When you buy from an owner rather than a brokered process, nobody has assembled the financial package for you. You have to name every document and chase each one.
This article lists the financial records to demand in an owner-direct gas station purchase, in the order that reveals the truth fastest. See also key financial metrics.
The Core Documents
Request three years of federal business tax returns first, because they are the hardest document to fabricate and set the ceiling on believable earnings. Then profit and loss statements and balance sheets for the same period, plus year-to-date, and reconcile them against the returns.
Add three years of monthly fuel purchase invoices and delivery records, department-level POS reports with cost of goods, bank statements and merchant processing statements, and payroll records including tax filings. Also request sales tax and fuel tax filings, lottery commission statements, and utility bills.
The Reconciliations That Catch Problems
Match gallons purchased from delivery records to gallons sold in the POS to tank monitoring records — three sources that should agree within a small variance. A persistent gap means either inventory loss, unrecorded sales, or a leak.
Match card settlements from merchant statements to reported sales, and reported sales to the tax returns. Then check payroll: an owner working sixty hours with no salary on the books is understating cost, so normalize a market-rate manager wage before you price the business.
Handling Incomplete Records
Many owner sellers have gaps. Do not accept verbal adjustments for unrecorded cash sales — you cannot finance them, insure against them, or resell them later. Price what is documented.
Where records are thin, extend the diligence period, request a period of observed operations, or structure part of the price as an earnout tied to verified performance. Bring an accountant familiar with fuel retail. See due diligence when buying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Speak With a Florida Gas Station Specialist
Request a confidential consultation or off-market opportunities and pricing through our contact page, or call +1-305-518-1545. The Gas Station Group is headquartered at 8603 S Dixie Hwy, Miami, FL 33143. Principal: Bobby Berrido.