Should I be suspicious if a seller wants to skip normal due diligence entirely?

Yes, this is one of the clearer warning signs in a business sale. A seller pressing to skip normal due diligence, rush to closing, or discourage you from independently verifying financials, contracts, or corporate records is asking you to take on risk you would otherwise be able to identify and address — and there's rarely a good-faith reason for that pressure that outweighs the buyer's need to know what they're actually purchasing.

There are a few legitimate-sounding explanations sellers sometimes offer — a competing offer with a tighter timeline, a desire to close before a specific date for tax or personal reasons — but none of these actually require skipping diligence altogether; at most, they justify a faster, well-organized process, not no process. A seller confident in their numbers and records generally has little reason to fear a buyer looking closely at them.

Resist pressure to waive standard protections: financial and legal due diligence, representations and warranties in the purchase agreement, and a genuine conditional period before you're bound to close. If a seller won't tolerate ordinary diligence, treat that reluctance itself as important information about what you might find if you looked. A Treadstone business lawyer can help you insist on appropriate conditions regardless of time pressure.