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CFO Exit Planning | Bennett Financials
Exit Planning

Your exit price is being
determined right now.

Not when you hire a broker. Not during due diligence. Right now — in how your business runs, how your numbers look, and how dependent the operation is on you.

Enterprise value is determined by two things — how much money the business makes, and how risky that income stream looks to a buyer. We build both sides of that equation through a financial operating system that drives EBITDA up and buyer risk down.

Free diagnostic for US-based service businesses doing $1M–$20M in revenue.

Trusted by growing service businesses

The Problem

Most Exits Disappoint. Here’s Why.

You’ve built a business that generates revenue. But when a buyer looks under the hood, they don’t see what you see. They see inconsistent financials that took 45 days to close. They see margins that depend on you personally delivering the work. They see a P&L full of add-backs that make real earnings impossible to verify.

Buyers don’t pay premiums for potential. They pay premiums for proof — proof that the revenue is repeatable, the margins are real, and the business runs without the founder in the room.

The gap between what you think your business is worth and what a buyer will actually pay isn’t a negotiation problem. It’s a preparation problem. And it doesn’t get solved in the 12 months before you list. It gets solved by how you run the business every month between now and then.

What Actually Drives Enterprise Value

Enterprise Value Is Two Numbers. We Improve Both.

Gross Margin
60%
S&M
15%
G&A
15%
Operating Margin30% target
Profitability

Driving EBITDA Up

The 60-15-15 standard is how we engineer profitability. 60% gross margin, 15% sales & marketing, 15% G&A, 30% operating margin. When your business runs against these benchmarks, EBITDA improves structurally — not through one-time cost cuts, but through a financial design that compounds month over month.

60% gross margin — what you keep after delivering the work
15% sales & marketing — what it costs to win new business
15% G&A — what it costs to run the operation = 30% operating margin
Low-scoring businesses2.76x EBITDA
High-scoring businesses6.27x EBITDA
Based on5,000 benchmarked
Risk Reduction

Driving the Multiple Up

The multiple a buyer assigns isn’t arbitrary. It’s a risk assessment. Businesses with clean books, predictable margins, diversified revenue, low owner dependence, and strong reporting get higher multiples. Businesses without those things get discounted — no matter how good the top line looks.

Clean books that close on time, every time
Predictable margins not dependent on the founder
Revenue diversity and strong reporting infrastructure

Based on 5,000 benchmarked companies, the difference between a high-scoring and low-scoring business on growth readiness is more than double the sale multiple. Same earnings. Completely different enterprise value. The only variable is how the business is built.

The Catch

Want to Know the Real Secret About Exit Planning?

Getting a business ready to sell is the exact same process as getting it to run without you. Clean books that close on time. Margins that don’t depend on the founder delivering the work. A financial model that proves revenue is repeatable. A team that operates against a system, not against your gut feel.

That’s why we don’t offer exit planning as a standalone service. It’s built into the financial operating system from day one. The same monthly CFO cadence that drives your margins and deploys your tax strategy is also building the financial maturity that buyers pay premiums for — and the operational independence that lets you step back.

Every month the system runs, your business becomes more valuable and less dependent on you. Whether you sell in two years or twenty, the work is the same.

How It Works

From assessment to exit-ready.

1
Step 1 — Free

30-Minute Assessment Call

We talk about your business, where you are today, and what your timeline looks like. If you’re a fit, we run the full Scale-Ready Assessment. If not, we’ll tell you — no wasted time on either side.

Free 30 minutes No commitment
2
Step 2 — Diagnostic

Scale-Ready Assessment

We stress-test your books, margins, cash position, tax strategy, and operational dependency against the 60-15-15 standard. You get a Scale-Ready Report — green, yellow, or red — with your top blockers in priority order and a clear picture of where enterprise value is being left on the table.

Books stress-tested Scale-Ready Report EV blockers prioritized
3
Step 3 — 12–24 Months

The System Gets Installed

If you engage, we install the full financial operating system. Clean books, engineered margins, deployed tax strategy, monthly CFO cadence, and enterprise value development — all running through the same four numbers. The system builds exit readiness as a byproduct of running well.

Full financial stack Monthly CFO rhythm EV development
Results

Businesses built to sell —
or built to keep.

5–10x EBITDA

Business valuation uplift after financial restructuring (Chimney Scientist)

$0 to ~$300K MRR

Scaled with founder equity and ownership protected (Eden Data)

Successful exit + franchise reinvestment

Built and executed a full exit strategy (NuSpine)

$402,838

Tax liability eliminated, freeing cash for reinvestment (Motiv Marketing)

“Working with Bennett Financials fills the gap we had — a team we can rely on, with rapid-fire responses and consistent support.”

“With Arron’s leadership, we grew from zero to $300K MRR. He’s more than a fractional CFO — he’s a dedicated partner who safeguards our brand and supports our growth.”

Is This Right For You?

Exit readiness starts today.

$1M–$20M service business
You run a US-based service business doing $1M–$20M in revenue
Planning to sell within 2–5 years
You’re thinking about selling and want to maximize what you walk away with
Your business is worth more than a broker would get you today
You know the value is there but the financials don’t show it
Financials aren’t buyer-ready
Inconsistent reporting, unclear earnings, too many add-backs
The business still depends on you to function
And you want to change that — whether you sell or not
You want to sell in the next 6 months
We can’t fix structural issues that fast
You’re looking for a broker or M&A advisor
We build the value; your broker sells it
You’re under $500K in revenue
You’re not willing to invest in fixing the financial infrastructure before going to market
Exit Readiness Check
Revenue$1M – $20M
Exit Timeline2–5 Years
BooksNeed Work
Owner DependencyHigh
Tax StrategyReactive Only
EV RoadmapMissing
Qualification Strong Candidate
FAQ

Common questions.

No. Exit readiness is built into our financial operating system from day one. The same system that gives you monthly visibility and engineered margins is what makes your business sellable. There's no separate "exit planning" engagement.
12–24 months if we're starting with messy books and founder-dependent operations. If your books are already solid and margins are healthy, we can accelerate. The Scale-Ready Assessment tells you exactly where you stand.
No. We build the value; a broker sells it. When you're ready to go to market, we work alongside your M&A advisor to ensure the financial story is clean, compelling, and defensible during due diligence.
$5,000/month — the same as all our client engagements. One system, one price. That includes clean books and tax returns, proactive tax strategy, a forecasting dashboard, monthly CFO meetings, and ongoing enterprise value development. The Scale-Ready Assessment is free.
Get Started

Build a Business Worth Selling.
Or Worth Keeping.

The Scale-Ready Assessment is free. You’ll walk away with a full diagnostic — profitability scorecard, tax strategy overview, enterprise value gap analysis, and a clear picture of what’s holding your business back. Whether you sell in two years or twenty, the work is the same.

Book Your Scale-Ready Assessment

Free diagnostic for US-based service businesses doing $1M–$20M in revenue.