Building QoE Prep

---

I wish I could say that I had a well-thought-out plan when I started QOE Prep.

In reality, it came from a mix of frustrations and opportunities I ran into during my career. Both led me to a clear belief that quality of earnings work could be done better.

I started my career at a local accounting firm where I did a little bit of everything, as one does at a small firm. I did tax and audit work, bookkeeping, and CFO advisory. I even took it upon myself to clean the bathroom toilets from time to time.

Needless to say, I remember thinking this distribution of work felt scattered and almost pointless. It made me question why I was there, but looking back, it was the perfect foundation.

Working with small and mid-sized businesses gave me a deep understanding of how companies actually operate. I learned how owners think, how financials break down, and where the everyday problems hide.

That experience gave me the operating knowledge I would later rely on in transaction work and M&A diligence.

After that, I moved to a top ten firm with a focused goal of becoming an audit partner. In my mind, that was what the top CPAs did.

But once I got into audit full-time, I realized something was missing. For those lucky enough to not have experience in audit, it’s a slow process. The deliverable confirms that the numbers are correct.

It’s important work. Personally, though, I didn’t find it energizing, and I felt like the pace was set by the clients.

Then in the summer of 2021, I pivoted into quality of earnings work almost by accident.

My firm had a surge of QoE engagements and needed someone who could do the work and communicate it with clients. Most CPAs aren’t known for their people skills and will keep everything in Excel if they can. I was comfortable with tough conversations, so they threw me into the deep end.

In my first month, I completed four deals. Shortly after, they asked me to leave the audit team and join the QoE team full-time.

I loved it. The work was fast-paced, analytical, and tied to real transactions. It felt like I was firing on all cylinders.

Pretty soon, I started working on the inefficiencies I saw in the system.

I rebuilt our internal templates and improved the work processes. One of my favorite moments was training interns to complete the entire prep work in about 40 hours instead of the 160 hours it previously took.

For example, instead of having each intern rebuild schedules from scratch, we standardized inputs and built a repeatable workflow. What used to take weeks became something predictable and trainable.

As you might be able to tell, I was proud of my work, so I figured the company would feel the same way. When I asked for a raise, I was told I had only been in the role for six months and needed to do my time.

One of my biggest strengths and weaknesses is patience.

So I left.

I hated having my pay dictated by how many times the earth had revolved around the sun.

My first attempt at what is now QOE Prep was a different model.

Instead of selling directly to private equity firms and ETA buyers, I partnered with transaction advisory firms. My team and I performed the quality of earnings work that they sold under their umbrella.

It fit my personality well. True to the three letters after my name, I do not love selling, and I love doing the Excel work. I also enjoy building systems and teaching teams how to operate efficiently.

We ended up working with seven firms under this white-label structure. For two of them, I essentially rebuilt their entire QoE system, and they went on to become top recommended firms in the space.

Then I got the best compliment you can get.

Recurring clients, especially those executing roll-up strategies, started sending deals specifically to me.

Once I saw clients liked what I produced and how fast I worked, I realized I could build recurring clients on my own.

In 2025, I officially launched QOE Prep as an independent firm.

I’ll be honest, at first it was not easy. It took four and a half months to close my first deal. During that time, there was no shortage of thoughts about the opportunity cost of my new path.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, I closed seven deals in one month.

Since April, we have averaged about six deals per month. We currently have nine active deals we’re working on.

Two years ago, under the white-label model, we completed 57 QoEs. This year, our goal is 100.

Along the way, I’ve learned not to get too comfortable.

At each stage in my journey, I had to make the choice to leave behind something I built. With each new opportunity, I had to let go of the last one.

I was able to move on because I recognized both what was frustrating and what was exciting. When I saw inefficiencies, it pushed me to look for better alternatives.

Right now, I’m looking to move up market.

Smaller deals are often harder than mid-market deals. Transactions under $5 million can be challenging because you rarely work with a real finance team. Larger companies tend to have a smoother process because their systems are more built out.

Because of that, I am intentionally moving up market while still supporting the smaller deals that make sense.

Looking back, I built QOE Prep because I believed quality of earnings work could be faster and better.

I was driven by both opportunity and frustration along the way.

This year, we are aiming for 100 quality of earnings engagements.

And we are just getting started.

Email me at caleb@qoeprep.com for your next deal.