Provider comparison
Quality of Earnings providers, compared
We are one of the firms on this page, so read it with that in mind. What we can promise is method: every figure below is something the provider published, nothing is estimated, and where a firm does not publish a number the table says so rather than guessing. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
Facts as published in August 2026. Last full verification 2026-08-20.
Published pricing and turnaround
| Provider | Entry tier | Full QoE | Stated turnaround | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Zenith Analysis That is us | $299 screen, $2,899 Lite | $9,799 | 2, 5 or 10 business days | Lower middle market, SBA and main street |
| Guardian Due Diligence Full comparison | Not published | $20,000 to $40,000+ | Issues flagged in 7 days | Premium, advisory-led |
| Rapid Diligence Full comparison | $6,700+ (Lite) | $8,900+ | 3 to 4 weeks | Digital and online businesses |
| WebAcquisition Full comparison | Lite offered, unpriced | $8,900+ | 2 to 3 weeks | Operator-led, online and physical |
| QoEPro Full comparison | $349 snapshot, $1,999 Lite | $6,997 / $15,000 | 1 to 15 business days | Searchers and sponsors, single practitioner |
| QoEPrep Full comparison | Not published | Not published | Under 2 weeks | Bankers and brokers, $1M to $100M |
"Not published" means the provider does not put that figure on their site and we declined to estimate it. It is not a criticism: quoting per engagement is a normal way to run this business. Providers change pricing, so confirm directly before you decide.
How to choose
Six questions that separate providers faster than any comparison table
Including this one. Ask every firm on your shortlist these, get the answers in writing, and the decision usually makes itself.
Do they publish a price?
A firm that will not put a number on its own site is a firm whose number moves with what it thinks you can pay. Ask for the flat fee in writing before the scoping call, not after it.
How deep does the cash proof go?
Most shops sample a few months of bank statements. Ask directly: every month or a sample? Every account or the main one? Does it tie to the filed tax returns? On an SBA change of ownership deal this is now the reconciliation the file turns on.
Do you get the workbook?
A PDF is a conclusion. The Excel workbook behind it is the evidence. If the deliverable is a report with no underlying model, your lender and your accountant have to take it on faith, and so do you.
How far back do they look?
The most common add-back failure is an expense marked one-time that appears every year. It is invisible in a single-year review. Three years is the minimum that catches it.
Who actually staffs the file?
Ask whether the person on the sales call is the person doing the analysis, and what their background is. Both a single senior practitioner and a deep bench are good answers. A junior with a template is not.
What happens when they find something?
A finding is only worth what you can do with it. Ask whether findings arrive with a severity and a dollar impact, and whether anyone will get on the phone while you renegotiate.
Choosing a QoE provider: common questions
What should a Quality of Earnings report cost?
For lower middle market deals, published rate cards in 2026 run from roughly two thousand dollars for a light scope to fifteen thousand for a comprehensive one, with premium advisory-led firms quoting twenty to forty thousand and up. Big 4 engagements sit far above that and are built for a different size of transaction. The spread is driven less by depth than by how much of the work is manual reconciliation labor billed by the hour.
Why do so few providers publish pricing?
Because most QoE work is scoped and quoted per engagement, which is a defensible reason, and because a quote given after a discovery call can reflect what the buyer appears able to pay, which is a less defensible one. Flat published pricing is possible when the scope is standardized. We publish ours for that reason.
Is a cheaper QoE a worse QoE?
It depends entirely on what is making it cheaper. If the scope is thinner, fewer months reconciled, one year of lookback, a sampled cash proof, then yes, you are buying less. If the price is lower because the reconciliation layer is automated rather than hand-keyed by billable analysts, the scope is unchanged and the hours simply go somewhere more useful. Ask which one it is, and ask for the scope in writing either way.
How do I compare providers fairly?
Send the same deal summary to two or three of them and compare four things: the flat fee in writing, the number of months of bank activity that will actually be reconciled, the lookback period, and whether the Excel workbook comes with the report. Those four separate providers faster than any marketing page, including this one.
Do I need a QoE before or after the LOI?
The full report is normally commissioned after the LOI, once you have exclusivity and access to the real records. Before that, a cheap screen on the CIM or the seller-provided financials is usually the right spend: it tells you whether the deal deserves an LOI at all. Several providers, including us, offer a low-cost pre-LOI option for exactly that.
Does the SBA require a Quality of Earnings report?
From October 1, 2026, SOP 50 10 8.1 requires an independent Quality of Earnings report on SBA change of ownership transactions at or above three million dollars, and the mandated report must include a cash proof reconciling bank statements to the books and to the filed tax returns. On those deals the lender commissions the report, so the provider needs to be able to work on the lender’s engagement.
Send us the deal before you pick
Tell us what you are buying and we will tell you which tier fits, what we would look at first, and when the honest answer is that another firm on this page is the better fit.