Score the target across five canonical categories — and see exactly where the deal lives or dies.
Most DD scorecards are document checklists. This one weights the five canonical categories by deal type, forces evidence and severity on every concern, and ends with a Green / Yellow / Red Light verdict and a prioritized risk register.
Concerns are real but workable. Negotiate around the top severity items and price the rest into the structure. Don't walk, but don't wave it through either.
Name the target and pick the deal type.
Deal type sets the default category weights — an exec hire weights operational at 40%, an M&A weights financial at 30%. You can edit weights in the next section once the default is loaded.
Weights must sum to 100.
The defaults are sensible for the deal type — you only need to edit if your situation deviates. Hit "Reset to defaults" to restore them.
Pass, Concern, Fail — and show your work.
Severity is required when you mark Concern or Fail. Notes capture evidence — without them the row counts but the risk register entry has no rationale.
Every Concern and Fail, sorted by severity.
This is the page you take to the IC meeting. Critical and High items must be resolved or priced; Medium and Low items become covenants, reps, or post-close work.
Take it to the IC.
The verdict and metrics are at the top of the page. Copy the summary, drop it in the memo, hand the .xlsx to the analyst running the deeper engagement.
How the DD Scorecard calculates
Category score
category_score = pass_count / (pass + concern + fail) × 100. N/A items are excluded from the denominator — N/A means "not applicable to this deal," not "not yet scored."
Overall weighted score
overall = Σ (category_score × weight / 100). Computed only when weights sum to 100 AND ≥ 50% of items have a non-N/A status.
Verdict logic
- Critical Flag — any item rated Critical severity. Wins regardless of overall.
- Red Light — overall < 60% OR ≥ 3 High flags.
- Yellow Light — overall 60–79% OR 1–2 High flags (no Critical).
- Green Light — overall ≥ 80% AND 0 Critical AND 0 High.
- Insufficient — < 50% of items have a non-N/A status.
- Awaiting — weights ≠ 100 OR no items scored.
Risk register
Auto-built from every Concern or Fail item. Sorted by severity (Critical → Low), then category order (Business → Operational). Items with status set but severity blank surface as UNSET until you complete them.
Want the full DD methodology and worked examples? The Due Diligence Questionnaire covers the questions to ask, and the Due Diligence Checklist covers the document tracking workflow that pairs with this scorecard.