Put Ledger to work

A nerdy bird who explains your number, then helps you move it

Ledger is a small owl who stays up late with your numbers so you don’t have to. He wears orange glasses, mostly for effect. He won’t flatter your valuation, but he will explain it, which in his experience is more useful and less awkward.

Start free See Move the number

“I don't make up numbers. I'm an owl, not a pitch deck.”

Explains your number

Ask him anything about your valuation

Pick a question to replay his recorded answer.

“These are answers I actually gave, recorded on a made-up firm. The figures in bold were put there by the app, not by me.”

Ledger on Demo · Alder Ridge Advisors

What's behind this

Operating margin

Your EBITDA is $444K on revenue of $2.18M, a margin of 20.4%. Put another way, 79.6% of every revenue dollar goes to costs. The engine rates this below the median for your size tier. That is the single largest priced gap on your board.

Recurring revenue mix

The engine scores part of your revenue as less durable than advisory fees. Your revenue runs at 0.72% of AUM. That alone does not prove a commission mix, but it is consistent with one.

Client book: retention, age mix and concentration

Your client count sits Above median for Form ADV peers, while AUM per client of $1.20M sits Below median. Three book factors are holding the number back, and retention is the biggest of them.

Data confidence

Several inputs are owner-stated or missing, including earnings before owner compensation at $0. Closing these gaps is worth $0 on the midpoint. It improves confidence, not the midpoint, but it decides whether the number holds up when someone checks it.

Revenue
$2.18M
EBITDA
$444K
Assets under management
$301.50M
Client relationships
251
Here is the short version. The engine values your firm from revenue of $2.18M, EBITDA of $444K, AUM of $301.50M and 251 client relationships, then adjusts for the quality of the business. I can't show the fair estimate itself, because it isn't among the figures on this board. What I can show is what is behind it and what is holding it back.
EBITDA margin
20.4%
Operating margin — uplift on the fair estimate
$249K
Earnings before owner compensation
$0
Start here: operating margin. At 20.4% you sit below your size tier's median. Closing that gap is worth about $249K on the fair estimate at the tier median, every other factor held still. Before cutting anything, the first step is to fix the owner-pay add-back. It currently reads $0, which likely means it was never entered.
Recurring revenue — uplift on the fair estimate
$217K
Next: recurring revenue, worth about $217K on the fair estimate at its target score, every other factor held still. Buyers pay more for fees that renew on their own than for commissions or one-off projects. Relabeling revenue doesn't count; the agreements have to change.
Client retention — uplift on the fair estimate
$174K
Client demographics — uplift on the fair estimate
$130K
Concentration — uplift on the fair estimate
$130K
Succession readiness — uplift on the fair estimate
$50K
Your client book is the third story. Retention is worth about $174K at its target score. Demographics and concentration are each worth about $130K and $130K respectively, and succession readiness about $50K, each with every other factor held still. These are separate scenarios. Don't add them together.
Client count, peer median
248
AUM per client
$1.20M
AUM per client, peer median
$1.29M
Your aum against Form ADV peers
Below median
Against Form ADV peers, you have more clients than the median (248) but less AUM per client ($1.20M against a median of $1.29M). Total AUM sits Below median. In plain terms, it's a wide book with relatively shallow households. That is a practice-management observation, not a grade.
Data coverage — uplift on the fair estimate
$0
For your goal of growing value within the year, margin and recurring revenue are the two biggest levers you control directly. Closing the data gaps runs alongside them: it is worth $0 on the midpoint, but it makes everything else provable. These are the engine's priced moves for this practice, each modeled with every other factor held still. This is positioning and practice-management guidance, not an appraisal and not a promise about any transaction.

Recorded answer on a fictional demo firm (Demo · Alder Ridge Advisors, saved valuation of 2026-09-10). Words by a model; every figure was inserted by the app from the saved valuation.

Works each move

Ten value drivers, one owl who knows each of them

Recurring revenue

Ledger separates recurring fees from one-off revenue, drafts the transition plan, and prepares fee and client communication pieces for your review.

