Business acquisition financing guides
Buying a business creates several financing questions at once. How much cash will you need? How much debt can the business support? Which financing route fits? What needs to be resolved before the LOI?
Use these guides to work through those questions. Start with the decision in front of you, then follow the related guides.
Duneland Financial is a capital advisory firm for business acquisitions, working with buyers, operators, investors and M&A advisors. Financing remains subject to lender underwriting and approval. About Duneland’s approach
Cash required
The down payment is only one part of what a buyer needs. Closing costs, working capital and post-close liquidity matter too.
- How much cash do you really need to buy a business?
- Why purchase price is only the start of project cost
- How much business can you afford?
- Twenty modeled acquisition-cash scenarios
The scenarios are transparent illustrations, not completed transactions or lending offers. Their full assumptions and calculations are published alongside the research.
Earnings
Start with the earnings a lender is actually likely to use after reviewing add-backs and other adjustments. A listing states earnings one way; a lender rebuilds them before testing anything.
- Seller’s discretionary earnings: from the listing to the lender
- SDE vs EBITDA: one business, two numbers
SBA
Guides covering buyer equity, seller notes, debt coverage, diligence and current program requirements. Articles distinguish the incoming October 1, 2026 SOP 8.1 rules from the preceding framework. SBA’s issuance notice ties applicability to issuance of an SBA loan number. Official notice
- SBA acquisition financing: the complete starting guide
- Equity injection and source documentation
- Seller notes and qualifying contribution
- SOP 8.1 changes and timing
- DSCR and acquisition debt capacity
- Quality of Earnings and the $3 million threshold
- Rates, fees, and repayment terms
Capital sources
Compare SBA, conventional bank debt, private credit, seller financing and outside equity. Compare actual terms rather than assuming every loan in a category has the same contribution, rate or repayment schedule.
- Business acquisition capital stacks
- SBA versus conventional financing
- Private credit for acquisitions
- Seller financing economics and tradeoffs
- Financing an acquisition without SBA
Before the LOI
Financing is easier to fix before the assumptions become part of a signed offer. Organize the buyer profile, capital records, target financials and proposed financing early.
- Buyer financing readiness checklist
- Financing questions to resolve before an LOI
- Acquisition financing stages and dependencies
See the data behind the assumptions
For readers who want to go deeper, our research publishes the assumptions, methodology and source data. Each study explains what its numbers represent and what they cannot establish.
- Research and methodology hub
- How the cash scenarios were modeled
- How the SBA loan data was filtered
- SBA reported change-of-ownership approval data
- Twenty illustrative cash scenarios
Bring a defined deal to the financing conversation
Prepare the proposed price, available capital, target financials, working-capital needs and seller terms. If a number is still an estimate, say so. A clear starting model helps us determine which assumptions need to change and which route deserves attention.
Put the guides to work
These guides explain the structures. The calculators price them on your own figures.
- Valuation and SDEWhat are the earnings, and what is the business worth on them?
- Seller financingWhat does a seller note actually cost, and what is owed at maturity?
- Capital stackHow does the whole purchase get funded?
- Acquisition loanWhat is the payment, and what does the schedule look like?
- DSCRCan the target’s cash flow cover the debt?
Have a deal in front of you?
Whether you have a signed LOI, are preparing an offer or are still evaluating the opportunity, send us the basic numbers and where you are in the process. We’ll look at the business, buyer and proposed structure and determine what the financing path may look like.