The Report
A Report Built Around the Decision, Not the Dossier.
Every DEVIS report shows what was found, how far it is supported, what remains unresolved and what the findings may affect — before presenting the evidence beneath the assessment.
The Six-Part Report
From Decision Context to Evidence, in the Order a Senior Reader Needs It.
Your decision, and what is at stake
The commitment in front of you, and what turns on it.
The honest headline
The few things most likely to change the answer.
What we found
The evidence, the contradictions and the connections across all five lenses.
What is missing from the dataroom
Every document that should have been there and was not. Absence is a finding too.
The consequence each piece carries
What it does to valuation, financing, control, timing and reputation.
What to ask, and what to listen for
The questions to put before commitment, and the behaviour that tends to answer them.
“Are the top accounts under contract, what are the renewal dates, and what evidence supports the forecast after any change of control?”
- Strong Signed contracts, renewal dates, change-of-control terms, revenue history, customer correspondence and forecast support — produced clearly and promptly.
- Weak Relationship language: “the customers are loyal,” “we do not expect issues,” or “these relationships have always renewed.”
- Red flag Contracts that are verbal, delayed, incomplete, not yet requested, or inconsistent with the forecast assumptions used to support valuation.
DEVIS separates the finding from the possible consequence. It does not present an inference as a confirmed fact or a possible transaction effect as a guaranteed outcome.
An Extract
This is how a DEVIS report actually talks to you.
From the Intelligence Narrative of an illustrative sprint. Names, figures and jurisdictions are fictional. The voice is not.
Your gut was right, but the reason is bigger than the man you met. What we found is not a business being sold. It is an architecture being transferred. The governing law that quietly moved offshore. The liability cap set at “amounts received”. The retained management stake that is not held by management. The finance director who resigned the day the regulator’s deadline expired. The accounting policy switches booked in the window immediately before sale.
Read alone, each of those is a negotiating position. Read together, they are a design.
The thing no single lens caught is the timing. The customer representing two-thirds of revenue gave notice in January, and that fact is absent from the memorandum drafted in March. This is not a company being sold because the founder wants liquidity. It is a company being sold because the people inside it can see what is coming and the buyer cannot.
The questions this raises matter more than the answers. Why is the seller willing to accept that governing law, that cap and that timetable — and what does he know about the next ninety days that makes them acceptable to him?
Every claim is marked verified, contradicted or unverified. Where the models disagreed, the report says so rather than choosing the tidier answer.
The Next Room
A Report the Engagement Team Can Use.
The report is designed for partner review, client discussion, investment committee preparation, lender conversations, management questions, internal escalation and decisions about where deeper specialist work is required.
It should help the firm answer:
- What matters most?
- What is supported?
- What remains unresolved?
- Which finding affects which part of the transaction?
- What should be asked next?
- What evidence would strengthen or weaken the position?
- Where should specialist diligence go deeper?
The report supports the firm’s analysis. It does not replace the firm’s recommendation.
The Supporting Record
The Headline Is Only Useful if the Basis Can Be Examined.
Material findings should identify the relevant evidence, its status, its limitations and any conflict or gap that remains.
Where the report tests a material claim against the record, the claim carries one of four statuses:
- Verified — a finding directly supports the claim with documentary evidence.
- Partially verified — mixed evidence; some aspects supported, others questioned.
- Unverified — no finding addresses the claim, or the evidence was inconclusive.
- Contradicted — a finding directly contradicts the claim with documentary evidence.
Ask DEVIS
After Delivery, the Report Becomes Interrogable.
Ask DEVIS allows authorised users to question the completed Sprint, request clarification, examine the supporting basis and explore how individual findings connect to possible transaction consequences.
Ask DEVIS is not a separate analysis.
It does not
- Add new findings
- Modify the original report
- Re-run the Sprint
- Introduce evidence that was not part of the approved engagement record
- Issue a final recommendation
The Final Boundary
The Decision Remains With the Firm and Its Client.
DEVIS states what was found, how far it is supported, what remains unresolved and what the exposure may affect.
It does not provide legal, financial, accounting, investment, tax, lending, regulatory, insurance or other regulated advice.