Acquisition Returns Calculator
See what a purchase returns on the cash you put in, from your own price, debt, growth, hold and exit multiple. Enter your email to see the result. It is arithmetic on your assumptions, not a forecast or advice.
What the calculator shows
Multiple of money
Everything that comes back over the hold, the sale included, divided by the cash you put in.
Annual return
The yearly rate that return works out to, counting when each dollar goes in and comes back. A grid shows how it moves with the price you pay and the multiple you sell at.
Where the gain comes from
Profit growth, a change in the multiple, debt paid down, and profit kept during the hold, each as its own figure.
Your deal
Set these to the deal you are weighing, then ask for the result. Nothing is assumed for you: the growth and the exit multiple are yours.
What the business earns for its owner in a year today.
Enter 0 if you are paying all cash. The cash and the debt must cover the price.
Your own assumption. Leave it at 0 to see the return with no growth.
Set it to the multiple you are paying to assume no change.
Set the numbers to match the business. Enter your details below to see the estimate.
See your result
Enter your name and email to see the return on these numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a forecast?
No. Every figure is arithmetic on the price, debt, growth, hold and exit multiple you enter. SaaSClose does not predict how a business will perform or what it will sell for.
What does the annual return leave out?
Taxes, money reinvested in the business, and changes in working capital. All three lower what an owner keeps, so read the result as the most these assumptions could return.
What is the multiple of money?
Everything you get back over the hold, the sale included, divided by the cash you put in. It ignores timing. The annual return does not.
Why is there no multiple of money when profit does not cover the debt?
Because you would have to put in more cash than the amount you entered, and dividing by the smaller number would overstate the result. The annual return still counts the extra cash in the year it is paid.
Where does the gain come from?
Four places: profit growth at the multiple you paid, a change in the multiple between buying and selling, debt paid down out of the business's profit, and profit you keep during the hold after the debt payments.
Why must the cash and the debt cover the price?
If part of the price is paid some other way, such as a seller note, that money is repaid too. Leaving it out would make the return look better than it is, so the calculator asks you to add it to the debt.
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