Every growth company hits a predictable inflection point.
Between $2M and $50M revenue, every growth company hits a predictable inflection point. Revenue increases. Operations expand. Headcount increases. But financial management systems stay frozen at an earlier stage.
We call this the management gap – and ignoring it costs business owners millions.
The management gap doesn’t announce itself. It manifests as four interconnected symptoms that compound over time.
1
Stage 1 – Cash Disconnects from Revenue
What You See
Revenue grows 40%, but cash feels tighter. Payroll gets stressful. “Profitable on paper” doesn’t match reality.
What’s actually happening
Working capital requirements scale faster than collections. No one modelled how growth consumes cash before generating it.
The Cost
You make defensive decisions that slow growth unnecessarily.
2
Stage 2 – Profitability Becomes Invisible
What You See
Some months feel harder than others. Some customers drain resources. Profitability feels fuzzy.
What’s actually happening
No product/customer/channel-level profitability analysis. Aggregated numbers mask value destroyers
The Cost
You may be scaling the least profitable segment fastest.
3
Stage 3 – Decisions Outpace Data
What You See
Bigger decisions … but late, high-level, or unreliable financial information.
What’s actually happening
Reporting was built for compliance, not decision-making.
The Cost
Major decisions rely on gut, not analysis — and mistakes show up months later.
4
Stage 4 – Strategy Operates in a Vacuum
What You See
Targets and expansion plans without clear financial backing. “Can we afford this?” gets vague answers
What’s actually happening
No scenario modelling or capital budgeting frameworks.
The Cost
Changes in strategy become emergency responses instead of deliberate choices.
The Compounding Effect
These four symptoms don’t operate independently. They cascade. Cash invisibility leads to reactive decision-making, which leads to misallocation of resources, which funds unprofitable activities, which puts further strain on cash.
By the time most founders recognise the pattern, they’ve been operating inside it for 12–24 months. Value has already leaked.
What Closes the Gap.
A fractional CFO brings three disciplines that, when integrated correctly, transform financial chaos into strategic advantage.
Financial Management
Prioritise cash flow over accounting profits. Build decision grade reporting. Model the future, not just record the past.
Strategic Management
Stress-test growth plans against financial constraints. Build scenarios before committing capital. Create feedback loops between strategy and execution.
Entrepreneurial Execution
Know which processes to professionalise and when. Build governance without bureaucracy. Prepare for capital events before they’re urgent.
This integration is what a Strategic CFO provides – and why the fractional model exists.
Our Value Creation Framework
We focus on the four workflows that systematically build, measure, and capture the value your company creates.
Create Value
Understand the economic engine of the business, refine the model, build forecasts that reflect operational reality, and identify the financial and non-financial drivers that matter most. This workstream brings focus, discipline and a road map for intended growth.
Measure Value
Move beyond surface-level ratios and gain clarity on liquidity, cash generation, profitability and growth dynamics. Build a dashboard that reveals the true performance of the business and ensures decisions are grounded in facts, not assumptions.
Enhance Value
Apply financial tools that strengthen the business: capital allocation, working-capital management, scenario planning, investment appraisal and governance improvements. Shape growth strategies that protect the core of the business, strengthen culture and support sustainable expansion.
Realise Value
Prepare for the outcomes that matter most: securing funding, de-risking operations, completing an acquisition, preparing for succession, or planning a future exit. Turn years of work into measurable returns while safeguarding the long-term health of the company.
What You Gain With a Virtual CFO
Clear measurable outcomes that transform how you run your business
Cash Visibility
Know your exact cash position and runway. Payroll and growth planning become predictable, not stressful.
Data-Driven Decisions
Financial information arrives in time to inform decisions. You make bigger bets with more confidence, not less.
Proactive Planning
Strategic plans are stress-tested against financial constraints before execution. Growth investments have financial foundation.
Exit Readiness
Valuation-ready financials 24 months before you need them. When exit time comes, you capture maximum value
Strategic Capital Allocation
Know exactly which customers, products, and channels make money – and which destroy value. Resources flow to what works.
Professional Execution
Financial processes work without you. Board meetings where numbers support strategy. You focus on growth, not spreadsheets.
