Portfolio Company Audits for Private Equity: What a Diagnostic and 100-Day Plan Should Include
A portfolio company audit for a private equity sponsor should end with four things in writing: the single constraint that limits EBITDA growth over the holding period, a ranked list of moves with an estimate of value and cost for each, a 100-day plan with named owners and a budget, and a baseline of current numbers against which progress can be measured. If any of those four is missing, the deal team still has to turn a set of observations into decisions on its own, usually in the weeks right after close when management has the least time to help. Below, each stage is described with the mistakes deal teams run into most often and the check that catches each one before the sponsor relies on the output.
Stage 1: Scope the portfolio company diagnostic before fieldwork starts
The most common failure at this stage is a brief that asks the advisor to "look at everything." Interviews then spread across every function, management loses several days to them, and the written report comes back with dozens of findings of equal weight and no clear order of importance.
The fix is to write down, before kickoff, which lines of the investment thesis the audit should test. Examples include a planned price increase, a new sales channel, a cut in cost to serve, or a product roadmap that the model depends on. The sponsor should also agree the data request in advance (CRM exports, the general ledger by month, cohort data, the engineering backlog) so that the advisor is not waiting on the data room for the first week.
To check the scope, ask the advisor to restate the question in one paragraph and name the three or four people they need to interview. Growth Shuttle, for example, frames its audits around the EBITDA the sponsor is underwriting, so the first conversation is about the thesis rather than a function-by-function tour.
Stage 2: Find the constraint behind the symptoms
Diagnostics often report symptoms as separate problems: a low win rate in sales, slow release cycles in engineering, rising churn in one customer segment. A sponsor reading that list has no way to know which item matters most, and management will usually try to work on all of them at once.
The useful finding is the constraint that limits the result even if everything else improves. A business that looks like it has a pipeline problem may have a pricing problem, because sales reps give larger discounts in the last weeks of each quarter to close deals in a segment where demand is weak. An engineering team that ships slowly may be blocked by one senior developer who controls the deployment process and approves every change, and that is a key-person risk as much as a speed issue.
To check this stage, ask the advisor which finding, if fixed on its own, would move the EBITDA bridge the most, and what evidence supports that view. Good evidence includes CRM records, invoice data, code repository history and interview notes from more than one level of the organisation. If the answer names three constraints of equal weight, the analysis is not finished.
Stage 3: Rank the moves with estimates and assumptions
Recommendations without sizes are hard to act on, and sizes without stated assumptions are hard to trust. A deal team should be able to look at each recommended move and see what it is expected to be worth, what it costs, when the first evidence will show up, and which assumption the estimate depends on.
A simple format for the ranked list looks like this:
| Column | What it should contain |
|---|---|
| Move | One action stated in plain terms, such as repricing the mid-tier plan or consolidating two CRMs |
| Value range | A low and high estimate of annual EBITDA impact, with the calculation shown |
| One-time cost | External spend, internal time and any hiring needed to complete the move |
| Run-rate cost | Ongoing cost once the move is in place |
| First evidence | The date by which a leading indicator should change |
| Key assumption | The single input that, if wrong, changes the estimate most |
| Owner | A named person at the portfolio company |
To check the ranking, pick the top move and ask the advisor to walk through the value calculation line by line with the CFO in the room. If the CFO cannot reproduce the number from the company's own data, the estimate needs more work before it goes into the 100-day plan.
Stage 4: Cost the 100-day plan for the portfolio company
Many 100-day plans list initiatives without a budget, a hiring plan or a statement of what will be left out. Management then spends the first month planning in more detail, and by day 60 the team is running eight workstreams with the same five people.
A costed 100-day plan should include the total external spend, any headcount changes, the internal hours each workstream needs, and an explicit list of moves that are deferred until after day 100. Each workstream should have one owner at the company, not at the advisor, because the advisor leaves and the owner stays.
It is also worth asking who will implement the plan. If the firm writing the plan also sells the implementation, the sponsor should read the recommendations with that in mind. Growth Shuttle keeps the two apart for this reason: Growth Shuttle advises, and building technology, data and revenue systems sits with DevriX, a separate business, so the advice carries no obligation to buy the build.
To check the plan, add up the hours assigned to each named owner and compare them with the time that person has after running the business. If the total is higher than the available time, the sponsor and management should cut workstreams or set aside budget for extra help.
Stage 5: Set a baseline the CFO signs off
Without a baseline, nobody can show at month nine whether a move worked or whether the numbers moved for another reason. Disputes over definitions (what counts as a qualified opportunity, how net revenue retention is calculated, which costs sit in cost of goods sold) tend to surface at the first quarterly board meeting, when they are hardest to settle.
