Read the general investor planning overview
Inventory may appear in the acquisition price, opening purchases and working-capital forecast. Reconcile those lists so the same stock is not counted several times. Distinguish goods already acquired for the enterprise from future replenishment and support ownership, payment and business purpose with records that match the actual transaction.
Locate inventory in the purchase
Read the agreement to determine whether stock is included in the business price or adjusted separately at closing. Obtain the inventory schedule and final settlement calculation. A separate stock list does not necessarily represent an additional payment. Explain how the purchase allocation and bank receipts fit together before adding inventory to the proposed investment total.
Distinguish stock from a purchasing forecast
For new purchases, retain invoices, payment records and evidence that the goods are for the enterprise. Separate orders from goods paid for or otherwise committed under reviewed terms. Forecast replenishment belongs in the operating plan but should not be represented as another completed cash contribution. Identify supplier credit and consignment arrangements for counsel’s assessment rather than assuming ownership.
Tie quantity to a credible opening plan
Explain why the planned inventory matches expected sales, storage and operations. Unsupported overstocking is not a reliable way to increase an investment figure. The substantiality inquiry remains business-specific, and the enterprise must meet the other E-2 requirements. A clear stock reconciliation improves the evidence without establishing that every inventory purchase is commercially sensible or guarantees eligibility.
Reconcile the stock count to a single date
Double counting of inventory usually arises because two documents describe the same goods at different moments and both end up in the schedule. Fix a date and reconcile everything to it. The purchase agreement's stock figure, the physical count taken at completion, the accounting record and any subsequent purchase order all describe different points in time, and only one of them belongs in the capital figure. Where the agreement provided for an adjustment based on stock at completion, that adjustment is the reconciling item and should be shown. Keep the count itself, signed and dated by whoever performed it, since a contemporaneous record settles the question in a way that a later reconstruction cannot.
Distinguish stock acquired from stock to be bought
A purchasing plan describes intention and belongs in the operating forecast rather than in the capital schedule, yet the two are frequently combined because both concern inventory. Separate them explicitly. What was acquired as part of the transaction is evidenced by the agreement and the completion adjustment; what will be bought in the first trading period is evidenced by nothing yet and is a working-capital requirement. Presenting the second as though it were committed capital overstates the position and understates the funding the business still needs. Tie the forecast quantity to a credible opening plan — expected sales volume, supplier lead times and storage capacity — so that the working-capital figure is defensible in its own right.
What else is on your mind?
Is there one minimum investment that guarantees E-2 eligibility?Is holding money or owning an asset enough for E-2?Editorial source review: 2026-09-07. General preparation guidance, not an individual assessment.