Verify recurring revenue quality
Separate true recurring subscriptions from setup fees, services, annual prepayments and one-off work. Reconcile MRR or ARR to billing-system records and bank/payment data rather than relying only on a dashboard screenshot.
Understand churn and cohorts
Review logo churn, revenue churn, expansion, downgrades and cohort retention. A stable top-line number can hide constant customer replacement if acquisition is covering weak retention.
Use the live marketplace to compare real listings against the criteria in this guide.
Inspect customer and channel concentration
Identify customers large enough to change the economics if they leave. Then inspect acquisition sources: paid search, partnerships, SEO, outbound, app marketplaces and founder relationships all carry different durability.
Review product and code risk
Understand architecture, deployment, security practices, technical debt, third-party APIs, key dependencies and who can maintain the code after transfer. Verify that repositories and critical infrastructure are owned by the selling entity.
Model the operator workload
Map support, sales, demos, onboarding, development, billing operations and incident response. A software business can still be highly owner-dependent even with recurring revenue.
Value the business you can operate
Use verified earnings and retention quality as inputs, then adjust for concentration, growth, technical risk and owner dependence. Do not let a generic SaaS multiple substitute for a business-specific view.