Build the Model
That Survives
the Data Room.
Most financial models fail due diligence — not because the numbers are wrong, but because the structure, assumptions, and audit trail cannot withstand a professional buyer's scrutiny. Achieve Corporation builds FMVA-certified models that hold under pressure, in four weeks.
Mark Ross Roberts FMVA · CBCA | Olivia Lauren Hughes FMVA · CBCA | 30 Years UK M&A Book a Confidential Model Scoping CallA buyer's financial team will interrogate every assumption, every formula, every reconciliation. The model you present in week one sets the tone for every negotiation that follows.
An Internal Model Is Not a Transaction Model.
Most business owners enter a sale or acquisition process confident in the numbers they know. But a model built for internal planning is structurally different from one built to withstand buyer scrutiny, legal examination, and institutional due diligence. The assumptions are undocumented. The debt schedules are incomplete. The cashflow bridge doesn't reconcile. By the time that becomes apparent, you have already lost negotiating position — and sometimes the deal itself. That is the problem Achieve Corporation was built to solve.
Which of These Is Your Current Situation?
Your Model Cannot Be Interrogated
A buyer's financial due diligence team will trace every assumption back to its source. If your model was built incrementally by different people using different logic, it will not survive that process. Hardcoded cells, circular references, and unexplained adjustments are discovered in hours — and each one reduces the buyer's confidence, and their offer.
You're Using the Wrong Instrument
An M&A transaction model, an LBO model, and a capital raise model are structurally different instruments. Using a P&L-based forecast where a fully integrated three-statement model with working capital and debt schedules is expected signals to an acquirer that you don't understand the process — before the negotiation has begun.
Your Assumptions Won't Hold
Financial models presented in a transaction are only as credible as the assumptions behind them. If your revenue growth rate, margin profile, or capital expenditure projections cannot be defended with a clear methodology and comparable benchmarks, a sophisticated buyer will apply their own — invariably more conservative — numbers. Valuation falls. Terms shift.
A Model Built to Close the Deal — Not Just Explain It.
The difference between a model that supports a transaction and one that undermines it is rarely the quality of your underlying business. It is the quality of the financial instrument presented in its defence. Achieve Corporation delivers models that a CFO on the buy side will read, interrogate, and respect.
"The model we built for this acquisition identified £340K in hidden working capital inefficiencies the vendor had not disclosed. That changed the offer structure entirely."
Mark Ross Roberts FMVA · CBCA — Senior Partner, Achieve CorporationA Fully Integrated Three-Statement Model
P&L, balance sheet, and cashflow statement reconciled and linked — with working capital schedule and debt waterfall built in.
Documented Assumption Register
Every revenue driver, cost assumption, and growth rate referenced against its source — a requirement for institutional due diligence.
Scenario & Sensitivity Analysis
Base, upside, and downside scenarios with named variables — allowing both principal and acquirer to model the range of outcomes credibly.
Transaction-Ready Valuation Output
EBITDA, DCF, and earnings multiple outputs formatted for data room presentation — not internal management accounts.
Audit-Ready Model Architecture
Single-source inputs. No hardcoded cells in calculations. Consistent formula logic throughout. Built to be interrogated, not trusted on faith.
Written Model Narrative
A one-page management commentary explaining the key assumptions — structured for inclusion in an Information Memorandum or investor pack.
What a Competitor Cannot Credibly Offer
FMVA-Certified on Both Sides
Both principals hold the CFI Financial Modelling & Valuation Analyst designation — not a course certificate, but a certified credential requiring demonstrated technical output. Most boutique M&A advisors cannot match this on a single principal, let alone two.
We Have Sat on Both Sides of the Table
Achieve acts as buy-side advisor on acquisitions and sell-side advisor on business sales. Every model we build for a vendor has been reviewed through the lens of what a sophisticated acquirer will challenge first. That perspective is not available from an accountant or a financial planner.
M&A Models Only. Not General Accounting.
We do not produce management accounts, tax returns, or statutory filings. We build transaction models: LBO, DCF, three-statement, M&A, capital raise, and ratios analysis. Specialisation means the architecture is correct from the first cell — not retrofitted from a bookkeeping template.
Model + Advisory in One Engagement
When Achieve Corporation builds your model, you are not handing the output to a separate advisor who must interpret it. The analysts who built the model are the advisors on the transaction. No translation layer. No misalignment between model logic and deal strategy.
4-Week Standard Delivery
Complex transaction models delivered in four weeks to first draft — not three months. Deal timelines are not forgiving. If your model is not ready when the buyer's team is, the gap in credibility belongs to you, not them.
No Third-Party Data Sharing
All model inputs, financial data, and business information remain within Achieve Corporation's engagement team. We do not use offshore modelling resource, shared platforms, or sub-contracted analysts. Your transaction data does not leave our advisory perimeter.
What Happens, When, and What It Produces
Model Scoping Call & Structure Agreement
A 60-minute structured call with Mark Ross Roberts to establish the model type required, the transaction context, and the specific outputs needed for your deal. You receive a written model scope and a structured data request within 48 hours — so collection is efficient, not open-ended.
Financial Data Collection & Assumption Setting
We work with your historical financials, management accounts, and any existing projections to build a clean, source-referenced input dataset. Every assumption is agreed in writing before the model is built — eliminating the revision cycles that extend most engagements by weeks.
Model Build & Internal Audit
The model is built to FMVA architectural standards: single-source input sheet, separated calculation layers, reconciled outputs, and no hardcoded values in formula cells. An internal technical review is conducted before the draft reaches you — errors are identified at build stage, not during buyer due diligence.
Scenario Modelling & Stress Testing
Base, upside, and downside scenarios are built with dynamic variable inputs — allowing the model to be presented under challenge without manual reworking. Sensitivity tables are formatted for inclusion in a board pack or data room without further adjustment.
Handover, Walkthrough & Model Narrative
You receive the final model, a written assumption narrative suitable for your Information Memorandum, and a 60-minute walkthrough with Mark to ensure you can present and defend every output. You leave the engagement understanding your own model — not dependent on us to explain it.
A Model Built to Close Deals — Not Just Describe Them.
- 01 // A clear assessment of which model type your transaction requires and why — with no obligation to proceed.
- 02 // An honest view of whether your existing financial data is sufficient to support a credible model build, and what is missing.
- 03 // A fixed-scope engagement proposal with a confirmed delivery timeline — no open-ended retainer, no ambiguity.