The buy-side Quality of Earnings auditors are trying to write down our adjusted EBITDA by claiming our recent price increases are unsustainable and should not be annualized. How do we defend our pricing strategy and keep these adjustments in our final valuation?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Buy-side Quality of Earnings firms make their living by finding reasons to discount your earnings. When you implement a price increase, their standard playbook is to label it as temporary or unproven. To beat them, you must show them hard operational proof of customer acceptance. First, gather the billing history of every customer affected by the price increase. Show the auditors that your customer churn rates did not spike after the price change went into effect. Use your weekly EOS Scorecard history to prove that client retention remained steady. Second, demonstrate that your price increases were driven by structural efficiency gains, not just arbitrary inflation bumps. If you have integrated AI-powered automation into your service delivery, present the data showing that your unit economic costs went down while your prices went up. This proves your margins are sustainable and repeatable. Third, present signed contract renewals or new client onboarding agreements that explicitly list the new pricing tiers. If a client has signed a twelve-month agreement at the higher rate, the auditor has no logical basis to discount that revenue. Treat the QofE audit like a court case where data is your only defense. If you can prove customer acceptance and stable churn, you force the auditors to accept your annualized adjusted EBITDA calculations.