Section 5.9 · screening with overrides

Screening

A screen decides what the operator sees first, not what exists. A criterion that fails on missing data routes to verification. A superior business that fails one criterion is surfaced with the reason attached.

Edit mandate

Screen result — Northgate Facilities Services Ltd

Criterion	Mandate	Actual	Result	Basis
Maximum purchase price	2,000,000	1,850,000 asking	Pass	Asking price inside the ceiling. Platform maximum is lower at 1,740,000.
Minimum EBITDA	100,000	585,200 normalised	Pass	Tested on normalised EBITDA, never on the seller adjusted figure.
Minimum EBITDA margin	0.10	0.142	Pass	Normalised margin 14.2%.
Financial history years	3	3	Pass	FY2023 to FY2025, filed.
Positive EBITDA required	true	true, all 3 years	Pass	No loss-making year in the window.
EBITDA growth required	true	CAGR 15.28%	Pass	Growth in each year, not only across the period.
Maximum single customer	0.25	0.184	Pass	Above the 0.20 warning, below the 0.25 refusal. Warning recorded.
Prefer owner independent	true	MODERATE	Preference not met	A preference, not a gate. Costs score and multiple, does not exclude.
Minimum base IRR	0.25	0.653 at 1,560,000	Pass	Clears at every fundable price. A 3.4× entry multiple against 9.5% debt means this test never binds.
Minimum downside IRR	0.15	0.512	Pass	Downside case defined on the forecast screen.
Maximum equity payback	5 years	2.6 years	Pass	On the base case at the recommended offer.
Minimum DSCR	1.5	1.78 base	Pass with breach in stress	This is what sets the maximum price: 1.37× at the asking price. Three stress cases also fall below 1.5. Listed on the stress screen.
Include distressed	false	not distressed	Pass	No distress signal detected. See the distress screen.
Geography	London preferred	Watford	Ranking modifier +3	Commutable from London. Never a filter.

Outcome: passes the screen, shortlisted. One preference unmet and one warning recorded. Both travel with the opportunity into the report rather than being cleared at the screen.

Section 5.9 · the override rule

Fails one criterion, still surfaced

A business that misses a criterion but is materially superior on the others is presented with an explicit explanation. The operator decides, not the filter.

Opportunity	Failed	Superior on	Presented as
Sterling Compliance Group	Asking £2,150,000, above the £2,000,000 ceiling	Score 81, recurring 91%, owner independent, DSCR 2.31×	Override — above ceiling
Halesworth Precision Ltd	Two years of accounts, mandate requires three	Margin 21.4%, no customer above 9%	Verification required
Vantage Care Services	Largest customer 31%, above the 25% refusal	Score 77, 12 year contract on that customer	Override — concentration

Each override row carries a one-line reason on the dashboard, so the operator never has to open the record to learn why it is there.

Missing data is not a fail

Verification routing

Rule. Where a criterion cannot be evaluated because the underlying figure is absent, the result is Verification required with the missing field named. It is never Reject, and never a pass on an assumed value.

Worked example. Halesworth Precision has no FY2023 filing. The history criterion evaluates to verification required, naming "FY2023 accounts". Every other criterion still runs, and the results are shown. Ask the seller: statutory accounts for the year to 31 December 2023.

What the operator sees. The dashboard status reads Verification required with a hover listing the specific missing fields. Sorting by score still includes it, with the score marked as provisional.

Funnel for this search

Sourced

143

3 of 5 adapters ran

Screened out

118

Reason recorded on each

Verification required

Missing fields named

Passed

Of which 2 shortlisted, 3 overrides

Screened out because	Count	Recoverable
Normalised EBITDA below £100,000	54	No
Normalised margin below 10%	28	No
No EBITDA growth across the window	19	Yes, if the reason is recorded and credible
Asking price above £2,000,000	11	Yes, via override
Loss making in at least one year	6	Yes, if distressed is enabled
Total screened out	118

Screened-out records are retained with their reason. Re-running the same search with a wider mandate resurfaces them without re-fetching anything.

AcquiScope produces analysis and modelling, not regulated investment advice. Every company name on this screen is invented for the prototype. No screen was run against real listings.