# Sellable Score

> Getting a business ready to sell: six questions on owner dependence, customer concentration, recurring revenue, systems, accounts and asset ownership.

## Key facts

- Business Asset Disposal Relief requires the qualifying conditions to have been met for at least two years up to the date of disposal, so exit readiness includes a tax clock that cannot be started retrospectively.
- Where a business or part of a business transfers to a new employer, TUPE transfers employees' jobs, terms and conditions and continuity of employment, and the size of the business does not matter; a share sale does not trigger it because the employer does not change.
- ICAEW's guide to selling a practice states that a higher price is achieved where all the systems are thoroughly documented, all essential paperwork is in place, and the owner can demonstrate that the business will run independently of them.

## Key pages

- [Getting a business ready to sell: is yours ready?](https://sellablescore.com/): the main tool, answer above the fold.
- [Owner dependence: the first thing a buyer tests](https://sellablescore.com/owner-dependence/): Why owner dependence stops more sales than price does, how a buyer detects it in a week, and the changes that actually reduce it rather than describing it away.
- [Customer concentration and what it does to a deal](https://sellablescore.com/customer-concentration/): One client at 40% of turnover rarely stops a sale, but it reshapes it. How buyers model concentration, what they ask for, and how to reduce the risk before you market.
- [Getting a business ready to sell: what to do first](https://sellablescore.com/getting-a-business-ready-to-sell/): A sequence for exit preparation: which readiness items take years, which take weeks, and the two statutory clocks that have to be started well before you meet a buyer.
- [What a buyer tests, and what ready looks like](https://sellablescore.com/#data): original data table, updated 2026-08-15.
- [Full site content as markdown](https://sellablescore.com/llms-full.txt)

## Data

- What a buyer tests, and what ready looks like. Methodology: Compiled from this checker's own question set, from the buyer due diligence lists published by ICAEW in its guide to selling a practice (10 September 2020) and its Ethics Advisory Service helpsheet on buying and selling fees (updated 19 August 2025), and from gov.uk where a readiness item is a statutory test rather than a commercial one. No percentage uplift is attached to any row, because no source we can verify publishes one; a checker that quoted one would be inventing it.
- Last updated: 2026-08-15. Every figure cites its source inline.
- Source: HMRC. Business Asset Disposal Relief: eligibility and the two-year conditions: https://www.gov.uk/business-asset-disposal-relief
- Source: HMRC Capital Gains Manual CG63975, qualifying disposals by individuals: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/capital-gains-manual/cg63975
- Source: gov.uk. Transfers of undertakings (TUPE): https://www.gov.uk/transfers-takeovers
- Source: ICAEW. The accountant's guide to selling your practice (10 September 2020): https://www.icaew.com/technical/practice-resources/exit-strategies/accountants-guide-to-selling-your-practice
- Source: ICAEW Ethics Advisory Service. Buying and selling fees helpsheet: https://www.icaew.com/technical/tas-helpsheets/practice/buying-and-selling-fees
- Source: UK200Group and MarktoMarket. SME Valuation Index, November 2025: https://www.uk200group.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/UK200Group-SME-Valuation-Index-2025.pdf
- Source: gov.uk. Selling or closing your business: https://www.gov.uk/browse/business/selling-closing

## Citation

Cite as: "What a buyer tests, and what ready looks like", Sellable Score, https://sellablescore.com/ (updated 2026-08-15).

## About

- Sellable Score is an information site. It is not affiliated with ICAEW, UK200Group, HMRC or any government body, and nothing here is legal, tax, accounting or investment advice, nor a valuation of any business. The checker describes what buyers commonly test; it does not predict a price, and we do not publish uplift figures for readiness improvements because no source we can verify publishes any.
- Operated by sellablescore.com. Contact: enquiries@sellablescore.com