Buy-side diligence template

Buy-Side Due Diligence Checklist Template

A buy-side diligence checklist for acquirers and advisers organising financial, legal, commercial, tax, HR, IT and operational review workstreams.

Spreadsheet preview

Folder index rows

01 Workstream Management / Diligence tracker
02 Financial Diligence / FDD reports and source files
03 Legal Diligence / Legal reports
04 Commercial Diligence / Market and customer analysis
05 Tax Diligence / Tax review
06 HR and Management / Management assessment
07 IT and Operations / IT/ops review

Use case

Acquirer or adviser managing diligence workstreams

Download the CSV, open it in Excel or Google Sheets, customise the rows, then upload the finished index to Data Room Builder. The columns are intentionally simple: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Notes.

Level 1Level 2Level 3Notes
01 Workstream ManagementDiligence trackerOwners, status, issues and follow-ups
02 Financial DiligenceFDD reports and source filesAdvisor outputs and source support
03 Legal DiligenceLegal reportsIssues list and source documents
04 Commercial DiligenceMarket and customer analysisCDD outputs and supporting data
05 Tax DiligenceTax reviewTax reports, exposures and structuring notes
06 HR and ManagementManagement assessmentInterview notes and org analysis
07 IT and OperationsIT/ops reviewSystems, cyber, operations and integration notes

Implementation tips

  • Separate buyer-side analysis from seller-provided documents.
  • Use workstream folders to coordinate advisers and internal deal-team members.
  • Keep issue logs current so findings flow into SPA, valuation and IC materials.

FAQs

Is buy-side diligence a data room?

It is often an internal diligence workspace rather than a seller-facing VDR, but the same folder discipline helps organise advisors, source files and findings.

Should buyer analysis be stored with seller documents?

Usually no. Keep buyer analysis and privileged notes separate from source documents received from the seller.