Frequently asked questions

Yes, under the September 25, 2026 amendment: a QoE prepared for the buyer can be used when it is accompanied by a reliance letter or reviewed by one of the lender's approved vendors, with the review's findings kept in the loan file. A report prepared by or for the seller does not count. Workup issues a reliance letter with its buyer-commissioned Quality of Earnings report and performs the Secondary Review of another firm's report in five business days.

The September 25 amendment permits 7(a) Small and SBA Express loans for changes of ownership under Appendix 15, with the same DSC standards and no reduced test. The $3 million QoE threshold itself is unchanged, so most of these deals sit below it while the rest of Appendix 15 applies.

A lender-commissioned review of a buyer's existing QoE against the Appendix 15 scope: the Cash Proof tested, add-back treatments re-performed on a sample, reliance terms checked, and a documented conclusion for the credit file stating whether the report can be relied on and what is missing. Five business days.

A Workup is an institutional-grade analysis of a small business you are buying or lending against: verified numbers (books reconciled to tax returns, revenue traced to bank deposits, every seller add-back tested against the documents provided, including bank data on Quality of Earnings and Diligence engagements), an investor's judgment on what the numbers mean, and, on buyer-side reports, an answer to what the business is worth against comparable transactions. Every report is reviewed and signed by the founder: twenty years evaluating businesses as an institutional investor, after beginning his career building them for sale as an M&A banker at Lehman Brothers.

• Pro, $3,500 per deal. The pre-LOI screen on the seller's package and tax returns, with no bank records, and a 30-minute findings call. Credited in full toward a Quality of Earnings or Diligence engagement on the same deal within 60 days.
• Quality of Earnings, $10,000 per engagement. For a buyer under LOI or commissioned by a lender: the report, the Excel databook, an executive summary deck, a 30-minute call, and 60 days of support.
• Diligence, $15,000 per engagement. Everything in the Quality of Earnings report plus the investor's read on the business and the deal and the buyer's terms against the findings; a 60-minute call, a seller call, and 60 days of support.
• Add-ons. LOI Review, $1,500, with Pro or a buyer's Quality of Earnings and included in Diligence. Deal Perspective, $5,000, with Pro or a buyer's Quality of Earnings. Included in Diligence. Report Update, $1,500, any tier, within 120 days, three business days. Expedited delivery, plus 45 percent, 48 to 72 hours.
• For lenders. Quality of Earnings, lender-commissioned, $10,000. Secondary Review, $5,000 per report, five business days.
• Self: coming soon. Self-serve access to the Workup analysis software. Join the waitlist.

Five business days from complete materials. The clock starts when the documents on the Document Request List for the tier are in the secure folder and pass our completeness check, which we confirm within one business day. Expedited delivery in 48 to 72 hours.

Three years of tax returns and year-end financials, 24 months of monthly P&Ls and bank statements for every business account, the seller's add-back schedule, customer revenue by customer, and the offering memorandum with the proposed deal terms. Pro runs on the seller's package and tax returns and does not use bank statements. The full request list is at getworkup.ai/materials and is sent with the engagement confirmation.

The standard structure is lender payment with borrower reimbursement of the actual cost as a permitted diligence expense; direct borrower payment is an alternative the lender may elect. Equity-injection treatment of fees is determined by the lender under the SOP's prepaid-expense rules. The report is commissioned by the lender, prepared for the lender's benefit, and the borrower receives a copy for information.

No. Workup provides analytical services. Reports describe findings and their implications; they are not audits, reviews, attestations, business valuations, or appraisals, and they do not tell a buyer whether to buy or a lender whether to lend. Buyer-side reports place a business against comparable-transaction multiples with the arithmetic shown; they never state a point value.

Materials are processed through enterprise AI services under agreements that prohibit training on your data, encrypted in transit and at rest, and deleted 90 days after delivery unless you ask us to retain them. Workup carries Tech E&O and cyber coverage, $1 million aggregate; certificates on request.

Charlotte, North Carolina; entity in Delaware with an operating office in Alpharetta, Georgia. We work with buyers and lenders nationally and can meet in person across the Southeast.

Book a 20-minute call: calendar.app.google/nKdrx7GfL7bazrdJ9. Or email gray@getworkup.ai with the deal you are looking at.