Website Due Diligence Checklist and Workbook
By Graham Ashler · Last checked October 2026
Founder & Editor · Deal Field Guide
The Website Due Diligence Checklist and Workbook helps you verify the business behind a listing before you commit: reconcile earnings to original records, price the unpaid work, inspect traffic and rights, and confirm the permitted transfer. A checked box is useful only when you can name the evidence behind it.
You do not need another list that lets you mark “traffic checked” after seeing a screenshot. You need a record of what the seller said, what you found, and what that changes about the deal.
Use the tables below in your own document or print this page. The full resource is available without an email address. It is a buyer's working record, not a certificate that a business is safe.
Best for: a buyer evaluating an established website, affiliate business, ecommerce store or small software business. Change the checklist for: regulated products, employees in several countries, significant customer data, complex software or an entity purchase. Those may need specialist financial, legal, security or tax work beyond this page.
Website Due Diligence Checklist and Workbook: the decision record
Start with your requirements, then write one row for each claim that could change your answer. Do not begin with a score. A business can have excellent traffic and still fail because you cannot receive its income under your ownership.
| Your requirement | Your entry | How you will test it |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum total cash committed | Write amount and currency | Price + separate stock + transaction costs + running cash + reserve |
| Monthly cash you need | Write amount before your personal income tax | Reconciled earnings less uncovered labor, debt payments and other cash needs |
| Time you can supply | Write ordinary and peak hours/week | Task log and coverage plan, not the listing's “passive” label |
| Work you can actually do | List skills and limits | Observe a real task and price outside help for gaps |
| Dependencies you will accept | List tolerated exposures | Revenue by customer, program, product and traffic source |
| Essential assets and accounts | Name each | Written rights and permitted transfer route |
| Decision date and binding deadlines | Enter dates and time zones | Purchase documents, exclusivity and inspection terms |
Now copy this record for each claim. “Not received” is a useful entry. An empty cell is easy to forget.
| Claim being tested | Source document and access | Period | Reconciled finding | Evidence label | Open question | Finding and next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enter exact claim | File name, system, who supplied it, date checked | Same months on both sides | State result and calculation | Use labels below | Name missing evidence | Status, responsible person and deadline |
Use supported by the stated evidence, does not fit, unresolved, conflicting or not applicable as the finding. An invoice can support a past bill. It cannot prove next year's costs will stay the same. Keep that boundary in the sentence.
The evidence labels tell you where a claim comes from: Provider published terms (dated); Inspected by us, with what and when; Operator experience; Third-party report; User assumption; or Not verified. In your own workbook, describe your own inspection plainly. Do not turn the seller's claim into “verified” because you copied it into a spreadsheet.
A completed case: the $6,000 profit that becomes $3,500
The fictional case below shows how a promising listing can meet your funding limit but leave important decisions open. Every business figure and document in this case is invented to demonstrate the method (User assumption), not a market average or an inspected deal.
You are evaluating a content and affiliate website. The price is $150,000, paid in cash. You have $185,000 for the acquisition, separate from household emergency savings. You need $3,000 a month before personal income tax after paying someone to do the seller's work.
| Cash committed at takeover | Fictional amount |
|---|---|
| Business consideration | $150,000 |
| Inventory: no physical products in this case | $0 |
| Legal, accounting and transaction costs: assumed, not quoted | $5,000 |
| Running cash | $6,000 |
| Reserve retained | $18,000 |
| Total paid or set aside | $179,000 |
| Cash remaining from $185,000 | $6,000 |
The funding math fits these assumptions. The $5,000 cost allowance is not final until actual quotes support it. The $18,000 reserve stays cash; it is not another monthly expense.
| Earnings bridge: Oct 2025–Sep 2026, fictional | Annual amount | Monthly average |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue after reversals | $96,000 | $8,000 |
| Recorded operating costs, including existing writers | −$24,000 | −$2,000 |
| Claimed profit | $72,000 | $6,000 |
| Recurring bills paid personally and omitted | −$6,000 | −$500 |
| Corrected operating profit before unpaid owner work | $66,000 | $5,500 |
| Replacement of unpaid owner work: 50 hours/month × $40 | −$24,000 | −$2,000 |
| Cash after that work is covered, before tax | $42,000 | $3,500 |
There is no acquisition loan and no additional working-capital build in this case. Those are explicit assumptions, not default zeros for your deal. The writers already included in the $24,000 cost line are not subtracted again.
