Ask the Analyst

The Real Picture, Part 3: The Price of Certainty Two buyers walk into the same funeral home. Same building, same equipment, same call volume, same staff. One offers six times earnings. The other offers seven and a half. The owner does the only reasonable thing a person can do with a gap that size. He asks his CPA what he’s missing. Nothing, usually. The earnings are the earnings, and the financial statements are the financial statements. What’s different isn’t the business. It’s the buyer standing in front of it. By now you’ve read two articles on how to actually read this business. The balance sheet tells you whether it has room to breathe. The income statement tells you how it earns, and whether that engine is sound or borrowed against a good year that won’t repeat. Neither one, on its […]

What happens when a consumer tells you they don’t want a traditional funeral chapel, don’t want cremation, and don’t want a conventional burial, but still want something meaningful? It’s a question the profession can’t afford to ignore. Green burial, alkaline hydrolysis, natural organic reduction, direct cremation providers, and online-only platforms aren’t fringe concepts anymore. And while some of these aren’t moving the needle on volume just yet, they matter less for what they’re doing today and more for what they’re revealing about where consumer preferences are heading. It’s Not About the Method — It’s About the Feeling When families ask about green burial or online arrangements, they’re rarely leading with the method. They’re leading with a feeling — they want something honest, personal, affordable, and guided. The 2025 NFDA data backs this up: 56% of recent customers cited transparent pricing […]

The Real Picture, Part 1: What Your Balance Sheet Is Actually Telling You Most funeral home owners can tell you what they made last year. Revenue, expenses, what was left over. Ask them about their balance sheet and the answer is usually some version of: “My accountant handles that.” That’s not a knock. The income statement is intuitive. Money in, money out, here’s what’s left. It’s a film. The balance sheet feels like accounting furniture. Something the bank asks for. Something filed away after tax season. But the balance sheet isn’t furniture. It’s the theater. You can have a sold-out show every night, but if the foundation is cracking and the rafters are rotting, the profit is an illusion. Everything your income statement reflects sits on top of it. And if what’s underneath is weak, none of the performance above […]

Deal fatigue is a phenomenon that occurs during lengthy or complex business transactions, most commonly in mergers and acquisitions where one or both parties experience a gradual erosion of enthusiasm, focus, and motivation to see the deal through to closing. It typically sets in after prolonged periods of negotiation, due diligence, and back-and-forth communication that stretch well beyond the originally anticipated timeline. As weeks turn into months, the cumulative weight of information requests and unresolved sticking points can wear down even the most seasoned dealmakers, causing minor issues and setbacks to become an expensive and drawn-out thorn in the side. The causes of deal fatigue often come down to a lack of organization and a failure to maintain urgency throughout the process. Sellers who are slow to upload requested documents, delayed in responding to questions, or simply unprepared for the […]

When a funeral home owner starts thinking seriously about a sale, there’s a question that doesn’t get enough attention early in the process: who actually buys these businesses, and how are they different from one another? It’s not a small distinction. The type of buyer sitting across the table from you will shape the offer you receive, the terms attached to it, and what your business looks like on the other side of closing. Broadly speaking, buyers in funeral and cemetery consolidation fall into four categories. National Consolidators These are the names most sellers already know. Publicly traded companies with national footprints, institutional capital, and decades of acquisition experience. They know what they’re looking for: consistent call volume, clean financials, and markets that fit their existing regional presence. When a business checks those boxes, they compete aggressively on price and […]