Our Virtual CFO Services.
Choose the ongoing monthly virtual CFO service tier that fits your needs.
Basic $3,997 / month
You’re making bigger bets with less visibility. This tier gives you the financial insight to know – before you commit – whether growth investments will pay off or drain cash.
What’s Included:
Cash Flow Management
- 13-week rolling cash flow forecast
- Forecast updated weekly and reviewed for risks and opportunities
Financial Modelling & Analysis
- Unit economics modelling and profitability analysis
- Scenario planning and sensitivity analysis for key growth decisions
- Integrated 3-way financial model (P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow)
Strategic Advisory
- Monthly strategic CFO calls focused on decision support and risk management
- Ongoing financial insight related to growth initiatives, hiring, and capital allocation
Board & Management Reporting
- Monthly board report preparation, including financial commentary and key metrics
Access & Availability
Unlimited telephone and email access for financial questions and ad-hoc analysis
Who This Is For:
Companies $1M–$5M revenue with product-market fit entering growth phase. You’re hiring, scaling operations, and making bigger financial decisions. You need someone who can model the financial impact before you commit.
Standard $5,997 / month
You’re managing complexity across multiple fronts – products, departments, possibly geographies. This tier ensures capital flows to the right places and investors see a company that’s scaling professionally, not chaotically.
Includes all services in the Basic Tier, plus:
Enhanced Strategic Leadership
- Weekly strategic CFO calls (60 minutes) focused on execution, performance, and forward planning
- Annual strategic planning support aligned with financial capacity and growth objectives
Capital Raising Support
- Fundraising preparation, modelling, and materials support
- Ongoing investor relations support, including reporting and communication strategy
- Financial due diligence coordination with external advisers
M&A & Expansion Support
- M&A target screening, valuation and financial due diligence
- Post-acquisition integration planning and implementation
- Evaluation of acquisitions, partnerships, or market expansion strategies
Financial Management at Scale
- Department-level P&L responsibility and budget oversight
- Capital allocation guidance across products, teams, and geographies
Access & Availability
Unlimited telephone and email access for real-time strategic and financial input
Who This Is For:
Scaling companies (5M–$25M revenue) preparing for major growth capital, acquisitions, or market expansion. You’re managing complexity across multiple departments, geographies, or products.
Premium $12,997 / month
You’re 18–24 months from a liquidity event. This tier maximises what you walk away with by building buyer-ready financials, a defensible normalised EBITDA, and a valuation narrative that commands premium multiples.
Includes all services in the Standard Tier, plus:
Executive Leadership & Governance
- Weekly participation in executive leadership team meetings
- Ongoing financial leadership aligned with exit timing, buyer expectations, and transaction strategy
Exit Preparation & Valuation
- Exit readiness assessment and transaction road map
- Business valuation support, including multiple/discount rate analysis and value driver identification
- Development and defence of normalised EBITDA and quality of earnings adjustments
- Post-acquisition integration planning focused on financial systems, reporting, and performance alignment
Transaction & Buyer Support
- Buyer-ready financials, models, and reporting packages
- Vendor due diligence preparation and coordination (pre-acquisition)
- Buyer negotiation support, including financial positioning and deal structure analysis
Access & Availability
- Unlimited telephone and email access for real-time transaction, negotiation, and executive decision support
Who This Is For:
Companies (10M–$50M+ revenue) preparing for IPO, trade sale, or major strategic transactions within 18-24 months. You need CFO-level strategic leadership focused on maximising company value.
FAQ
Not sure if we can help?
Here’s how the first conversations usually start:
- “Revenue is growing but cash always feels tight. What are we missing?”
- “We’re about to make some big hiring / CapEx decisions – can we actually afford them?”
- “We’re planning to raise equity capital in the next 12–18 months. What do investors expect to see in our numbers?”
- “We don’t really know which products / customers are profitable and which are dragging us down.”
- “Our board keeps asking for better reporting. What should we actually be showing them?”
- “We’ve outgrown our bookkeeper and basic reporting, but we’re not ready for a full-time CFO.”
If any of this sounds familiar, send an email or book a FREE Financial Health Assessment. We won’r work with companies we can’t help. If we think we can, we’ll let know if there’s a management gap and how big it is.