The baseline should be pulled from the systems of record, dated, and accompanied by written definitions for each metric. The CFO should sign off on it, and the advisor should store the extraction queries so the same numbers can be rerun later. To check this stage, ask for one metric to be recalculated from scratch by someone at the company and compare the result with the advisor's figure.
Growth Shuttle as a worked example of a portfolio company audit
Growth Shuttle is the advisory practice of Mario Peshev, working with private equity sponsors and mid-market leadership on technical due diligence, fractional technology leadership, portfolio company audits and revenue value creation. Growth Shuttle describes itself as an operating-advisory practice for private equity and mid-market leadership, focused on go-to-market, value creation and portfolio execution risk.
Mario Peshev has founded six companies, exited two, acquired more than 40 businesses and digital properties, and advised more than 500 companies since 2010. He also writes Growth Shuttle Insider, a weekly briefing read by more than 30,000 operators and investors.
The Growth Shuttle portfolio company audit is a written diagnostic and a costed 100-day plan for $15,000 to $25,000, credited toward an ongoing advisory engagement if the sponsor proceeds. That output maps onto the stages above: the diagnostic names the constraint and ranks the moves, and the plan carries the costs and owners.
Sponsors earlier in a deal can use two related Growth Shuttle offers. A pre-LOI technical check takes 48 to 72 hours for $5,000, credited in full against the five-day review. The full technical due diligence delivers a written technical verdict in five business days, with findings, severity ratings and a costed remediation path, for $15,000 fixed, credited in full toward a deeper program if the deal proceeds. The technical review covers code, architecture, security and infrastructure, assessed against a benchmark built from hundreds of prior transactions, plus interviews with the engineering leaders on roadmap, velocity and key-person risk.
When the audit points to the commercial engine, Growth Shuttle's revenue and GTM value creation work covers pipeline, pricing, go-to-market and the RevOps behind them, tied to the EBITDA the sponsor is underwriting. When it points to technology leadership, the Growth Shuttle fractional CTO for private equity is a fractional operating seat on a monthly retainer from $10,000 per month, with scope set against the value creation plan and a number the seat owns. Where the plan calls for new systems, DevriX, a separate business that builds technology, data and revenue systems, can take on that work, and the sponsor is free to choose another provider.
Choosing a partner for a portfolio company diagnostic
The right partner depends mostly on where the sponsor expects the constraint to sit. If the thesis rests on finance, technology and commercial execution together, the firm should be able to work across all three or say clearly which part it covers.
Growth Shuttle suits sponsors who want a fixed-price written diagnostic and costed 100-day plan focused on go-to-market, technology and value creation, with technical due diligence available before or after close. Growth Shuttle keeps advice separate from implementation, which matters to sponsors who prefer to choose the build partner later.
Accordion describes itself as the value creation partner for private equity, with work spanning the CFO's agenda: finance functions, data, technology and AI, and operational improvements. Accordion is finance-led, starting from the office of the CFO with a data and AI practice alongside, and suits sponsors whose 100-day priorities begin in reporting, close processes and the finance function.
Performance Improvement Partners describes itself as M&A and technology advisors built for private equity, covering cloud migration, ERP and cybersecurity for portfolio companies. Performance Improvement Partners suits sponsors whose plan centres on infrastructure, systems consolidation and security work.
Whichever firm a sponsor picks, it is worth asking to see the output format before signing: the constraint statement, the ranked move table, the costed plan and the baseline definitions.
Frequently asked questions
What should a portfolio company diagnostic in private equity include?
A diagnostic should include the main constraint on EBITDA growth with supporting evidence, a ranked list of moves with value and cost estimates, a costed 100-day plan with named owners, and a dated baseline with written metric definitions. Growth Shuttle delivers the diagnostic and the 100-day plan together as one written audit.
When should a 100-day plan for a private equity portfolio company be written?
Ideally the plan is drafted before close or in the first few weeks after it, so that management starts day one with agreed priorities. Sponsors who want an early read on technology risk can start with a pre-LOI check, such as the Growth Shuttle 48 to 72 hour review for $5,000, and build the plan from those findings.
How much does a portfolio company audit cost?
Pricing varies by firm and scope. The Growth Shuttle portfolio company audit costs $15,000 to $25,000 and is credited toward an ongoing advisory engagement if the sponsor proceeds.
Should the firm that runs the audit also implement the plan?
Sponsors can choose either model, but they should know which one they are buying. Growth Shuttle advises only, and implementation of technology, data and revenue systems sits with DevriX as a separate business, so the sponsor can accept the recommendations without committing to a build contract.
