Do not assume every future payment is already a qualifying investment. Assess the committed funds, contractual obligations, security and actual transaction stage under the E-2 rules.
Reconcile the purchase schedule with the filing account
Show paid amounts, qualifying commitments under review, future conditions and money available for operations separately. Record legal fees, government charges, travel and household expenses outside that capital account. Substantiality is not determined by adding every anticipated expense together. Ask how the investment-in-process or escrow terms will be treated before using the total purchase price as the immigration figure.
Funds actually paid or irrevocably committed toward buying and operating the business count; contingent deposits, seller financing secured on the business, and personal moving costs do not. The comparison is between the amount invested and the cost of the enterprise in question, so an investment representing a large fraction of what the business actually costs is more persuasive than a larger absolute sum representing a small fraction of an expensive one. Business professional costs — an accountant building segment reports, a lawyer drafting supplier contracts — are enterprise expenditure; immigration-preparation costs are not the same thing, and their treatment should be reviewed on your actual facts rather than assumed either way.