A buyer advisory team checklist for a Canadian business purchase covers which professionals to engage and when — a lawyer and accountant before an offer goes out, a financing contact lined up early, and specialists such as an environmental consultant or valuator brought in only where the specific deal actually calls for them.
Reviewed
This checklist covers assembling a buyer’s own advisory team for a Canadian business purchase, distinct from the brief mention of advisors in Deavo’s seller preparation checklist, which is written for the seller’s side of the same transaction. A buyer with the right professionals engaged at the right moments moves faster through negotiation and diligence, and catches problems earlier, than one assembling a team reactively after something has already gone wrong.
Engage the core team before you make an offer
Retain a lawyer with actual business acquisition experience, not simply a general practice lawyerA lawyer unfamiliar with the specific mechanics of a business purchase can miss issues that someone who does this regularly would catch immediately.
Engage an accountant early enough to review a target’s financials before you are under time pressureAn accountant brought in only once a deal is already moving fast has far less time to do a careful review than one engaged before an offer is even drafted.
Establish a relationship with a lender or financing contact before you need a fast answerA lender you have already spoken with can move faster once a real deal appears than one meeting you for the first time under a tight timeline.
Know what each advisor is actually for
Ask your lawyer specifically what they will review versus what falls outside their scopeA buyer who assumes a lawyer is checking the financial statements, when that is really the accountant’s job, can end up with a gap neither professional actually covered.
Confirm with your accountant whether they will verify the seller’s numbers or only review what is presentedThese are meaningfully different levels of service, and a buyer expecting independent verification needs to say so explicitly rather than assume it is included.
Clarify whether a broker involved in the deal represents you, the seller, or neitherA broker’s role and duties can differ significantly depending on who they were engaged by, and understanding this shapes how much weight to put on their advice.
Bring in specialists only where the deal calls for them
Consider an environmental consultant if the business owns or has a history on industrial propertyThis specialist is not necessary on every purchase, but skipping it on a business with a genuine environmental risk can leave real liability undiscovered.
Consider an independent valuator if you want a view of value separate from the asking priceA valuator’s view is one input among several, not a guarantee of what the business will actually sell for, but it can sharpen your own negotiating position.
Consider a franchise lawyer specifically if the purchase involves a franchise agreementFranchise disclosure obligations and transfer processes have their own specific legal framework, and a general business lawyer without this specific experience may miss issues unique to franchising.
Keep the team coordinated
Set a single point of contact who keeps every advisor working from the same current informationAdvisors working from outdated or conflicting versions of a document waste time reconciling their own findings instead of actually reviewing the deal.
Ask each advisor for a realistic estimate of their own cost and timeline before work startsA buyer who has not budgeted for professional fees can find diligence stalling for reasons that have nothing to do with the business itself.
Deavo is an advertising and listings platform, not a brokerage, law firm or valuation firm. This page is general information, not legal, tax, accounting or valuation advice, and rules differ by province. Confirm anything you rely on with a qualified professional before you act on it.