A CIM first look should keep the document's claims separate from verified facts. The buyer usually has a polished narrative, a stated SDE, and selected historical tables before receiving tax returns or a full data room. The output should identify what can be calculated now and what remains unsupported.
What can the CIM establish by itself?
The document can establish what the seller or broker chose to state: asking price, revenue history, stated SDE, presented add-backs, customer mix, employees, facilities, and growth narrative. It cannot by itself prove the tax-return tie-out, bank deposits, working-capital need, customer retention, or whether an adjustment disappears after closing.
What is included in the $149 first look?
The first look summarizes the claims and omissions, reproduces the stated add-back bridge, calculates coverage at the ask and two lower price cases on printed assumptions, and produces ten questions for the broker. The two-business-hour period runs from receipt of a readable CIM during the service window stated on the main page.
What comes after the first look?
If the document warrants more work, the $495 pre-LOI brief uses the CIM, three years of tax returns, and the P&L for a deeper tie-out, add-back reconstruction, concentration read, working-capital estimate, and thirty ranked questions. Neither deliverable recommends buying or replaces lender-required diligence.
What can the Reality Contact check provide?
The free card calculates coverage at the asking price, 10% under, and 20% under with every loan assumption printed. The $149 CIM first look identifies claims, omissions, stated add-backs, coverage, and ten broker questions. The $495 pre-LOI brief adds the tax-return and P&L tie-out, deeper add-back reconstruction, concentration and owner-dependence read, working-capital estimate, and thirty questions. The buyer sends every question.
Where does the operator boundary sit?
This is not financial advice. Reality Contact, LLC writes an analysis memo from buyer-supplied documents. It is not a quality-of-earnings report, audit, assurance engagement, valuation, or opinion. Reality Contact is not a CPA firm or broker, takes no closing-linked fee, contacts no seller, broker, or lender, and gives no recommendation. The coverage card is a real calculation on printed assumptions. Reality Contact is sampling whether buyers want the deeper document read. We reply by email with the ask, 10% under, and 20% under cases so the arithmetic can be rerun. The current source check starts with this published record.