The headline number in most sales conversations is the multiple. Three times profit. Four times profit. It sounds precise. It's only as reliable as the profit figure it's being multiplied by. The problem is, not all profit is the profit you think it is. Sellers, entirely reasonably, want to present the business in its best light. That often means "adjusted" profit, with addbacks for things that supposedly won't apply once you own it. Some addbacks are legitimate. Some are doi