How do you work?
We operate as your fractional CFO on a retainer basis.
Before work begins, we:
- Monitor your current numbers on a weekly, monthly and annual basis
- Ensure that your strategy is the most suitable one, based on your goals, company resources and given time frame
- Model and analyse operations to produce outcomes (not just perform routine tasks)
You get a predictable monthly fee, a clear scope, and a defined cadence of strategic sessions, reporting, and deliverables.
Can we scale the engagement up or down?
Yes. As your needs change, we can:
- Increase intensity (e.g., move from monthly to weekly strategic sessions)
- Add scope (e.g., fundraising support, M&A screening, exit preparation)
- Reduce our involvement to a “monitor and advise” mode once core systems are in place
Changes are agreed in advance so there are no surprises.
What if we need something outside your core expertise?
If you need tax advice, legal structuring, independent valuation opinions, or transaction execution, we draw on a vetted network of partners (lawyers, tax advisers, M&A advisers, corporate financiers).
We stay in the cockpit – coordinating and translating between you and external specialists – so decisions remain coherent and aligned with your value-creation plan.
What happens when the engagement is complete?
The goal is not dependency; it’s capability. By the end of the engagement, you will have:
- Robust financial models and dashboards you can keep using
- Documented processes for reporting, forecasting, and decision-making
- Internal staff trained to maintain and operate the systems we’ve built
If you’re moving toward a full-time CFO, we can help define the role, interview candidates, and hand over clean, investor-ready financial infrastructure.
We already have a finance team. How do you work with them?
Perfect. We prefer it.
Typical ways we work with internal teams:
- Elevate the finance function from “reporting” to “strategic partner”
- Set up frameworks and then coach your team to run them
- Own the CFO-level decisions, while your team handles day-to-day execution
Think of us as the strategic layer on top of your existing finance capability – not a replacement.
What if our priorities change mid-engagement?
They will. That’s normal.
We review priorities regularly (at least monthly) and adjust:
- Focus (e.g., from growth modelling to cash preservation)
- Scope (e.g., adding capital raising preparation when an opportunity appears)
- Cadence (e.g., moving to more frequent communication during a transaction)
The engagement is intended to flexibility reflect your reality, not lock you into a rigid plan.
What industries do you work in?
We work across a range of industries, with a focus on businesses where:
- Growth is creating complexity
- Cash flow and capital allocation decisions really matter
- There is a realistic path to funding, acquisition, or exit
Past work includes technology, hospitality groups, services, and asset-heavy businesses. The common thread is solving the problems arising from life-cycle stage and complexity, not sector labels.
What is your typical engagement length?
Most clients work with us over 1–3 year terms, made up of cycles concentrating on major milestones:
- 1–3 months: Diagnose the management gap, build core models and dashboards
- 3–6 months: Optimise capital allocation, prepare for funding / growth decisions
- 12–18 months: Support through capital raising, acquisition, or exit as needed
Some clients pause after an initial growth phase and return when the next major decision or transaction is on the horizon.
What types of clients do you take on?
We focus on:
- Founder-led and board-led companies typically between $2M and $50M in revenue
- Businesses where leadership is serious about using numbers to drive decisions
- Teams that recognise they’ve outgrown “good enough” finance
If you just want bookkeeping or compliance-only accounting, we’re not the right fit.
How do you handle travel and onsite work?
Our priority is providing maximum value for minimum expense to you, so most work is done remotely.
If onsite work is required (e.g., board presentations, transaction-related meetings):
- Travel is agreed in advance
- All costs are pre-approved by you
- You see the value and purpose of every trip
There are no surprise travel expenses.
What about third-party tools and costs?
If we recommend third-party tools (e.g., reporting platforms, data rooms, specialist software), we will:
- Explain why they’re necessary
- Get your sign-off before committing
- Wherever possible, have them invoiced directly to you
You stay in control of all external spending.
Not Sure Which Tier Fits?
Complete the Business Health Assessment and we’ll assess your financial position and recommend exactly which tier would suit – or if fractional CFO support is NOT right for you.
This is a FREE assessment. No sales pitch. We identify what strategic issues you have and exactly where you should focus first.