CFO Advisory · Finance Function Diagnostics · Sydney, Australia
15 minutes · Google Meet · No pitch deck
Diagnostic-Led, Not Template-Driven
We don't reskin dashboards or hand you a slide deck. We run a structured Finance Function Diagnostic - mapping your team, tools, data flows, and reporting cadence - then build the operating layer that makes the recommendations stick. The outputs below are examples of what that looks like in practice.
These are illustrative mockups. Every build is tailored to your needs - your branding, colour palette, and existing templates.
| Stage | Deals | Value | WoW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualified Lead | 34 | $8.2M | +$1.1M |
| Discovery | 28 | $12.4M | +$0.6M |
| Proposal Sent | 19 | $9.8M | −$0.4M |
| Negotiation | 12 | $6.1M | +$0.8M |
| Verbal Commit | 8 | $4.3M | +$0.1M |
| Closed Won (MTD) | 5 | $2.1M | +$0.5M |
| Deal | Stage Change | Value | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meridian Digital | Discovery → Proposal | $1.2M | S. Patel |
| Arcadia Group | Proposal → Negotiation | $860K | L. Chen |
| Vantage Health | Negotiation → Verbal | $2.1M | J. Torres |
| Bloom Financial | Qualified → Discovery | $640K | R. Kim |
| Month | Forecast | Actual | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
| November | $2.0M | $2.2M | +10.0% |
| December | $1.8M | $1.7M | −5.6% |
| January | $2.3M | $2.4M | +4.3% |
| February MTD | $2.0M | $2.1M | +5.0% |
| Item | Direction | Amount | Day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payroll run | Outflow | −$280K | Thu |
| Contractor invoices | Outflow | −$95K | Fri |
| Software & SaaS | Outflow | −$42K | Mon |
| Vantage Health payment | Inflow | +$210K | Tue |
| Bloom Financial milestone | Inflow | +$180K | Wed |
| Retainer payments (3) | Inflow | +$95K | Fri |
| KPI | Current | Target | Variance | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (MTD) | $2.1M | $2.0M | +5.0% | |
| Gross Margin | 62.4% | 60.0% | +2.4pp | |
| EBITDA | $418K | $450K | −7.1% | |
| Cash Position | $3.2M | $3.0M | +6.7% | |
| AR Ageing (>60d) | $340K | <$250K | +36.0% | |
| Utilisation | 84.7% | 85.0% | −0.3pp |
| Metric | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | This Wk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.4M | $1.7M | $1.9M | $2.1M ▲ |
| Gross Margin | 59.8% | 61.2% | 61.9% | 62.4% ▲ |
| EBITDA | $310K | $365K | $402K | $418K ▲ |
| Cash Position | $3.0M | $2.9M | $3.1M | $3.2M ▲ |
The Problem
The CRM has pipeline data. The timesheets have delivery data. The GL has actuals. And someone on your team manually exports from all three, reconciles the differences, pastes everything into a model, reformats the charts, writes the commentary, and emails it to leadership. Then next month, they do it again.
This isn't an analyst problem. It's a plumbing problem - and hiring another analyst to maintain broken plumbing just makes the cycle more expensive.
The model was built once, patched since then, and nobody wants to touch it in case something breaks. The board pack takes two days. Month-end is a fire drill. Leadership is making decisions on data that's three days old by the time they read it.
Most fractional CFO firms end with a slide deck. The advice is sound, but nobody builds it into the operation. The finance function doesn't actually change - it just gets a better-written set of recommendations that sit in a shared drive.
