{"apiVersion":"2026-10-19","data":{"disclaimer":"Educational. Not legal, tax, or financial advice.","resource":{"slug":"add-backs","title":"Add-back worksheet","audience":"seller","summary":"How seller's discretionary earnings are built, line by line.","citations":[{"label":"IRS Publication 334","url":"https://www.irs.gov/publications/p334"}],"body":"This is educational. It is not a quality-of-earnings opinion and not tax advice.\n\nSeller's discretionary earnings start from profit and add back the benefits an owner took that a buyer might not. The worksheet on the calculators page does the sum, and it warns when a one-time line is large next to profit or when you mark that line as recurring:\n\nreported profit, plus owner compensation, plus personal expenses run through the company, plus truly one-time costs, minus the wage of a replacement manager if the buyer will not do the owner's job.\n\nA boat payment for a boat the owner uses on weekends is a candidate add-back. A \"one-time\" marketing spend that appears every March is not. Depreciation is an accounting add-back only if you also plan for the cash the next truck will cost.\n\nIRS Publication 334 is a starting point for how a small business reports income. It is not a valuation standard. Your CPA should tie the worksheet to the return before a buyer sees it."}}}