The software stack the route runs on is a real asset (or liability). Diligence here saves you from a painful migration later.
Inventory the stack.
- Routing software (Skimmer, Pooltrac, Pool Office, Jobber, custom)
- Billing & payments (the software's built-in module, QuickBooks, Stripe, etc.)
- Customer communication (built-in SMS, separate platform, manual)
- Accounting (QuickBooks, Wave, Xero, shoebox)
- Payroll if applicable (Gusto, ADP, manual)
Confirm seller-owned, not personal. Many small operators run accounts in their personal email or login. Make sure logins, billing accounts, and merchant accounts can transfer or be cleanly recreated. A seller's personal Stripe account doesn't transfer, you'll create your own and migrate customers (with their re-authorization).
Data export. Before close, confirm you can export full customer history, payment history, and service notes from every system. Some platforms make this very hard; learn now.
PCI / payment data. Never accept a transfer of raw card numbers. Customers must re-authorize on your account. This is both a PCI compliance requirement and a fraud-prevention norm.
Customer PII handling. What does the seller's privacy posture look like? Are customer addresses, phone numbers, gate codes, and dog notes stored in software with access controls, or in a shared Google Sheet anyone can edit? Inheriting weak data hygiene means inheriting breach risk.
Customer contact authorization. Confirm the seller has consent (or a basis under their state's law) to share customer contact info with you for transition. Most do; some don't. A short re-permissioning email at close protects everyone.