Acquisitions Advisory is an independent business founded by Jeff Smith, combining hands-on experience of building, buying, funding and selling businesses with high level financial modelling. We help business owners, buyers and their advisers explore the financial implications of their decisions.
Our two services—Business Foresight and Acquisitions Foresight—turn accounting information into practical management accounts, budgets and integrated forecasts. Accounting-system connections reduce preparation time, while AI-assisted, human-reviewed assumptions support forward planning. Our models bring together profit and loss, balance sheets, cash flow, debt repayments and stress testing, helping clients better understand both the opportunities and the risks.
“I established Acquisitions Advisory to make the financial analysis normally associated with larger transactions accessible to smaller businesses and their buyers. Historical accounts tell you what has happened; they do not tell you whether an acquisition is affordable or how much cash a business will need. My aim is to provide that forward view without the time and expense of starting from scratch each time.”
Jeff has more than 40 years’ experience in financial services, including approximately 30 years as chief executive of SME and consumer-lending businesses. He has founded, developed and sold businesses, raising more than £24 million in equity and £300 million in debt for his own ventures. His advisory experience includes acquisition finance, private-equity financing and refinancing and securitisation.
Read Jeff’s full biography →Monthly management accounts and MI in days, not weeks.
£200 per month | £600 setup
Understand the deal. Plan the combined future.
Typically within 7 days | Circa £2,000 + VAT
From receipt of complete information; indicative cost subject to scope. Optional monthly updates, fee quoted separately.
Benefits over historic accounts
See the practical cash implications alongside the wider financial picture.
Bring detailed funding effects and budget comparisons into the planning process.
Reduce repeated manual preparation compared with starting forecasts from scratch.
They do not know how much they can borrow, whether repayments are affordable, or how lenders will assess the deal. That is where applications are declined and acquisitions fail.
A clear, lender-relevant view of what the business can support now and over time.
Turn accounting data into lender-ready insight without relying on generic templates, unrealistic assumptions, or guesswork.
Export a simple report of 24 months profit and loss data from your accounting system. We review the data and use AI-assisted, human-reviewed assumptions. For acquisitions, provide data for both the buyer and the target company.
We assess seasonality, underlying growth and performance patterns, review the assumptions, and prepare 60-month integrated monthly forecasts.
See what can be borrowed, whether the debt is serviceable, and how the deal should be structured to work in practice.
Whether you are raising finance or buying a business, the goal is the same: understand the numbers before you commit.
Find out how much your business can realistically borrow and prove that repayments remain affordable.
Model the combined business, identify maximum safe borrowing, and structure the deal properly.
Illustrative Decision Reports
Most buyers decide how much they would like to borrow. Lenders decide how much the business can safely repay. Our lender-ready financial model calculates borrowing capacity under both expected and stressed trading conditions.
Our lender-ready financial model calculates that figure before you approach the bank, helping you negotiate with confidence and avoid funding surprises.
This worked example shows how the Deal Calculator compares cash available for debt service with maximum permitted and actual repayments over the funding period.
| Year | Cash | Max allowed repayments | Repayments | Headroom to target | DSCR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | £500,000 | £400,000 | £394,197 | £5,803 | 1.27x |
| Year 2 | £500,000 | £400,000 | £394,197 | £5,803 | 1.27x |
| Year 3 | £500,000 | £400,000 | £394,197 | £5,803 | 1.27x |
| Year 4 | £500,000 | £400,000 | £394,197 | £5,803 | 1.27x |
| Year 5 | £500,000 | £400,000 | £144,197 | £255,803 | 3.47x |
Illustrative output: This is a sample from the Deal Calculator using its current worked-example figures. Replace the blue figures in the calculator with your proposed transaction details to produce your own assessment.
Most financial forecasts assume everything goes according to plan. Lenders don't. They want to know whether a business can continue to service its debt if trading conditions deteriorate.
Our lender-ready financial model analyses historic performance together with detailed assumptions covering revenue, costs, taxation, working capital, funding structure, debt repayments and other interrelated factors to determine the maximum level of borrowing that can be supported.
The Deal Calculator provides an initial standalone assessment. A transaction-specific financial model goes further by testing borrowing capacity under expected and stressed trading conditions, helping buyers, borrowers and professional advisers make better-informed decisions before committing to a transaction.
The sample calculator output above is illustrative. Detailed client conclusions are produced from a comprehensive financial model built specifically for the transaction, using the information and assumptions supplied.
Our model analyses historic performance, identifies underlying growth and seasonality, and produces a 60-month forecast. It then calculates borrowing capacity, tests lender covenants, and structures the deal to ensure it is financeable.
Before approaching a lender or committing to an acquisition, you need to know whether the business can support the debt in practice — not just on paper. This model is built to give that answer clearly, early, and with lender-relevant outputs.
£200 per month | £600 setup
Monthly management information, budget comparisons and rolling forecasts.
Typically within 7 days | Circa £2,000 + VAT
From receipt of complete information; indicative cost subject to scope. Optional monthly updates, fee quoted separately.
Practical answers to common questions about acquisition finance, lender-ready forecasts and borrowing capacity.
Small businesses seeking bank funding, buyers considering an acquisition, and advisors supporting those transactions.
Usually 24 months of accounting data, including profit and loss and balance sheet information, plus debt and transaction details. For acquisitions, we need information for both buyer and seller.
Yes. Monthly updates are available. Business Foresight is our monthly service; ongoing Acquisitions Foresight updates are quoted separately.
Contact
Contact Acquisitions Advisory Ltd to start a considered conversation.
