SME Acquisition Due Diligence Checklist
Before buying any small or medium business, a structured due diligence process across five pillars Financial, Legal, Commercial, HR/Social, and Tax is essential. This checklist covers 30+ documents to request, key red flags, how to structure your findings for your bank or SBA lender, and how AI tools can accelerate the process.
## Why SME acquisition DD is not an audit When a first-time acquirer asks me "how many days of DD do I need?", the wrong answer is a number. The right answer: it depends on the deal, but plan for 6 to 10 effective weeks between LOI signature and financial close. And no, you do not need a statutory auditor to run the DD. What you need is a transaction services firm familiar with SME deals (Mazars, Grant Thornton, BDO, RSM in France, or boutiques such as Eight Advisory, Accuracy, Sevenstones), an M&A lawyer (boutique firms such as Hoche or Bersay, or the transactional departments of full-service…