Numbers that explain the business
Move beyond the bank balance and consolidated P&L. Define the drivers, the margin view, and the decisions that should no longer depend on instinct alone.
Who we help / Growth companies
Know what growth earns, what it consumes, and which decision comes next.
CFO work for established owner-led companies making consequential decisions about pricing, hiring, working capital, and distributions.
Decision memo / 04
Can we add the next team?CapacityMarginCashRisk
RecommendationStage the hire against contracted demand
The cash cycle
Growth changes the cash cycle before it changes the income statement.
Revenue can rise while margin quality weakens, cash becomes tighter, the reporting falls behind the managers who need it, and owner decisions place new demands on the same capital base.
Capital discipline across teams
Give managers accountable numbers, connect operating plans to cash, formalize controls, test competing investments, and keep options open as the organization becomes more complex.
Revenue growth can conceal weaker economics
Customer mix, discounting, rework, and management time can reduce the value of the next dollar of sales.
Growth often consumes cash before it produces cash
Receivables, inventory, deposits, purchase orders, and payroll can expand while collections lag.
The next hire must release a real constraint
Headcount should be tied to demand, productive capacity, ramp time, management leverage, and the cash required to carry the role.
Every strategic choice competes for the same cash
Debt service, owner distributions, equipment, acquisitions, and reinvestment must be sequenced in one capital plan.
Testing the plan
Four questions that improve the quality of a growth decision.
A forecast should do more than show an attractive outcome. It should expose the economic return, cash requirement, operating constraint, and downside response that the decision carries.
What does the next dollar of growth earn?
Model contribution after delivery labor, discounts, and rework, plus the management attention the new work will demand.
How much cash will the decision consume, and for how long?
Show the cash trough created by payment terms, ramp time, and the timing of collections.
Which operating limit does this investment release?
Identify whether the real constraint is demand, people, working capital, or management attention.
What must stay intact if the plan arrives late?
Define trigger points, a cash floor, borrowing capacity, reversible actions, and the order of responses if the downside case arrives.
Six disciplines, one plan
The operating model
Operating drivers, margin, cash conversion, and owner capital compete inside the same plan. The work is holding them in one model, so a decision in any one area shows its cost in the others.
Drivers
The operating inputs behind revenue and costConnect revenue and cost to the activities that create them: volume, rates, utilization, and headcount.
Margin
Contribution, mix, pricing and leakageTrace contribution by service, customer, or location, and isolate where pricing, mix, and delivery cost leak margin.
Working capital
The time between spending and collectingMeasure the time between spending and collecting, then manage billing, receivables, and vendor terms around the cash cycle.
Capacity + controls
People, systems, ownership and operating disciplineClarify close ownership, approvals, and the operating controls required at the next stage.
Forecasts
Decision models, scenarios and trigger pointsTest hiring, pricing, and expansion decisions against explicit operating assumptions and trigger points.
Owner capital
Compensation, distributions, debt and reinvestmentCoordinate compensation, distributions, debt service, and reinvestment so owner decisions do not destabilize operations.
How we work
How we make growth decisions.
Evidence
Material decisions begin with the operating drivers and assumptions that can be tested.
Decisions in order
Hiring, investment, financing, and distributions are timed against the same cash plan.
Discipline
Reporting has owners, deadlines, thresholds, and a clear response when performance moves off plan.
Room to change course
Cash, spare capacity, and reversible choices are kept open as the company grows.
The inflection point
Senior finance leadership at the point where decisions carry more weight than the reporting behind them.
- Owner-led companies moving beyond basic bookkeeping
- Businesses with revenue growth but limited cash visibility
- Leadership teams preparing to hire, expand, finance, or restructure
- Finance functions that need stronger systems, ownership, and reporting
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