Buying a business:

When the acquisition of a large company takes place,  every aspect of the  target company's operation is considered as part of the due diligence process. When small businesses change hands it is likely that the buyer has intimate knowledge of the company or that the complexity is sufficiently low that problems and issues are reasonably apparent.

When the purchase of a medium-sized company (with a turnover of ~£1M to £15M) is under consideration things are more complicated.  A business of this size is likely to have a fairly high  level of internal complexity, it may be based on relatively advanced technology or use specialised production processes. A detailed ("investigative accounting) review of the financial records will go a fair way to assessing the current health of the company and identify some of the major risks. To complete the picture a detailed assessment of the key processes and technical  approaches is required. This raises the overall confidence and can put on a par with that  enjoyed by people involved in large acquisitions, but for a surprising low investment.

Buying a product line:

We are increasingly encountering the situation where a larger company wishes to divest itself of a non-profit making product line (or one that is not considered to be core to the business). These can be attractive propositions to smaller businesses but the risks can be great. A short duration audit assessing the current status of the product-line and the risks (and opportunities) associated with the transfer can be extremely valuable.

Costs: The cost of a Technical Audit will depend on the level on complexity of the business which can be hard to ascertain, however our experience allows us to provide a fixed price based on the result of an initial assessment.