| Category | Wk 1 17 Feb |
Wk 2 24 Feb |
Wk 3 3 Mar |
Wk 4 10 Mar |
Wk 5 17 Mar |
Wk 6 24 Mar |
Wk 7 31 Mar |
Wk 8 7 Apr |
Wk 9 14 Apr |
Wk 10 21 Apr |
Wk 11 28 Apr |
Wk 12 5 May |
Wk 13 12 May |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Balance | 3,200 | 3,185 | 2,960 | 2,810 | 3,120 | 2,890 | 3,340 | 3,110 | 3,410 | 3,190 | 3,520 | 3,310 | 3,620 |
| Cash In | |||||||||||||
| Client Receipts | 420 | 380 | 510 | 640 | 390 | 720 | 480 | 630 | 410 | 680 | 450 | 650 | 520 |
| Other Income | 15 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 20 |
| Total Cash In | 435 | 390 | 525 | 660 | 400 | 735 | 490 | 650 | 425 | 690 | 465 | 660 | 540 |
| Cash Out | |||||||||||||
| Payroll | −280 | −280 | −280 | −280 | −280 | −280 | −280 | −280 | −280 | −280 | −280 | −280 | −280 |
| Contractors | −95 | −120 | −95 | −70 | −110 | −80 | −105 | −70 | −95 | −80 | −110 | −70 | −95 |
| Rent & Facilities | - | −85 | - | - | −85 | - | - | −85 | - | - | −85 | - | - |
| Software & SaaS | −42 | - | - | - | −42 | - | - | - | −42 | - | - | - | −42 |
| Tax / BAS | - | −130 | - | - | - | - | −135 | - | - | - | - | - | −140 |
| Other | −33 | - | −300 | - | −13 | −25 | - | −15 | −8 | - | −10 | −20 | - |
| Total Cash Out | −450 | −615 | −675 | −350 | −530 | −385 | −520 | −450 | −425 | −360 | −485 | −370 | −557 |
| Net Cash Flow | −15 | −225 | −150 | +310 | −130 | +350 | −30 | +200 | 0 | +330 | −20 | +290 | −17 |
| Closing Balance | 3,185 | 2,960 | 2,810 | 3,120 | 2,990 | 3,340 | 3,310 | 3,310 | 3,410 | 3,520 | 3,500 | 3,600 | 3,583 |
| Assumption | Value | Frequency | Source | Last Updated | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue & Collections | |||||
| Average collection period | 32 days | Rolling | AR ageing report | 14 Feb 2025 | Trending up from 28d in Q3 |
| Monthly recurring revenue | $1.4M | Monthly | Contract schedule | 14 Feb 2025 | 3 new contracts from Jan |
| Project milestone payments | Per SOW schedule | Per milestone | PM tracker | 12 Feb 2025 | 5 milestones due in Q1 |
| Bad debt provision | 1.5% of revenue | Monthly | Historical average | 31 Jan 2025 | Stable at 1.3-1.7% range |
| Payment terms (standard) | Net 30 | - | Client contracts | 14 Feb 2025 | 65% of clients on Net 30 |
| Expenses | |||||
| Payroll (weekly) | $280K | Weekly | HRIS payroll file | 14 Feb 2025 | 68 FTE, next review Apr |
| Contractor cost (avg weekly) | $90K | Weekly | Contractor invoices | 14 Feb 2025 | 42 active contractors |
| Office lease | $85K | Monthly | Lease agreement | 1 Jan 2025 | Renewal due Jun 2025 |
| Software & SaaS | $42K | Monthly | Subscription tracker | 1 Feb 2025 | 12 licences, 3 annual |
| Insurance (D&O + PI) | $28K | Quarterly | Broker schedule | 1 Jan 2025 | Next payment 7 Mar |
| Capital Expenditure | |||||
| Cloud infrastructure (AWS) | $38K | Monthly | AWS billing | 14 Feb 2025 | Reserved instances locked to Sep |
| Hardware refresh cycle | $15K | Quarterly | IT asset register | 31 Jan 2025 | 12 laptops due Q2 replacement |
| Security tooling (SOC2) | $8.5K | Monthly | Vendor contracts | 1 Feb 2025 | Annual audit due May 2025 |
| Office fit-out (Level 4) | $120K | One-off | Project budget | 10 Feb 2025 | Phased: $60K Mar, $60K Apr |
| Working Capital | |||||
| Debtor days target | ≤30 days | Rolling | Finance policy | 14 Feb 2025 | Currently 32d, above target |
| Creditor days (avg) | 21 days | Rolling | AP ageing report | 14 Feb 2025 | Early-pay discount on 3 vendors |
| Retainer prepayments | $95K | Monthly | Client billing | 12 Feb 2025 | 4 clients on monthly retainer |
| Work-in-progress (WIP) | $310K | Weekly | PM time tracking | 14 Feb 2025 | Target: bill within 14 days |
| External Factors | |||||
| RBA cash rate | 4.10% | - | RBA | 4 Feb 2025 | Market expects hold at next meeting |
