Three years of financial statements and tax returns, payroll records, the customer contract backlog, the equipment list with titles and liens, the state licence status and who holds it, and a draft note and security agreement. These let the buyers prove a real, operating, non-marginal enterprise and identify what the seller financing will encumber.
Ask for the documents that answer each element
Treat the due-diligence request list as the E-2 evidence list. For the real and operating element, request financial statements, tax filings, bank statements and current contracts. For non-marginality, request payroll registers showing employees and their hours, since a business that supports a crew of workers is not marginal.
For ownership and control, request the corporate records and the seller's proposed post-sale role, and be cautious of a consulting agreement that leaves the seller directing crews. For the investment element, request the equipment schedule with existing liens and the seller's draft security agreement, so the buyers can see exactly what the note will encumber. For licensing, ask which state roofing or contractor licence the company operates under, who is the qualifying individual and what the state requires to transfer or replace that person.
Finally, ask for a closing statement format that itemizes price, deposits and financing, because that statement becomes the spine of the source-and-path-of-funds narrative.