Does the legwork

On request or on a schedule, with you approving each step

How Ledger does the legwork

“Ask Ledger to do this” on any taskExpand a step in a move plan and he drafts the work for that step on the spot.
Ledger on a scheduleSchedule him on a move and, at each check-in, he picks up the next open task and leaves the result for your review.
Analysis from your dataHe reads the rows you share, leads with what he found, and ties each next step to a finding.
Finished piecesClient letters, talk tracks, memos and checklists are saved to the move and export to PDF or Word.

He drafts and reports back. You review and apply.

How Ledger spots what's missing

Estimates standing in for factsHe lists which inputs still use defaults and which record would replace each one.
Mismatches with your filingsHe flags where your supplied figures differ from your public filings so you can settle which is right.
Gaps in shared dataWhen you share billing or client book rows, he names the fields that are missing before analyzing them.
A request ready to sendHe drafts a short note to whoever holds the missing record, for you to send.

Gaps are flagged, never filled with a guess.

How Ledger points you to what's next

“What should I work on first?”He ranks your moves by what the engine says each is worth and recommends where to start, with a first step.
A plan that has stalledHe notices when a move hasn't progressed and suggests the next task to unblock it.
Time to re-valueWhen your last valuation is getting old, he suggests a fresh run so finished moves can show up as verified.
The right page or workflowHe links you to the page, move or skill that answers your question, rather than guessing.

Suggestions only. You choose where to go.

“I work late. I still leave the final say to you.”

Writes the pieces

Finished drafts, saved to the move and exported in your brand

Download the PDF or Word file to see the branded export, built in your browser the same way the app builds it.

“I write the draft. Your compliance team gets the last word, as it should.”

Client letter · for your client

Client letter: an optional fee-based advisory relationship (draft for compliance review)

Draft for your compliance review before use.

[Firm name]

[Date]

Dear [client name],

Thank you for the trust you place in us. We are writing to let you know about an option for how we work together and how you pay for our advice. Nothing changes unless you choose it.

How you pay us today

Today you pay for our services mainly through commissions on the products you hold or buy. A commission is paid when a transaction happens. That means what you pay is tied to transactions, not to the ongoing advice and service you receive.

The option we would like to discuss

We now offer a fee-based advisory relationship. Instead of commissions, you would pay a transparent advisory fee of [fee description] under a written agreement. The agreement would set out exactly what we do for you, including:

[scope item, for example regular portfolio reviews]
[scope item, for example financial planning updates]
[scope item, for example proactive outreach when your circumstances change]

Why we are raising it

Clarity. You would see one clear fee and a written scope of service.
Alignment. Our compensation would not depend on whether you buy or sell a product.
Ongoing attention. The agreement commits us to a regular service calendar, not only to transactions.

This may not be right for everyone

For some clients, especially those who trade rarely and hold investments for the long term, a fee-based arrangement may cost more than staying with commissions. Before you decide, we will prepare a side-by-side comparison of what you pay today and what you would expect to pay under an advisory fee. Some existing products may also carry charges if they are changed. We will explain any that apply to you.

Please note that we earn a different form of compensation under each arrangement, which creates a conflict of interest. Our disclosure brochure, enclosed or available at [link], explains our fees and conflicts in full.

What happens next

If you would like to explore this, reply to this letter or call [advisor name] at [phone] to set up a review meeting.
At that meeting we will walk through your comparison and answer your questions.
If you prefer to keep your current arrangement, you do not need to do anything. Your service continues as it is today.

Thank you again for being a client of [firm name].

Sincerely,

[Advisor name]

[Title]

[Firm name]

[Required regulatory disclosures, as specified by compliance]

---

*Draft for the firm's compliance review. Not to be sent until approved. Placeholders are filled in by the firm.*

A real piece Ledger wrote and saved on the fictional Demo · Alder Ridge Advisors demo firm on 2026-11-09.

Knows his limits

What he does, what he asks first and what he never does

He never changes a figure on his own, never contacts a client and never sends anything without your say-so. Every number comes from the valuation engine, not from him. He drafts, you decide.

Try asking him:

“Some requests I turn down. Politely, and every time.”

Put Ledger on your own numbers

Ledger works inside ValuationMCP on your saved valuation. Your own assistant can do the same work through MCP.

See plans

ValuationMCP produces educational estimates, not appraisals, fairness opinions, or investment, legal or tax advice.