SMB Acquisition Institute
A four-course textbook and modeling curriculum for evaluating, valuing, financing, and negotiating the purchase of an existing small business. The curriculum contains 24 modules, detailed worked examples, spreadsheet modeling instructions, self-study problem sets with solutions, and four capstones that progress from operating value to an acquisition decision.
The completed curriculum
| Course | Six-module progression | Capstone work product |
|---|---|---|
| 1. DCF Valuation Modeling for Small Businesses | Intrinsic value, operating forecasts, reinvestment, discount rates, terminal value, and acquisition valuation | Enterprise DCF, sensitivities, and a valuation memorandum |
| 2. Financial Statement Normalization & 3-Statement Modeling for Acquisitions | Cash and accrual accounting, tax-return forensics, SDE and EBITDA, QoE, and integrated statements | Vanguard Industrial Machining earnings reconstruction and a balanced operating model |
| 3. LBO & SBA Debt Modeling for Small Business Acquisitions | Capital stacks, SBA requirements, sources and uses, amortization, coverage, and seller notes | Precision Valve & Actuator funding, debt, cash, stress tests, and equity returns |
| 4. Comps, Valuation Multiples & Deal Negotiation | Market benchmarks, earnings multiples, risk adjustments, LOI architecture, working capital, and closing recourse | Apex Fire & Security valuation, negotiated terms, closing adjustments, and investment memorandum |
The courses serve professionals with basic accounting familiarity who want to understand the economics and execution of an SMB acquisition. Follow the numbered sequence if financial statements are familiar. Complete Course 2 before Course 1 if you need a stronger accounting foundation. Budget study time using each course's syllabus; textbook reading, spreadsheet reconstruction, and written assignments require more time than scanning lesson summaries.
How to work through the material
Read each chapter as an argument about how the business works. Rebuild the numerical examples, explain each adjustment in words, and attempt the problem set before reading its worked solutions. The goal is to understand why a number belongs in the model and what evidence could change it.
Use a spreadsheet with separate inputs, source evidence, calculations, scenarios, and checks. Preserve reported history and distinguish accounting corrections, economic normalization, and proposed buyer improvements. Keep formulas at full precision and round display values only.
Each capstone supplies controlling inputs, solution checkpoints, required artifacts, and a rubric. Passing self-assessment requires at least 80/100 and the stated critical checks. A recommendation to decline an acquisition can earn full credit when supported by evidence, cash-flow mechanics, and a clear explanation of risk. Completion does not confer an external credential.
Read the units and transaction perimeter
All business cases are fictional. Course 1 lessons may use $000 shorthand or explicitly stated actual dollars. Courses 2, 3, and 4 use actual US dollars. Each chapter states its convention, and its capstone packet controls the assessment. Standalone examples across chapters are not one continuous set of financial statements.
Enterprise value describes operating value before agreed financing adjustments. Equity value describes the residual claim after cash, debt, and other agreed items. Seller consideration, immediate closing cash, escrowed amounts, and buyer funding needs are distinct. Normalized EBITDA, unlevered free cash flow, operating cash flow, and CFADS likewise require their own defined bridges.
The capstones illustrate why these distinctions matter. A balanced financial model can still breach minimum cash; a high LBO return can coexist with weak downside coverage; a plausible valuation can still depend on contracts that cannot transfer. The curriculum teaches the learner to identify those limits before committing capital.
Evidence, current rules, and attribution
This is an independently authored curriculum aligned with publicly described CFI subjects in valuation, financial modeling, and acquisitions. It does not reproduce paid CFI course materials or imply CFI endorsement. See Sources and CFI Alignment for the mapping and primary references.
Course 3 and the SBA-related portions of Course 4 use a policy snapshot dated November 5, 2026, distinguishing sourced program requirements from illustrative rates, tax assumptions, loan covenants, and investment judgments. A real transaction requires verification of the governing SOP, notices, effective dates, borrower eligibility, and final lender documents.
Course 4 distinguishes attributed public market observations from fictional comps and broad teaching ranges. Legal examples explain commercial mechanisms and adviser questions; transaction counsel must assess jurisdiction, enforceability, liability, tax allocation, and final drafting. Sources support the expressly attributed points, while the invented cases remain educational assumptions.
Start Course 1 ยท Review sources
Build, audit and defend the models
Start with the learning paths and completion checklist. The eight Excel workbooks provide separate learner and instructor files for Harbor, Vanguard, Precision and Apex. Complete the 24 independent module assignments and four capstone packets before opening the instructor solutions.
After the four-course core, apply the methods in From Acquisition Search to First 100 Days: a comprehensive lifecycle syllabus and a fully worked Northstar pilot with fictional source documents, decision gates and a prioritized expansion backlog. The pilot is not represented as a completed ten-chapter course.
The detailed public CFI topic crosswalk identifies covered subjects and disclosed gaps without claiming certification equivalence. Automated numerical, document and workbook checks support reproducibility; they do not certify legal compliance, loan approval or investment judgment. Native Excel/LibreOffice review remains separate from the available formula-engine validation.