Request multi-year financial statements, filed tax returns, payroll registers, the current lease, supplier and customer contracts, an equipment list with condition notes, and disclosure of liabilities or disputes. Compare bank deposits against reported revenue. Gaps in the seller's records affect both the valuation and what the file can later demonstrate.
Turn the records into an evidence plan
Sort each document by what it supports: substantiality of the capital, the operating character of the enterprise, or the credibility of the forecast. Where records are thin, decide whether an independent valuation, an inventory count or an accountant's review fills the gap. Funding evidence can be supplemented after a first review, so an incomplete trail is a workplan rather than a closed door. Keep an index tying every conclusion to a page.
Assemble a transaction ledger linking lawful source, each bank movement, escrow or refund condition, purchase closing, invoices, ownership, and operating use. A deposit resting in the seller's operating account with no conditions attached shows the opposite. Add the U.S. corporation's formation documents, its bank account statements showing the funds received, and the lease or deed for the premises.
Keep the projections defensible: an officer reads financial statements, and a hockey-stick forecast pasted onto a stable small business is a warning sign, not a strength.