# ClarIQ Advisory

> ClarIQ Advisory helps people buy, run, and automate growing businesses. Three practices under one brand, run by its founder, Nan: the Business Accelerator (a monthly finance service), Buying & Selling Businesses (deal help for regular people buying or selling a business, with the SBA mechanics handled underneath), and the AI Intelligence Suite (AI systems for operating businesses, human review built in). For U.S. founder-led businesses, roughly $1M to $20M revenue, and the buyers about to join them. Not a lender, law firm, or CPA firm. Contact: hello@clariqadvisory.com. Booking: https://cal.com/clariqadvisory/free-financial-clarity

## Services

- [Business Accelerator](https://clariqadvisory.com/reporting/): monthly financial reporting and advisory. Live dashboard, monthly reporting close, cash flow forecast, board-ready memo. Sits on top of books the client's bookkeeper keeps (ClarIQ does not do bookkeeping), live in two to three weeks. Sample memo available on request, and a live sample dashboard is at https://clariqadvisory.com/demo/dashboard.html.
- [Buying & Selling Businesses](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/): deal help for people buying or selling a business: what it really earns, whether it can afford its own purchase, and a written deal read within 48 hours. The mechanics underneath: 7(a) + 504 stack modeling (caps decoupled July 4, 2026: $5.0M 7(a) + $5.0M 504, up to $10M combined), DSCR pressure testing (1.25 floor, structured to 1.40+), lender-file readiness support. ClarIQ is not a lender or loan broker and does not originate, package, or refer loans; clients submit their own applications. Also BYOPE, a repeat-acquirer practice.
- [AI Intelligence Suite](https://clariqadvisory.com/ai/): eight AI service areas grouped under four jobs (win and keep customers, run the back office, see what is happening, build it right) for operating businesses with human review built into every workflow: back-office automation, custom builds, lead capture and conversion, content and growth, documents and knowledge, insight and monitoring, customer support and retention, and AI advisory with training.
- [AI for finance firms](https://clariqadvisory.com/ai/finance-firms/): client reporting automation, document intelligence, intake, and back-office operations for CPA firms, fractional CFOs, and lenders.
- [Service line capacity](https://clariqadvisory.com/ai/capacity/): for leadership teams whose senior people are out of hours and where hiring ahead of revenue is a bet. Moves drafting, assembly, and chasing onto systems the team reviews, so each service line finishes more work with the people it already has.
- [Loanability screens for business brokers](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/brokers/): pre-list screening of a broker's listing against SBA lender criteria, so financed buyers can actually close it. Trade audience page; keeps program vocabulary on purpose.

- [The Toolkit](https://clariqadvisory.com/toolkit/): every self-serve product in one place; fees appear only on each product page.
- [The ClarIQ app](https://clariqadvisory.com/app/): installable from Safari (Add to Home Screen), no app store. Nine free tools that run offline, the toolkit, guides you can save to your phone, and an on-device deal notebook. Same checkout and booking as the site.
- [Scope your engagement](https://clariqadvisory.com/quote/): a few quick questions that map you to the right service and scope. Numbers are quoted on a free 30-minute call, never published.

