Fractional CFO & Finance Support

What the first 90 days look like

A fractional CFO engagement should produce something you can act on within weeks, not a discovery phase that bills for a quarter. This is the shape most of ours take, and what you should expect to have in your hands at each point.

1. Days 1 to 5

   Cash, covenants and commitments

   We start with the things that can hurt you fastest. A 13-week cash flow built from actual receipts and payments rather than the P&L, every banking covenant and its current headroom, and a list of commitments that are not yet on the balance sheet: leases, earn-outs, personal guarantees, supplier terms you have quietly slipped on. Deliverable: a one-page position note and, where relevant, an honest view on how much runway you actually have.

2. Days 6 to 10

   Understand the finance function you have

   Who does what, what the month-end close actually involves, where the manual workarounds are, and which systems are load-bearing. We are looking for single points of failure and for the reconciliations nobody has done in a while. Deliverable: a short assessment of the team and systems, including what is missing and what you are paying for twice.

3. Weeks 3 to 4

   Fix the management reporting

   Most management packs report history in more detail than anyone needs and answer none of the questions the board is actually asking. We rebuild it around the handful of numbers that drive your business, with commentary that explains variances rather than restating them. Usually this means fewer pages, better chosen. Deliverable: a management pack on a timetable you can hold, typically working day 10 to 15.

4. Weeks 5 to 6

   Shorten the close

   A close that takes three weeks means you are making decisions on data that is already a month old. We work through the bottlenecks: cut-off discipline, accruals that are re-derived from scratch each month, reconciliations left to the end, approvals waiting on one person. Deliverable: a documented close calendar with owners, and usually several days off the cycle.

5. Month 2

   Build a forecast that survives contact with a bank

   Not a spreadsheet extension of last year. A driver-based model where volume, price, headcount and working capital move independently, with downside and upside scenarios and the assumptions written down. This is the artefact your lender, your board and any investor will interrogate, so it has to hold up under questioning. Deliverable: an integrated P&L, balance sheet and cash flow forecast with scenarios.

6. Months 2 to 3

   Tighten the controls

   Approval limits that match the size of the business, segregation of duties where it matters, payment authorisation that cannot be executed by one person alone, and a documented month-end control set. Unglamorous, and the first thing an auditor or an acquirer examines. It is also the difference between a fraud you catch and one you read about later. Deliverable: a control framework proportionate to your size, with the gaps closed in priority order.

7. Month 3

   Prepare for whoever is coming next

   Auditors, a lender review, a funding round or a buyer. We get the numbers, the supporting files and the accounting positions into a state that stands up to external scrutiny, and we flag the judgements someone will challenge before they challenge them. Deliverable: an audit or diligence readiness list, with the awkward items identified rather than discovered.

8. Day 90

   Set the agenda and be honest about the shape of the role

   A finance roadmap for the next twelve months, with a clear view on what needs a permanent hire, what stays fractional, and what can wait. Good fractional CFOs work themselves out of the urgent part of the job. If the right answer is that you now need a full-time controller and less of us, we will say so. Deliverable: a twelve-month finance plan and a recommendation on the team you actually need.