITDA Bridge, Revenue Quality, Working Capital, Proof of Cash, GL Findings, and Customer / Vendor Concentration.
Executive Summary
PDF · adjusted EBITDA, key findings, and risk callouts — lender- and LP-ready.
Evidence Reference Index
Supported adjustments carry stable references to underlying transactions and rationale; unresolved history is labeled.
Bank Reconciliation Pack
Proof of cash reconciling reported revenue and EBITDA to processed bank statements.
Out of Scope
What this engagement does not cover:
No CPA attestation or opinion
Shepi does not issue an audit, review, or attest opinion. There is no signed letter from a licensed CPA firm.
No valuation
We do not opine on enterprise value, multiples, or what the business is worth.
No legal or tax advice
Tax exposure, structuring, and legal risk are outside scope. Engage qualified counsel and tax advisors separately.
No fairness opinion or formal audit
This is not a substitute for a fairness opinion, GAAP audit, or any regulatory filing.
DIY vs Done-For-You
The same scope is available two ways: you run the analysis yourself, or our team runs it for you.
| Self-Service | Done-For-You | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs the analysis | You, in the Shepi platform | Shepi team, with you in review |
| CPA review | Not included | CPA-led review |
| Turnaround | 2–4 hours hands-on | Days, not weeks |
| Onboarding | Self-serve | Guided kickoff & data-room walkthrough |
| Ideal for | Anyone who wants to run the analysis directly | Anyone who wants the analysis prepared with CPA-led review |
| Pricing | $1,000 per project | $5,000 per project |
Timeline & Cost
2–4 hrs
Self-Service hands-on time
Days
Done-For-You turnaround
$20K–$100K
Traditional CPA QoE cost it replaces
Pricing
Self-Service is $1,000 per project. Done-For-You is $5,000 per project. Monthly subscription available at $2,500/month including 3 projects.