A real cost breakdown, not a rough sense of what feels fair. Labour properly valued, overhead allocated accurately, rework and inefficiency accounted for.

A deliberately chosen margin, not whatever happens to be left over once the bills are paid.

Regular review, since costs move and a price calculated two years ago is answering a question that's no longer accurate.

Is revenue tracking to the plan set in June, or has something shifted that nobody's actually factored back into forecasts yet?

Are costs behaving as expected, or has anything crept up — supplier pricing, staffing costs, overhead — since the budget was set?

Are this year's PAYG instalments and BAS obligations based on current reality, or still running off last year's figures by default?

Has anything changed operationally — a client won or lost, a new hire, a pricing change — that should already be reflected in your forecast but probably isn't?

Slower expense reimbursements. A one-week delay that used to be same-day starts happening more often, and staff quietly clock it.

Hesitation on small purchase approvals. Requests that used to get an instant yes now sit for days, or get quietly declined without much explanation.

Changes in how urgently invoices get chased. A sudden new focus on collecting overdue customer payments signals the business needs that cash sooner than it used to.

Vendor or supplier comments. Staff dealing directly with suppliers sometimes hear things — a supplier mentioning a late payment, or tightened terms — before that information ever reaches the owner's own view of the situation.

Margin, not turnover. A high-revenue, thin-margin business converts less of every sales dollar into anything a buyer actually wants.

Owner dependence. A business that stops working the moment the owner steps away is worth considerably less than one that runs on documented systems and a capable team.

Revenue quality. Recurring, diversified revenue is worth more per dollar than large, lumpy, one-off, or concentrated-client revenue — even at the exact same total.

Clean, provable numbers. A business with tidy, well-substantiated records is easier to value confidently — and confidence commands a better price than a buyer having to guess and discount for risk.

Exit valuation methods that no longer make sense. A formula that seemed reasonable at the start can produce a wildly unfair outcome years later, once the business has grown or changed direction.

Deadlock provisions nobody remembers exist. Or worse, provisions that don't exist at all, leaving two equal partners with no mechanism to break a genuine disagreement.

Vague "reasonable efforts" language. Clauses that sounded fine on paper but provide no real guidance when a genuine dispute over contribution or commitment arises.