Divergent CPA Backstory:

I met a friend back in 2023.

He had been in retail for over a decade, but when he decided to pursue entrepreneurship, he didn’t want to roll the dice on a startup. He wanted predictable cash flow, so he set out to buy an established business.

That’s when he reached out to me for help with financial due diligence.

In 2023, he acquired the leading bike shop in his city. Two years later, he bought the top shop in a neighboring city. Instead of spending years fighting for customers, he stepped into nearly a century of goodwill and a proven revenue stream.

Building from scratch means no data, no trust, and a high chance of burning years on something that never works.

Buying a business means lots of data, built-in trust, and cash flow from Day 1. But there are risks, mainly doing a bad deal and losing your life savings.

That’s why I created Divergent CPA: to help you do good deals and buy time.

We only do one thing: financial due diligence. In plain English, we take an x-ray of your target business, highlight the Key Value Drivers and Key Risks, and give you the conviction to walk away or close with confidence.

We serve one type of customer: Self-Funded Acquisition Entrepreneurs.

We’re based in Oakland, California.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  • Divergent CPA is a boutique transaction advisory firm based in Oakland, CA.

    We specialize in financial due diligence for self-funded acquisition entrepreneurs.

    In plain English, we help you verify the numbers before you buy a business.

    Our job is to take an “x-ray” of your target company, highlight the Key Value Drivers and Key Risks, and give you the conviction to walk away or close with confidence.

  • We are based in Oakland, California.

  • Prices start at $5,000 and go up to $50,000. All depends on the deal.

  • Financial due diligence is a deep review of a company’s financials to verify that the numbers match reality.

    Typical engagement includes:

    • Quality of Earnings Analysis

    • Profit & Loss Analysis

    • Balance Sheet Analysis

    • Identification of Key Value Drivers and Key Risks

  • It comes down to six things:

    • The foundations. Financial due diligence answers three critical questions: How does the business really make money? Is it a good or bad business? And how does cash flow move through it (working capital, cash cycle)?

    • Valuation. The purchase price of a business is based on an earnings multiple multiplied by its earnings. But not all earnings are equal. Some are “low quality”. Divergent CPA’s financial due diligence uncovers those so you only pay for earnings that are likely to continue.

    • Key value drivers. Business value is driven by five levers: organic revenue growth, margin trajectory, capital intensity, capital deployment, and terminal value. Our due diligence tests whether those levers are durable or fragile before you commit to buying a business.

    • Hidden risks. Even great-looking businesses can hide red flags: customer concentration, shrinking margins, rising capital needs, or hidden debt. Financial due diligence surfaces these risks before you put your life savings on the line.

    • Forward-looking clarity. Past financials are just the start. Proper due diligence uses them to model cash flows, test scenarios, and forecast whether the business will keep creating value.

    • Conviction. Buying a business is emotional. People tell stories. Pressure come from all angles. Divergent CPA’s due diligence report cuts through the noise with objective answers, so you can either walk away from a bad deal or close with confidence.

  • Most CPA firms spread themselves across tax, audit, and accounting. Divergent CPA is different: we focus on transaction advisory, specifically financial due diligence. Our specialty is helping self-funded acquisition entrepreneurs evaluate businesses before closing a deal.

    Unlike other firms that produce long audit-style reports, Divergent CPA delivers due diligence reports that cut to the chase. We highlight the Key Value Drivers and Key Risks in plain English so you can make the biggest financial decision of your life with confidence.

    Because Divergent CPA is built solely around transaction advisory and due diligence, our work is faster, sharper, and directly tied to the realities of buying a business.

  • It depends on the size of the deal and the quality of the records, but most self-funded acquisitions take 2–4 weeks.