Stuffing your P&L with fake add-backs doesn't raise your price — it nukes your credibility on the whole deal.

Stuffing your P&L with fake add-backs doesn't raise your price — it nukes your credibility on the whole deal.
Only add back what survives diligence:
— Genuinely one-time costs: a redesign, a logo, a tool you cancelled. Provable, dated, gone.
— Owner salary above market for the actual hours — defensible if you log the hours.
— Personal expenses run through the business — but only the obvious ones, with receipts.
NEVER add back: 'optimizations I'm sure will work,' recurring costs dressed as one-time, or revenue you 'could' make.
One fake add-back and the buyer re-audits everything. That's the real cost.
What's the sketchiest add-back you've seen on a listing? Name it.