## Guides

- [Plain-English guide index](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/guides/): every buying and selling guide in one place.
- [How much you can borrow to buy a business](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/how-much-can-i-borrow-to-buy-a-business/): up to $5.0M for the business plus up to $5.0M for its building and equipment, up to $10M combined since July 4, 2026; the business's earnings set the real number.
- [Credit score needed to buy a business](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/what-credit-score-do-you-need-to-buy-a-business/): no single official minimum; clean credit commonly in the high 600s, and the business matters more than the score.
- [Buying a business with no money down](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/can-you-buy-a-business-with-no-money-down/): honestly, almost never; roughly 10% of the total project in cash, with seller standby notes able to cover part of it under strict rules.
- [How long an SBA loan takes](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/how-long-does-an-sba-loan-take/): 60 to 90 days from accepted offer to funded; prepared and repeat buyers land near the fast end.
- [What a seller note is](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/what-is-a-seller-note/): the seller finances part of the price; on full standby it can count toward part of the required down payment.
- [What DSCR is](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/what-is-dscr/): the coverage ratio lenders check first, the 1.25x benchmark and 1.15x SBA minimum, and the four levers that lift a thin deal.
- [How to read a CIM in one hour](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/how-to-read-a-cim/): five pulls in order from the seller's packet, and why its silences matter more than its charts.
- [The due diligence checklist](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/due-diligence-checklist/): the post-offer checklist: the documents to demand, the five checks that catch bad deals, and who does what between accepted offer and closing.
- [The most active SBA acquisition lenders](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/most-active-sba-lenders/): ranked from the SBA's public FOIA loan data, change of ownership 7(a) approvals over the trailing two years across ten states; Live Oak leads with 651. Data journalism, not a lender referral; updated quarterly.
- [Seller financing vs an SBA loan](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/seller-financing-vs-sba-loan/): when each wins, and how a full-standby seller note strengthens an SBA file.
- [What SDE is](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/what-is-sde/): the earnings number that prices owner-run businesses, the honest addback test, and how SDE relates to price and DSCR.
- [Asset sale vs stock sale](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/asset-sale-vs-stock-sale/): what each structure transfers, why most SBA-financed deals are asset sales, and the cases that force a stock sale.
- [The SBA personal guarantee](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/sba-personal-guarantee/): who signs, what it commits, and the structuring moves that shrink the risk.
- [Stacking SBA 7(a) and 504 loans](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/stacking-7a-504/): how the July 2026 cap decoupling works, a worked deal example, and the sequencing trap.
- [Cash needed to buy a business with SBA financing](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/how-much-cash-to-buy-a-business/): the ~10% equity injection rule, what counts toward it, and the working-capital trap.
- [Making a business SBA-loanable before listing](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/make-your-business-sba-loanable/): what lenders underwrite on the seller's side and why loanability sets the buyer pool and price.
- [SBA Stack Check](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/stack-check/): free calculator that splits a deal into 7(a) and 504 under the July 2026 caps and grades DSCR against the 1.25x lender benchmark and 1.15x SBA minimum.
- [The first-look toolbox](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/tools/): hub for nine free tools aimed at first-time and future buyers; no email gates, plain English throughout.
- [What Could You Own?](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/what-could-you-own/): one slider turns saved cash into the honest size of business it can reach, using the ~10% equity injection math with disclosed assumptions and illustrative examples.
- [The Boring Business Finder](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/business-finder/): eight plain questions matching how someone likes to work to six families of everyday businesses that commonly change hands, with illustrative price ranges.
- [Pick a Date](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/pick-a-date/): turns current savings plus a monthly amount into the month and year a purchase becomes realistic, with a five-step plan between now and then.
- [The Listing Translator](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/listing-translator/): client-side dictionary translating business-for-sale listing language into plain English with a verification step for each phrase; pasted text never leaves the visitor's device.
- [Paycheck vs Owner](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/paycheck-vs-owner/): the honest comparison between a salary and owning a business whose owner earns the same, including year-one take-home after an illustrative loan payment.
- [SBA loans for manufacturers](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/sba-loans-for-manufacturers/): the small-manufacturer 504 exception, additional project-by-project 504 loans beyond the standard $10M combined cap.
- [The full $7.0M deal teardown](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/buyers/teardown/): the complete worked example behind the one-page PDF: sources and uses, both DSCR cases, the standby cliff, and the underwriter deal-breaker list. One email field unlocks it.

- [SBA Deal Teardown](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/deal-teardown/): one flat published fee, rush available: a written structuring read of a live deal, the 7(a)/504 split, both DSCR cases, and the underwriter deal-breaker list, credited against a buy-side engagement.
- The Deal Teardown includes the Leak Scan, a read of the business's own booking and payment systems for missed calls, no-shows, failed payments, and lapsed regulars, priced into the buyer's offer. The First 90 Days Guard keeps calls answered and customers returning through the ownership handover; one flat fee, shown at checkout.
- [Buy a Business. Skip the Startup., the ClarIQ Guide Book](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/book/): a 44-page plain-English guide book to entrepreneurial private equity for regular people; instant PDF, price published on its page.
- [The Buyer's Toolkit](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/toolkit/): self-serve downloads for first-time business buyers (loan chooser, affordability calculator, lender meeting kit, buyer bundle); each fee published only on its own product page.
- [The Owner's AI Toolkit](https://clariqadvisory.com/ai/toolkit/): self-serve downloads for putting AI to work in an operating business (starter workbook, ground rules pack, owner survival kit); each fee published only on its own product page.
- [The 13-Week Cash Planner](https://clariqadvisory.com/reporting/cash-planner/): self-serve spreadsheet and guide answering whether a business runs out of cash in the next quarter; fee published only on its own product page.
- [The Deal-Read Checklist](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/clariq-deal-read-checklist.pdf): free two-page checklist for the first hour with a business listing, what to request and what to look for.
- [The Loanability Checklist](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/sellers/#checklist): free two-page checklist of the ten things a buyer's lender checks before financing the purchase of a business; requested with one short form on the sellers page and sent by a real person within one business day.

