Underwrite on tied-out earnings
On SBA 7(a) acquisitions at $3 million or more in enterprise value, the lender now engages the Quality of Earnings, and the cash proof inside it is hours of hand reconciliation on every file. Finsider ties the borrower's books to the bank and traces every adjustment to the general ledger.
Forward Firm runs about 40 Quality of Earnings engagements a year on Finsider.Try free deal screening
What the SBA now asks for
SBA SOP 50 10 8.1 requires a Quality of Earnings on 7(a) initial acquisitions and business expansions at $3 million or more in enterprise value, for loan numbers issued on or after October 1, 2026.
A different number every time
Each provider builds normalized earnings its own way and sends its own format, so your credit team reconciles reports before it can compare files.
Cash proof across three periods
The report has to reconcile the trailing twelve months and the two most recent fiscal years to bank statements, which takes 8 to 10 associate hours by hand.
Rounds of add-back questions
Adjusted earnings drive the debt service coverage calculation, so every add-back goes back to the borrower until its support is in the credit file.
“One thing I want to show my lenders, which I really liked about your platform, is the deal terms and how we're proposing them.”
One report format on every file
Finsider tests 100% of the borrower's transactions with 253 automated scan rules, where a manual review tests only the items above a materiality threshold.
Credit Underwriting Report
Workspace builds a Credit Underwriting Report from the same tied-out numbers as the Quality of Earnings, so your credit team reads every file the same way.
Cash proof against the bank
Finsider connects to bank accounts through Plaid and ties the books to bank activity, so the reconciliation that takes hours by hand is done before the file reaches credit.
Advisory for the QofE
Engage Forward Firm through Advisory for a CPA-led QofE from $15,000, in 2 to 3 weeks depending on deal load, or run your own review in Workspace at $99 a month per company plus $999 per report.
Customer story
A QofE the buyer's lender could underwrite
On the buyer's next acquisition, the cash proof tied cleanly and the lender got a Quality of Earnings it could underwrite.
Read the private equity buyer storyPut one standard on every file
