The Confidential Business Review (CBR) — also called a Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) or Offering Memorandum — is the comprehensive document your broker prepares to present your business to potential buyers. It is the first detailed document a buyer receives after signing an NDA, and its quality directly affects buyer confidence and interest level.
What a CBR Includes
A well-prepared CBR includes: a business overview with history, location, and service description; a financial summary with three years of SDE recasting and current year performance; an operations overview describing the business model, staff, and key customer relationships; market and competitive positioning; a facility and equipment summary; and an asking price with rationale. For some businesses, industry-specific sections (patient census for medical practices, maintenance contract summary for HVAC businesses) are added.
Why CBR Quality Matters
Buyers review multiple businesses simultaneously. A CBR that is clear, professional, and well-organized moves faster toward an offer than one that is confusing, incomplete, or defensive. The goal is to answer the buyer's core questions — what is this business, why is it profitable, and will those profits continue — with confidence-building documentation that supports rather than obscures the story.
As the seller, review your CBR carefully before it goes to buyers. Every statement in the document is a potential representation — factual accuracy matters. Your broker should also include a disclaimer noting that all information is as provided by the seller and buyers should verify through their own due diligence.
Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for this Illinois business. Replacement labor is subtracted. This is a planning tool, not an appraisal.
Before debt, working-capital peg, holdback, and tax. Educational only.
What this Illinois guide is for
What Is a Confidential Business Review (CBR)? is a working answer for owners and buyers. We will not invent a statewide average sale price. We will show the earnings math, the Illinois clocks that delay a close, and the questions a serious counterparty will ask.
Marketplace context from BizBuySell’s Q2 2026 Insight Report (median reported sale $349,250, 2.7× cash-flow multiple, 14% of owners with a professional valuation) is context — not your quote.
Documents to gather this week
- Three years of signed business tax returns and matching P&Ls
- Year-to-date P&L, balance sheet, and three months of bank statements
- Current lease, amendments, and a plain-English remaining term
- License and permit list, including who holds each card
- Top-customer concentration (names redacted until an NDA)
A simple Illinois close calendar
Plan six to twelve months from cleanup to close on a prepared Main Street deal. Start CBS-1 and any Chicago or Cook notices at letter-of-intent, not the week of funding. Landlord consent often takes longer than the lender.
Related pages on this site
Educational only — not legal, tax, or a formal appraisal. Confirm bulk-sale notices, licenses, and tax allocation with counsel and a CPA.
Questions
No. This is education and planning math. A professional opinion of value is a confidential conversation. We work on a success fee if you engage a sale process. There is no file-upload portal.
Start with adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings, then a vertical planning band. A marketplace average is context, not your quote.
Personal professional licenses do not transfer. Municipal registrations and state notices have their own calendars. Confirm the path before you grant exclusivity.
Most prepared Main Street sales take about six to twelve months from cleanup to close. License transfers, landlord consent, and SBA underwriting add weeks.
CBS-1 is the Illinois bulk-sale notice. File it at least ten business days before an asset transfer that meets the statute. Late filing can put Illinois tax risk on the buyer.