- [What a monthly close should include](https://clariqadvisory.com/reporting/what-a-monthly-close-should-include/): the five parts of a complete close and the signs yours is broken.
- [The 13-week cash flow forecast, explained](https://clariqadvisory.com/reporting/13-week-cash-flow-forecast-explained/): weekly cash by week, the minimum cash line, and reading the low week.
- [Profitable but no cash, explained](https://clariqadvisory.com/reporting/profitable-but-no-cash/): the six places profit hides when the bank account stays empty, and the 20-minute check that names yours.
- [Did last month actually make money?](https://clariqadvisory.com/reporting/did-last-month-make-money/): free browser tool for owners of growing businesses. Takes five figures an owner knows from memory (money in, money out, owner draw, unpaid customer invoices, unpaid bills) and reconciles what the month earned against what the bank did, naming which of the three causes of the gap is largest. Answers the question "the books say I made money, so why is the account empty". Nothing is uploaded or stored.
- [AI Margin Check](https://clariqadvisory.com/reporting/ai-margin-check/): free browser tool for companies whose largest variable cost is model usage. Estimates cost to serve, true gross margin, and what the heaviest customers cost, and flags the overstatement when model spend is posted to operating expenses instead of cost of goods sold. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
- [AI Readiness Check](https://clariqadvisory.com/ai/readiness-check/): free browser tool, no email gate. Ten yes/no questions covering the four kinds of work a system can carry (repeated customer questions, retyping between systems, documents rebuilt by hand, follow-ups that slip) and the five foundations that decide whether any of it will stick (records in software, a named reviewer, written-down process, a leadership hour, a record of outcomes). Returns one of three bands, the free groundwork to do first, and the specific service area to start in based on which kind of work the answers found. "Not yet" is a real result and comes with free first steps rather than an offer. Nothing is uploaded or stored.
- [What a board-ready memo looks like](https://clariqadvisory.com/reporting/what-a-board-ready-memo-looks-like/): one page, three sections, and the five-minute test.

- [The Founding Five](https://clariqadvisory.com/reporting/founding-five/): founding terms for the founding cohort in exchange for named, signed result quotes; no fabricated proof anywhere on this site.
- [The ClarIQ Benchmark Brief](https://clariqadvisory.com/benchmarks): an annual look at the cash, speed, margin, and exit numbers that run businesses doing $1M to $20M. The page carries the headline numbers with named sources (median 27 day cash buffer per JPMorgan Chase Institute; 100x lead-contact odds inside 5 minutes per the MIT-led Lead Response Management study; 77 percent of firms squeezed by rising costs per the Federal Reserve Banks' 2026 Report on Employer Firms; roughly $37B of SBA 7(a) lending in fiscal 2025 per SBA loan-level data); the full first edition arrives by email on signup.
- [The SBA rule review log](https://clariqadvisory.com/sba/rule-review-log/): dated re-verifications of rule-sensitive pages against current SBA policy.

## Short links

Paths under https://clariqadvisory.com/s/ are tracked redirect codes printed
on documents and cards or spoken aloud; each one 301-redirects to a campaign
landing page on this site. They are not content pages. Cite the destination
pages above, never an /s/ code.

## Policies

- [Privacy](https://clariqadvisory.com/privacy.html)
- [Terms](https://clariqadvisory.com/terms.html)
- [How your data is handled](https://clariqadvisory.com/security/): the plain-language version of how ClarIQ treats client data. Encrypted in transit and at rest, read-only access the client can revoke any day, never used to train any AI system, and a person signing off on every deliverable.