The $3,500 clears the $3,000 income requirement on paper. You still do not have a supported buying decision: a large affiliate account has not approved the change, and the buyer's own oversight hours are unmeasured.
| Listing claim | Fictional evidence and period | Reconciled result | Remaining question | Finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “It makes $8,000/month.” | Program statements and bank deposits; Oct 2025–Sep 2026 | $96,000 recognized revenue; payout lag explains deposit differences | Has the latest month changed? | supported by the stated evidence for that period |
| “Profit is $6,000/month.” | P&L plus personal-card software bills, same period | $6,000 less $500 omitted recurring bills = $5,500 | Any other costs outside the ledger? | conflicting with stated profit |
| “Only five hours a week.” | Four-week task diary and update backlog | About 50 hours/month, including administration and fixes | How much oversight remains after hiring? | conflicting; buyer hours unresolved |
| “The affiliate income transfers.” | Seller's email saying it should | No approval or applicable assignment terms supplied | Does the buyer need a new account and different rate? | unresolved |
| “Traffic is diversified.” | Same-period revenue attribution and search reports | 82% of revenue starts with one search engine | Can you accept that exposure? | does not fit if your mandate bars this concentration |
| “AI will halve the work.” | No timed task demonstration | No savings counted | What is the full cost after corrections? | unresolved; Not verified |
| “The all-in cost fits.” | Funding table above | $179,000 from $185,000, using assumed costs | Replace cost allowance with quotes | supported by the stated evidence within assumptions |
My view: the missing account permission matters more than the $500 income cushion. Do not spend that cushion twice by calling the account issue a small risk and assuming the work will be quicker too.
Prove the earnings before you discuss the multiple
Rebuild revenue, operating costs and cash movement for the same months. The three are related, but they are not the same number. A bank deposit can be a delayed payment for last month's sales; a gross checkout total can include tax, refunds or money later reversed.
Request monthly profit-and-loss statements, payment or affiliate statements, bank and card records, invoices and material contracts. Ask for the full history available and at least enough to understand seasonality and the period used in the listing. Twelve months is a useful starting request, not a magic proof of durability.
Revenue reconciliation
| Reconciliation line | Your amount | Evidence or explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Gross sales, commissions or subscription charges | Enter amount | Original platform export; exact definition |
| Refunds, cancellations and reversals | Enter deduction | Same activity period; identify later adjustments |
| Sales tax or other pass-through amounts | Enter deduction if included above | Accountant's treatment; no double deduction |
| Revenue earned for the period | Calculate | Explain annual prepayments and timing |
| Processor/platform fees deducted from payouts | Enter separately | Confirm whether already in operating expenses |
| Opening receivable/payout balance | Enter amount | Amount earned before period but paid during it |
| Closing receivable/payout balance | Enter amount | Earned in period, paid later |
| Expected cash deposited | Calculate consistent bridge | Avoid counting withheld fees twice |
| Actual attributable bank deposits | Enter amount | Trace by transaction and payout identifier |
| Unexplained difference | Expected less actual | Reconcile; do not silently write off |
There is no universal formula for recognized revenue from a payout export. Accounting method, deferred subscription revenue and platform withholding matter. Have the accountant set the bridge before using its output in an offer.
Costs and add-backs
An add-back is an expense someone proposes removing from the earnings calculation. It needs a reason, an amount and evidence. “Optional” is not enough if the work still needs doing.
| Cost or proposed add-back | Annual amount | Already booked? | Will it recur under you? | Evidence and treatment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting, software and API use | Enter | Yes/no | Yes/no/unknown | Contract and usage bills |
| Writers, developers and support | Enter | Yes/no | Same, replacement or unknown | Invoices, scope, availability |
| Owner personal expense | Enter | Yes/no | Explain | Establish genuinely personal portion |
| One-time migration or legal cost | Enter | Yes/no | Explain | Invoice and why it will not recur |
| Maintenance called “growth” | Enter | Yes/no | Explain | Is revenue likely to decline if work stops? |
| Unpaid owner work | Hours and cost | Usually not booked | Coverage required | Task log; price only uncovered work |
Check a sample of refunds, contractor invoices and payout lines all the way through. A tidy annual total can hide a weak recent month or one profitable product funding several losers.
Check where the traffic and income are concentrated
Look at revenue by source and page, alongside traffic. A large audience is less useful if the pages people visit do not produce the earnings being sold. A stable total can also hide one source falling while another temporarily rises.
Ask for read-only access where practical, plus dated exports you can retain with permission. Inspect the site's actual Google and Bing search records, analytics definitions, country mix, top landing pages and changes over time. Search-tool estimates are leads for investigation; they are not the site's bank statement.
| Check | Evidence to obtain | Question the answer must settle |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly trend | Traffic and revenue on identical monthly dates | Growing, flat, seasonal or declining? |
| Engine concentration | Google, Bing and other source breakdown | Does “organic” hide one engine dependency? |
| Page concentration | Revenue and visits by landing page | What happens if the top page loses its position? |
| Program/customer concentration | Revenue by payer | Can one contract change undo the income? |
| Paid acquisition | Ad spend, attributable revenue and refunds | Is apparent growth profitable after spend? |
| Domain and backlink history | Ownership/history checks; representative links | Does the public history match the seller's account? |
| Human demand | Bot filters, conversions, repeat customers | Are headline visits relevant paying users? |
| Search enforcement | Search-console notices and history | Are known issues disclosed and understood? |
Field Notes — Operator experience: content businesses spend real time keeping existing earnings alive. Offers expire. Programs change rates. Pages lose relevance. A listing that counts only new writing hours can leave out the work of retaining the income you are buying. Ask what was fixed in the last 90 days and what has been left for the next owner.
