Not all businesses are in a position to have a full-time CFO on their org chart but could benefit from the perspective that a CFO can provide. The fractional CFO service is the perfect solution. In addition to being a more affordable option a fractional CFO can be a unique sounding board - being someone removed from the complications of daily workplace demands that can offer a different perspective on issues. The amount of time I commit and frequency is entirely up to you so feel free to reach out and we can talk about what makes most sense for your organization.
Traditional financial reporting is a great set of tools to accurately see the road you just traveled but not very useful for navigating the road ahead. A good financial forecasting tool should be tailored to your business taking into account your unique operational drivers as well as funding sources/timing of debt and equity.
Our forecasting model is a fully integrated income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement that helps you model the financial effects of key decisions like staffing levels, compensation plans, capital expenditures and financing needs.
Our budget model is a fully integrated set of financial statements in one model that allows ad hoc changes to assumptions like order volume, unit pricing, hiring decisions and pay raises to see the impact on cash and profitability. We can provide the monthly budget information in a format for your team to use in reporting actual results versus budget.
Most forecast models back into the cash balance at the end of each reporting period which often ignores the pinches in liquidity that can occur week to week. Our detailed 13-week cash flow model tracks historical cash in and out and projects forward on a weekly interval. This can highlight critical customer payments that need to be pursued to make sure they are received on time and adjustments that may be required to the timing of vendor payments.
As an early-stage business finds product-market fit the demands on the accounting function can accelerate rapidly, outpacing the existing financial reporting tools and processes. We offer a range of tools to help the accounting function meet the demands for more and faster financial information.
As orders flow in there is increased emphasis on tracking metrics like ARR, RPO, churn and retention. We can prepare the tools and develop the processes to calculate and track these metrics over time to facilitate reporting to stakeholders.
Closing the books each month should not be a recurring drama. Good planning, tools and organization will ensure financial results are obtained swiftly and consistently each month. We can evaluate your current processes against best practices and provide solutions that will free up valuable time for your finance team.
Many businesses start out with a simplistic structure in Quickbooks to track expenditures that is added to haphazardly as the business grows. When the time is right to move to an ERP system it is critical to take the opportunity to exploit the additional functionality of the new software and not simply replicate the shortcomings of the existing tool. We can help you extract the maximum benefit from your ERP investment.
A successful pitch needs to be followed by an organized and efficient due diligence process. Dragging out due diligence just consumes more management time and burns more cash. We can manage the entire due diligence process from evaluating preparedness and creating core information datasets to setting up the data room, populating with responses to information requests and quickly resolving follow up items.
The first year of audit of an early-stage business can be a painful one. Often the finance function development can lag behind sales and operations and record keeping suffers. Compounding this is the requirement for both an opening and closing balance sheet to be audited that first year which pushes the focus back another 12 months in the company’s evolution. We can help prepare for this by evaluating what records you have available and what will need to be developed for the audit.
Continued sales growth in traditional markets can lead to opportunities further afield. We can help avoid some of the pitfalls in expanding your business to international markets.
If you entertaining export sales we can assist in reviewing customer contracts to ensure your interests are adequately protected as well as reviewing letters of credit, standby letters of credit and bank guarantees that may be required. If orders are to be placed in foreign currencies we can provide FX hedging strategies and assist your finance team in appropriate in how to record the transactions.
At some stage an export market will grow to the point that you need local sales or operations support overseas. This may be in the form of a joint venture with a local company, a representative office, branch office, or wholly owned subsidiary. Each form has its 'pros and cons' and we can help you evaluate the best approach for your business.
Business growth usually comes with increased working capital needs. We can assist you in the process of reviewing credit facility term sheets for pricing, covenants and what might be in the fine print so you are able to get the best all around deal for your organization.
We often use financial terms like revenue, gross profit, overhead and margins that many employees don’t really understand. Every employee contributes to the bottom line in some shape or form and a workforce that understands the measures by which financial success for the business will be determined can be a competitive advantage. We can prepare short presentations to break these concepts into terms that people can understand.
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