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Selected engagements

Complex finance situations, made clear enough to act on.

These anonymized case studies reflect the work CFO Confidence performs. Client identities and confidential figures are not included.

Case 01Nonprofit · $2M–$20M budget

On-time reports, and still no answer to how much was safe to spend.

What changed

Operating cash, restricted funds, and program performance finally sat in one report. When the board or the auditors asked a question, the answer came out of the system instead of a weekend reconstruction.

Tell us about your situation
The situation

The books closed late, restricted awards lived partly outside the accounting system, program budgets were difficult to compare with actuals, and audit support depended on reconstructing the year one request at a time.

What we saw

The reports were fine as far as they went. Underneath them, the close, the grant records, and the cash forecast were disconnected, so no single number could be trusted.

What CFO Confidence built

  1. Reorganized the chart of accounts and fund tracking so programs, grants, restrictions, and operating activity could be reported consistently.
  2. Established a close calendar with named owners, review handoffs, reconciliations, and a dependable reporting date.
  3. Connected grant budgets, spending, remaining balances, reporting dates, and responsible staff to the accounting records.
  4. Built budget-to-actual, spendable-cash, runway, and board reporting around the decisions leadership needed to make.
  5. Created an audit-ready support structure and coordinated open items with staff, the board, funders, and external accountants.

This may be your organization if…

  • The bank balance looks healthy, but no one is sure how much of it is spendable.
  • Budget reports arrive after the decisions they were meant to support.
  • Grant tracking, accounting, and program ownership live in separate places.
  • The audit creates an annual scramble across staff and files.
NonprofitCloseGrantsBoard reporting
Case 02Arts & cultural organization

The work was funded. The institution carrying it was not.

What changed

Leadership could see whether a project was funded for its current stage, what it would take to finish, and whether the wider institution had the capacity to carry the work responsibly.

Tell us about your situation
The situation

Major projects moved forward through grants, commissions, fiscal sponsorship, and partner agreements. Artist and vendor commitments developed faster than invoices, funding arrived on a different schedule from production, and project budgets did not always show the shared staff and operating capacity required to deliver the work.

What we saw

Direct project spending was easy to report. What no one could see was how much had already been committed, what the work would cost to finish, and what would be left of the institution afterward.

What CFO Confidence built

  1. Built full-cost project budgets that included production, artists, travel, insurance, administration, shared staff, and contingency.
  2. Mapped grants, restrictions, reimbursements, partner payments, match, and reporting conditions to the work they supported.
  3. Tracked approved commitments and contract terms before cash left the bank or invoices reached the ledger.
  4. Reviewed fiscal-sponsorship agreements, disbursement schedules, fee treatment, reporting terms, and project extensions.
  5. Introduced forecast-to-complete and closeout ownership for final invoices, settlements, reports, allocations, and remaining balances.

This may be your organization if…

  • Project budgets show direct activity but leave shared organizational capacity invisible.
  • Contracts create obligations weeks or months before they appear in the books.
  • Grant timing and production timing rarely align.
  • Projects end creatively before they are financially closed.
Arts & cultureFull costGrantsProject finance
Case 03Founder-led · Pre-opening

The opening date was set before the finance side existed.

What changed

The founder knew what had to happen before opening, what each choice would cost, and who owned the next step. After launch, the same structure settled into an ordinary monthly routine.

Tell us about your situation
The situation

A founder-led, multi-service concept was preparing to open with memberships, classes, treatments, practitioners, retail, events, payroll, vendors, and statutory obligations all developing at once.

What we saw

No single budget could carry it. The opening needed one plan that put cash, systems, staffing, and compliance on the same calendar, with a name against every deadline.

What CFO Confidence built

  1. Built the pre-opening budget, working-capital view, payment schedule, and operating cash plan.
  2. Mapped each revenue stream to pricing, capacity, direct cost, staffing, payment flow, and reporting requirements.
  3. Coordinated accounting, payroll, statutory compliance, vendors, and specialist handoffs.
  4. Created a workstream tracker with owners, dependencies, decision dates, and escalation points through opening.
  5. Designed the monthly routine for bookkeeping, reporting, cash management, payroll, and founder decisions after launch.

This may be your organization if…

  • The opening plan exists across emails, spreadsheets, advisers, and the founder's head.
  • Several revenue streams are launching without a shared financial model.
  • Payroll, contracts, systems, and vendor deadlines are converging.
  • The business is funded, but the founder cannot see the complete cash requirement through stabilization.
Founder-ledPre-openingSystems & payrollCash planning
Case 04Growth company · Founder-led

Revenue had outgrown the founder's spreadsheets.

What changed

Growth decisions now weigh margin, cash timing, and downside together. The routine work runs without the founder, whose attention goes to the decisions that require an owner.

Tell us about your situation
The situation

The business had customers, staff, contractors, and several ways of earning revenue, but management reporting still centered on the bank balance, and the founder remained the final approval point for too many finance decisions.

What we saw

Reporting stopped at the bank balance, and every decision routed through the founder. There was no dependable close, no margin by service line, and no forecast behind hiring or pricing calls.

What CFO Confidence built

  1. Established a controlled monthly close with reconciliations, reporting ownership, and clear review standards.
  2. Built service-line, client, or location reporting to show where revenue converted into contribution and cash.
  3. Introduced rolling cash forecasts and decision scenarios for hiring, pricing, investment, debt, and owner distributions.
  4. Connected business forecasts with entity structure, owner compensation, and personal cash requirements.
  5. Defined approval levels and finance-team responsibilities so routine activity no longer depended on the founder.

This may be your organization if…

  • The founder checks the bank account before approving hires or major spending.
  • Revenue is growing, but margin by client, service, or location is unclear.
  • Year-end reporting starts from scratch every year.
  • Routine payments and finance questions still wait for the founder.
GrowthFounder-ledCash strategyDecision support

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