We spent the last eighteen months automating our service delivery using custom AI agents, which slashed our fulfillment costs. How do we present these run-rate savings during a Quality of Earnings audit so they are capitalized into our historical EBITDA rather than treated as a simple forward-looking projection?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

To get a buyer to pay a multiple on cost savings, you must prove those savings are already fully realized and sustainable. A buyer's Quality of Earnings team will naturally dismiss future cost reductions as speculative projections. You must transform these projections into historical reality by presenting a run-rate EBITDA adjustment based on concrete operational milestones.

If your AI automation was fully implemented six months ago, you have six months of high-margin data and six months of high-cost legacy data on your trailing twelve-month statement. You must calculate the annualized impact of these savings as a run-rate adjustment. For example, if the AI agents save you twenty thousand dollars per month in labor, you should add back the excess labor costs from the first six months of the trailing period to show the true, normalized profitability of your new operating model.

Support this adjustment by showing clear operational data. Use your Accountability Chart to prove that the legacy fulfillment seats have been eliminated or repurposed. Document the automated workflow in your core processes, showing exactly how the AI agents handle the volume. When the QofE auditor sees a documented, repeatable process alongside a clear run-rate calculation, they will have a hard time arguing against the adjustment, allowing you to capture a premium multiple on your actual efficiency gains.