Getting started
The first 90 days
Most finance engagements open with a long discovery phase and nothing to show for a quarter. This one runs the other way round. You get something usable in month one, and the full picture by month three.
1 hours
Of your time in the first thirty days
60 minutes
A month after that
None
Systems you have to replace
Days 1 to 30
Make the numbers true
Nothing useful can be built on a ledger you do not believe. We take read only access to what you already have, take over the reconciliation, tidy the coding, and agree how your work should be structured in the accounts so that profit can be read by product, contract, project or customer rather than only in total.
What you get
- A reconciled ledger
- An agreed chart of accounts
- A written note of everything we found that you did not know about
What we need
- Read only access to your systems
- A 60 minute kick off
- An hour to confirm how the work should be grouped
Days 31 to 60
Get ahead of the month
The first management pack lands on a date you can put in the diary, and with it a rolling view of cash and committed work. This is the point where you stop finding out about problems after they have already happened.
What you get
- Your first management pack, explained rather than emailed
- A 13 week cash forecast
- A monthly review in the diary for the year
What we need
- Your pipeline as you actually see it
- 90 minutes to walk through the first pack together
Days 61 to 90
See which work makes money
Three months of clean data is enough to rank your customers, contracts and service lines by the margin they actually earn. Usually at least one answer here is uncomfortable, and that is normally the point at which the engagement has paid for itself.
What you get
- Margin by customer and by line of work
- A pricing read across your service lines
- A short list of what to change first
What we need
- A 90 day review session
- Whoever else needs to hear the answer in the room
What does not happen
The reason most finance projects stall is that they ask the business to change how it works first. This one does not.
No migration
We work in the accounting system you already run. Nothing moves, nothing is rebuilt.
No new software to learn
Your team carries on as they are. Reporting comes to you rather than the other way round.
No timesheet overhaul
If you already track time we use it. If you do not, we work with what the business actually records.
If it is not working
You can stop at day 90
Every retainer carries a break at ninety days. We would rather you left with a clean ledger and a clear picture than stayed on out of politeness.
Ready to see where you stand?
Thirty minutes, no preparation needed. If it is not a fit we will tell you.
