Module 4 · Chapter 12

Findings, Reports and the Deal

A diligence report is useful only if the deal team can act on it. This chapter shows how to write and rate a finding, shape the report and carry each finding into the SPA.

≈ 11 min read 8-question test

In this chapter

  • How to write a finding that a deal team can act on
  • What each risk rating promises, and how to keep ratings honest
  • How every finding reaches the SPA, and what you check before signing

12.1Writing up a finding in one paragraph

Ten weeks of review end as a few dozen findings. A report is judged by whether those findings let the client decide, not by how much the team read. Each useful finding has three parts, in this order: the fact and where to find it, why it matters to this buyer, and what to do about it.

Key point

A finding is fact, consequence and response. If one part is missing, the reader must redo your work or guess. A report exists so that nobody has to guess.

Also in this chapter

  1. The three parts of a finding
  2. What each risk rating promises
  3. Keeping ratings honest
  4. The executive summary
  5. Every finding lands somewhere
  6. The weeks before signing
  7. Checking what reached the SPA
  8. Your job

Preview

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