AI raises the same practical question. What part of the site's value survives when producing another article becomes easier? My preference is evidence of useful distribution, an audience, original assets and buying intent. That is editorial judgment, not a forecast of a particular site's search traffic.
Prove you can own and operate what earns the money
A domain, a website and the account that receives its money are separate assets and permissions. Record each separately before you agree what “everything included” means.
The official rules show why a password list is inadequate. Google says AdSense account ownership cannot be transferred. Stripe tells an existing owner selling a business to contact Support about required account changes. Shopify has its own store transfer path, and says stores using Shopify Capital or Shopify Credit cannot be transferred. These are Provider published terms (dated), checked October 24, 2026: Google, Stripe, Shopify.
| Asset or dependency | Legal owner | Permitted route and source | Consent needed | Acceptance evidence | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domain and DNS | Enter | Registrar process | Enter | Buyer controls renewal and DNS | Enter |
| Files, database and source code | Enter | Written rights and delivery | Enter | Restore/deploy test | Enter |
| Text, photos, fonts, video and music | Enter | Assignment or transferable license | Enter | Rights schedule and source files | Enter |
| Monetization and billing | Enter | Provider-specific approval or new account | Enter | Transactions reach buyer's approved account | Enter |
| Customer/supplier contracts | Enter | Contract-specific assignment/change terms | Enter | Required consents obtained | Enter |
| Customer data | Enter | Lawful transfer and security plan | Enter | Restricted access and retention plan | Enter |
| Contractors and key people | Enter | Their agreement to continued work | Enter | Scope, price and start date confirmed | Enter |
| Software services and domains billed personally | Enter | Migration or buyer subscription | Enter | Buyer billing tested | Enter |
Have your lawyer assess intellectual property, contract assignment, liabilities, customer data and the actual purchase structure. Buying assets and buying the legal entity are different arrangements. This page cannot determine the right structure for your facts.
Turn each problem into a specific deal response
A finding should change the price, terms, work plan or decision. If the same issue has appeared in five calls with no owner or deadline, it is not being managed.
| Issue | What would resolve it | Owner | Deadline | If not resolved |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings mismatch | Reconciliation to original records | Buyer accountant + seller | Before binding acceptance | Pause or revise supported earnings |
| Missing IP rights | Signed assignment or valid license | Seller + counsel | Before closing | Exclude asset or decline if essential |
| Platform permission | Written permitted route | Account owner + provider | Before irreversible cutover | Pause; do not substitute passwords |
| Unknown owner workload | Diary, demonstration, coverage quotes | Seller + buyer | Before final decision | Price uncertainty or decline |
| Unfunded reserve | Revised capital plan | Buyer | Before offer is committed | Reduce scope or wait |
Use a holdback or other condition only if both parties and their advisers agree how it works. It is not a substitute for knowing whether a crucial asset can move at all.
Deal Decision Check: state the requirement; identify the evidence; apply the rule; record the finding; name the next step. If your non-negotiable income or transfer requirement does not fit, stop calling the deal a pass. If it is unresolved, ask for what would settle it. No average score overrides either finding.
Once your record supports the money, work and transfer, choose how much transaction help you need. The marketplace comparison separates a broker's role from a marketplace's role. Deal Field Guide does not inspect individual deals or supply due diligence services.
How this resource was checked
Graham Ashler is the editorial pen name of the publisher, who has operated content and affiliate sites, Amazon FBA, KDP, SaaS, iOS apps and YouTube channels. He has not worked as a broker or bought or sold through the marketplaces covered here. The content-site Field Notes concern operating experience; the fictional case is an illustration, not a past acquisition.
Deal Field Guide helps you buy or sell an online business with clear eyes — comparing the real routes, showing the money after fees, and telling you what owning each kind of business is actually like, with the source behind every number.
Research note: checked October 24, 2026. We read the official platform transfer guidance linked here and the SBA's business-purchase guidance. We created and recomputed the fictional records. We did not inspect a seller's private books, approve an account transfer or perform a legal or security audit. Software, including AI, may help organize research and drafts; we remain responsible for what we publish. See our methodology and editorial policy.
This is education, not legal, tax or investment advice.