Fractional CFO and controller

For companies that need a CFO’s judgment without a CFO’s salary, or that lost their controller and cannot wait three months to hire. We take over the close, fix what is broken, and train your team so the fix holds after we leave.

One recent client, a systems integrator for national logistics companies, came to us more than a year behind on its monthly close and two years behind on tax filings. We caught up the books, filed the late returns, passed the benefit plan, insurance and annual CPA audits, and retrained the accounting team.

Typical scope

• Monthly close calendar, reconciliations and a close that finishes on time
• Cash to accrual conversions and GAAP clean-up
• Audit preparation and auditor management
• Revenue recognition, AP and AR process fixes in your ERP
• Hiring and training the accounting team

Cash forecasting

Can we buy the new machine this quarter? When can we expand the warehouse? Will we trip the covenant in March? Those questions need a forecast built from your actual receivables, payables and payroll, not a spreadsheet someone updates when they remember.

We build a 13-week cash forecast, reconcile it to the bank every week, and compare it to what actually happened so you learn how far to trust it. Where cash is tight we work the levers directly: collection terms, supplier terms and inventory.

Typical scope

• 13-week rolling cash forecast with weekly actual versus forecast
• 12-month liquidity and covenant outlook
• AR and AP term changes, with the cash effect of each
• Lender borrowing base and compliance support

Board and lender reporting

Owners, boards and private equity sponsors want the same package every month, on the same day, with the same definitions. Banks want covenant tests they can check. We design the package once and then produce it every month from your ledger.

For a private equity owned textile company we rebuilt the monthly close around direct reporting to the sponsor and created the dashboards ownership used to run the business.

Typical scope

• Monthly board package: P&L, balance sheet, cash flow and KPIs
• Actual versus budget and prior year, with variance bridges
• Annual budget and rolling forecast
• Covenant calculations and lender reporting
• Reporting to foreign parents under IFRS

M&A and sale readiness

Buyers discount what they cannot verify. We get the financials into the shape a buyer’s accountants expect, answer their diligence requests, and stay through closing. After closing we handle the integration work most sellers underestimate.

We have supported four sale transactions. One was a lender-led sale under Article 9, followed by a sale of the remaining assets. Another was a $32M e-commerce reseller whose diligence we ran alongside a Big Four firm, ending in a profitable sale and a pre-sale audit with no findings. On the buy side we integrated five acquisitions for one distributor. We also help families plan and carry out the handover of a business to the next generation, and coach the incoming leaders through their first year in charge.

Typical scope

• Sale preparation and quality of earnings readiness
• Data room build and diligence management
• Acquisition screening and buy-side diligence
• Post-closing integration, procedures and IFRS to GAAP reconciliation
• Generational transfers
• Coaching for incoming owners and leaders

AI for the finance team

Most finance teams spend the week after close copying numbers between files. We set up AI tools that read your general ledger exports and produce the reporting pack, the variance commentary and the dashboards, with live formulas so your team can check every figure.

You keep control. Nothing goes to a board or a bank until a person on your team has reviewed it, and every output ties back to the ledger.

Typical scope

• Automated monthly reporting packs from GL and trial balance exports
• Dashboards that refresh after every close
• Instant variance analysis and draft commentary
• Built-in tie-out checks against the ledger
• Training your team to run and maintain it

Not sure which one you need?

Most clients aren’t at first. A 20-minute call usually settles it.