Who we are Frak Finance provides buy-side financial diligence, transaction advisory, fractional CFO support, and finance operations help for business owners, acquisition entrepreneurs, independent sponsors, HoldCo operators, and lower middle market investors. We help buyers understand what they are actually buying before they spend more money on legal fees, lender costs, diligence, and closing expenses. We help them validate earnings, understand cash flow, identify working capital needs, and make better acquisition decisions. About the role We are looking for a fractional Quality of Earnings Lead / CPA to lead buy-side financial diligence engagements for lower middle market acquisitions. You will help buyers answer the questions that actually matter:

• Are the earnings real?
• Are the add-backs supportable?
• Is the cash flow real?
• How much working capital does the business need?
• What risks could impact valuation, lender support, or deal structure?
• Should the buyer move forward, retrade, pause, or walk away?

This role is fractional / project-based to start, with consistent work available for the right person.

Responsibilities

Quality of Earnings leadership

• Lead buy-side Quality of Earnings engagements for lower middle market acquisitions
• Review historical financial statements, general ledger detail, bank activity, and supporting schedules
• Rebuild adjusted EBITDA across a 2-3 year lookback and LTM period
• Validate seller-provided add-backs
• Separate one-time items from true run-rate earnings
• Identify accounting inconsistencies, unusual trends, and non-recurring activity
• Develop clean, supportable adjusted EBITDA schedules

Revenue quality

• Review revenue trends, customer concentration, contract durability, and recurring revenue patterns
• Identify cutoff issues, unusual revenue trends, billing changes, or collection concerns
• Assess whether reported revenue appears sustainable
• Flag revenue risks that could impact valuation, lender confidence, or transaction structure

Expense and margin review

• Review owner compensation, personal expenses, related-party activity, and discretionary expenses
• Identify classification issues, unusual vendor activity, and margin inconsistencies
• Analyze gross margin, labor costs, and operating expense trends
• Determine whether reported margins appear sustainable or inflated

Working capital and cash flow

• Review AR, AP, payroll timing, inventory if applicable, and other working capital drivers
• Support working capital target / peg analysis
• Assess whether the business requires more cash to operate than the buyer expects
• Identify contract startup costs, delayed collections, seasonality, or cash conversion issues

Proof of cash

• Reconcile reported financial performance to actual bank activity when required
• Build cash-to-revenue or cash-to-EBITDA support schedules
• Identify unusual cash flow patterns or differences between reported earnings and cash reality
• Help buyers understand whether EBITDA is converting into usable cash flow

Client and deal communication

• Join diligence calls with buyers, lenders, sellers, or transaction advisors as needed
• Walk through findings in plain English
• Flag diligence issues early
• Recommend next steps when data is missing, unclear, or inconsistent
• Help translate financial findings into practical deal implications

Deliverables You should be able to produce and/or oversee:

• Adjusted EBITDA schedules
• Add back validation schedules
• Revenue quality analysis
• Working capital analysis
• Proof of cash analysis
• Debt and debt-like item review
• Clean Excel workpapers with a clear audit trail
• Practical executive summaries
• Buyer, lender, and investor-ready findings

We need clear diligence that helps a buyer understand what matters, what is risky, and what to do next. What we’re looking for Must haves

• Active CPA license
• Direct Quality of Earnings, transaction diligence, financial due diligence, audit, or forensic accounting experience
• Ability to lead a diligence engagement, not just support one
• Strong Excel skills
• Ability to work from imperfect books, messy files, seller-prepared schedules, and incomplete records
• Strong judgment around what matters and what does not
• Clear, client-ready written communication
• Ability to explain findings in plain English
• Organized workpapers and supportable conclusions
• Comfortable joining calls with buyers, lenders, sellers, and transaction advisors

Nice to haves

• Lower middle market transaction experience
• Buy side diligence experience
• Experience with independent sponsors, searchers, HoldCo operators, or acquisition entrepreneurs
• Familiarity with SBA lender diligence expectations
• Experience with proof of cash
• Experience with working capital peg analysis
• Experience reviewing service businesses, construction, manufacturing, logistics, SaaS, eCommerce, healthcare, or other founder-owned businesses

Professional & Collaboration Expectations

• Strong executive level written and verbal communication skills
• Detail oriented, reliable, and self-directed execution style
• Comfortable managing client interactions, including participating in or leading calls
• Maintain appropriate availability and responsiveness during the engagement period

If you enjoy challenging messy numbers and helping buyers understand the financial truth before they close, we’d like to hear from you!