BizJourney
Home › Glossary › Finance › Valuation & Deals › Due diligence

What is Due diligence?

Due diligence: Careful checking of a deal before committing.

Where Due diligence fits

Due diligence is part of Valuation & Deals in Finance. Valuation estimates what a business is worth. Mergers and acquisitions are checked by due diligence, and present value converts future cash into today's money.

Practical tip

Never pay more than discounted future cash, and verify claims before signing.

Related terms

Merger
Two companies join to form a single new one.
Acquisition
One company buys control of another.
Goodwill
Extra value paid in an acquisition above the worth of identifiable assets.

Formulas you will use with it

Debt-to-equityWACCOne-year NPVPresent value

Test yourself

Which term means: “Careful checking of a deal before committing.”?

Merger · Due diligence · Goodwill

Answer: Due diligence

Learn Due diligence by playing

Quizzes, a CEO simulator, a real estate tycoon game and startup tools. Free to start, in 7 languages.

Play BizJourney free →