| AUD/USD | 0.6542 | Daily | Bloomberg | 14 Feb 2025 | Hedged at 0.65 for Q1 |
| CPI (annualised) | 3.4% | Quarterly | ABS | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 release Mar |
| Wage price index | 4.2% | Quarterly | ABS | Q4 2024 | Impacts next payroll review |
| Credit facility (undrawn) | $500K | - | NAB facility | 1 Jan 2025 | Covenants: DSCR >1.5x, leverage <2x |
| Growth & Pipeline | |||||
| Weighted pipeline (90d) | $2.8M | Weekly | CRM (HubSpot) | 14 Feb 2025 | 3 deals in final negotiation |
| Expected new hires (Q1) | 4 FTE | - | Hiring plan | 10 Feb 2025 | 2 senior devs, 1 PM, 1 QA |
| Onboarding cost per FTE | $12K | Per hire | HR budget | 31 Jan 2025 | Equipment + training + ramp |
| Marketing spend (monthly) | $22K | Monthly | Marketing budget | 1 Feb 2025 | Events $8K, digital $14K |
| Metric | Best Case | Base Case | Worst Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash Position Summary | |||
| Closing Balance | $4.2M | $3.6M | $2.4M |
| Minimum Balance | $3.1M | $2.8M | $2.0M |
| Net Cash Flow (13 Wk) | +$1.0M | +$383K | −$800K |
| Average Cash on Hand | $3.6M | $3.2M | $2.5M |
| Days Cash Cover | 62 days | 47 days | 31 days |
| Cash Runway | >12 months | >12 months | 8 months |
| Key Assumptions | |||
| Collection Period | 25 days | 32 days | 45+ days |
| Pipeline Conversion | +2 large closings | Historical rates | −1 deal loss |
| Revenue Growth (QoQ) | +8% | +3% | −5% |
| Contractor Costs | Held flat | Per budget | +$150K uplift |
| Client Delays | None | None | 2 major delays |
| AR Ageing (>60d) | <$200K | $340K | $500K+ |
| Operational Metrics | |||
| Utilisation Rate | 82% | 75% | 65% |
| Monthly Burn Rate | $620K | $680K | $780K |
| Revenue per FTE | $28.5K | $24.2K | $19.8K |
| Gross Margin | 48% | 42% | 34% |
| Headcount (End of Period) | 74 FTE | 72 FTE | 68 FTE |
| Risk Indicators | |||
| Probability Weight | 20% | 60% | 20% |
| Covenant Breach Risk | None | None | DSCR at 1.6x |
| Facility Draw Required | No | No | $200K in Wk 9 |
| Payroll Cover (weeks) | 11.2 | 8.4 | 5.1 |
| Break-even Point | Week 4 | Week 7 | Not reached |
| Sensitivity Analysis | |||
| Revenue ±10% | Cash impact: $320K - $480K | Balance range: $3.1M - $4.1M | |
| Collection Days ±7d | Cash impact: $180K - $250K | Balance range: $3.3M - $3.8M | |
| Contractor Costs ±15% | Cash impact: $95K - $140K | Balance range: $3.4M - $3.7M | |
| Major Client Loss (1) | Cash impact: −$420K | Balance drops to: $3.2M | |
| Enterprise Deal Win (1) | Cash impact: +$350K | Balance rises to: $3.9M | |
THE PROBLEM
"Our team spends 2 days every month pulling data from 4 systems into a board pack. Half the time there are errors nobody catches until the meeting."
- Head of Finance, initial call 12 Feb
WHAT WE'LL BUILD
DATA SOURCES
| System | Access | Data |
|---|---|---|
| Xero (Accounting) | API | P&L, BS, Cash |
| HubSpot (CRM) | API | Pipeline, Deals |
| Harvest (Time) | API | Utilisation, Hrs |
| Google Sheets | Manual | Budget, Targets |
PROPOSED TIMELINE
NOTES
Client prefers Monday AM delivery. CFO + 3 direct reports on distribution list.
Existing board template in PowerPoint - we'll match their branding exactly.
Phase 2 discussion: cash forecast + scenario modelling infrastructure (Q2).
How It Works
We start with a Finance Function Diagnostic - a structured review of your team, tools, data flows, and reporting cadence. Our CFO advisory lead identifies the highest-ROI opportunities across your finance operation, while our process improvement lead maps every system and manual workaround you're running.
The output isn't a list of problems. It's a prioritised action plan with clear commercial value attached - and for the opportunities that need building, we build and implement the solution directly.
