CFO advisory for a fast-growing consultancy

The Challenge

Tom’s IT consultancy had grown quickly — almost too quickly. Revenue had doubled in two years, he’d brought on three new staff, and he was fielding enquiries from a potential investor. But his financial reporting was basic, he had no cash flow forecasting, and he couldn’t articulate his margins by service line. The investor conversation stalled because Tom couldn’t answer the questions being asked.

What We Did

Account For It stepped in as Tom’s outsourced CFO. We started by rebuilding his Xero chart of accounts to give visibility by service line — separating project-based work from retainer income and tracking contractor costs against each revenue stream. We then built a rolling 12-month cash flow forecast that was updated monthly.

Each month we met with Tom for a one-hour strategy session reviewing actuals against forecast, identifying trends, and working through pricing and capacity decisions. We also prepared a full investor-ready financial pack — three years of restated accounts, a business valuation summary and a forward projection model.

The Results

Tom closed his first external investment round 14 months after engaging Account For It. Revenue grew 3x over 18 months, driven partly by pricing improvements identified in our monthly sessions. He now has a finance function that punches well above his company’s size.

“Having Braden in my corner every month changed the way I think about my business. He asks the questions I wasn’t asking myself.”

— Tom S., Director, IT Consultancy, Perth

Key Outcomes

• Xero rebuilt with service-line margin tracking
• Rolling 12-month cash flow forecast implemented
• Monthly CFO advisory sessions established
• Investor-ready financial pack prepared
• 3× revenue growth over 18 months