BuySide Numbers helps first-time business buyers estimate the cash required to acquire and operate a business, the impact of financing, and whether a deal may support their target owner income.
Enter your name and email to receive the beta version of the BuySide Numbers Acquisition Cash-Flow Calculator. You’ll receive a downloadable Excel workbook. Open it in Microsoft Excel or another desktop spreadsheet program; the Google Drive preview is view-only.
The Acquisition Cash-Flow Calculator is a free Excel tool for people considering the purchase of a small business.
Enter basic deal information, financing assumptions, and your target owner income. The calculator estimates:
Cash needed to purchase the business
Initial cash needed to operate the business
Loan payments based on your financing assumptions
Monthly cash remaining after operating costs and debt service
Whether the business may support your target owner income
This tool is designed for first-time buyers considering an owner-operated small business, especially during early screening.
It is useful when you have limited information, such as an asking price, advertised earnings, and preliminary financing assumptions.
The BuySide Numbers calculator is an educational scenario-planning tool. It does not:
Verify the seller’s financial information
Provide a business valuation
Provide tax, legal, accounting, lending, investment, or business-advisory advice
Recommend that you purchase a particular business
Replace professional due diligence
Results depend entirely on the assumptions you enter.
You will also be invited to share feedback so future versions can become more useful.
Tell us what was confusing, missing, or useful. Your feedback will shape the next version.
BuySide Numbers creates practical financial tools for business buyers. Our first tool helps buyers understand the cash-flow realities behind a potential acquisition before committing time and money to detailed due diligence.
Why I built this
Why we built this Free Excel Acquisition Cash-flow Calculator
Buying a business involves many unknowns. This calculator helps you ask the first important question: Could this deal realistically support the income you need.
It is designed to support early screening—not replace professional advice or detailed due diligence.
Questions or feedback?
Contact our little team at BuySide Numbers.