What the diagnostic delivers
Executive summary of the finance function's readiness for its next growth phase. Technical accounting findings - policy gaps, compliance risks, balance sheet flags. Process findings across every core workstream, mapped end to end. A prioritised action plan ranked by urgency and commercial impact. And a phased team structure showing who does what as the business scales.
Two capabilities, one engagement.
Our senior finance lead brings deep experience across CFO roles in high-growth and M&A environments - the commercial judgment and stakeholder fluency that only comes from having sat in the seat. Our process improvement lead focuses on reporting infrastructure, data flows, and operational design - building the layer that makes advisory recommendations stick.
Clients don't just get advice. They get advice that gets wired into their operations.
Who We Work With
The finance leaders we work with are usually in the same situation: scaling headcount, approaching audit, raising capital, or hitting operational bottlenecks their finance team wasn't built to handle. They know something needs to change but don't have the bandwidth or specialist capability to fix it internally.
The buyer is typically the CFO, Head of Finance, founder playing CFO, or FP&A lead who's ready to move from firefighting to building a finance function that scales with the business.
Results
FP&A Reporting Restructure
Global technology company · NYSE-listed
The client underwent a major restructure - SKUs and business mappings were remapped across new business units, and the entire reporting chain needed to follow. Every formula, every cross-reference, every roll-up had to be rebuilt. One broken link would cascade errors across the full P&L.
We mapped the new organisational structure end-to-end, rebuilt the reporting hierarchy from scratch, connected data extraction across systems, and delivered dynamic models feeding downstream reporting with board-ready dashboards for leadership.
$100,000+ in labour cost savings over five years
1 full day of manual work eliminated every week
Full reporting chain rebuilt without a single day of downtime
Finance team shifted from maintaining fragile spreadsheets to reviewing clean, structured outputs
CRM-to-Finance Intelligence
PE-backed AI consultancy · 200+ specialists · $45M+ pipeline
CRM data in HubSpot, delivery data in timesheets, actuals in spreadsheets - nobody connecting them. The weekly pipeline report was being built manually every week: log in, pull data, reconcile, write commentary, email leadership. Hours of work for a single report.
We built HubSpot extraction via API, data aggregation scripts, a narrative layer on validated figures, pipeline reporting emails, 13-week cashflow forecast, invoicing workflows, and employee-level profitability analysis.
1 full week saved per monthly close cycle
2 days of recurring weekly manual work eliminated
Pipeline, delivery, and actuals connected in one view for the first time
Board Pack & Cashflow Reporting
National staffing group · 300+ contractors · Multi-entity structure
Five entities, three ERPs, and a finance team producing the consolidated board pack in Excel every month. The process took four days, involved manual inter-company eliminations, and broke every time someone changed a tab name. Leadership had no rolling forecast - just last month's actuals and gut feel.
We built a centralised data model pulling from all three systems, streamlined the consolidation and elimination logic, and layered a 13-week rolling cashflow forecast on top. The board pack now generates in under an hour.
Board pack turnaround reduced from 4 days to under 1 hour
13-week rolling cashflow forecast delivered for the first time
Three separate ERPs consolidated into a single reporting view
Month-end close shortened by 2 full days
Finance team now spends month-end on analysis, not assembly
Process
We begin with a Finance Function Diagnostic - a structured review of your team, tools, data flows, and reporting cadence. From there we scope what needs to change and build a prioritised action plan with clear commercial value attached.
Finance Function Diagnostic
A structured review that identifies the highest-ROI opportunities across your finance operation - team structure, process gaps, reporting infrastructure, and technical accounting findings.
CFO Advisory
Strategic finance, accounting policy, team structure, and audit readiness. The advisory layer that identifies what needs to change.
Process Improvement & Implementation
Reporting infrastructure, data flows, and operational design. The implementation layer that makes advisory recommendations permanent.
Book a call and we'll scope it together.
We work with HubSpot, Salesforce, Dynamics 365, Zoho, Xero, NetSuite, SAP, Excel, SharePoint, and Power BI. System-agnostic - if it has an API, we can connect to it.
A 15-minute call is enough to understand your current situation and whether we're a fit. No pitch deck, no proposal until we know it makes sense.
Book a 15-min call →Mon-Fri · 7am-7pm AEST · Google Meet