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The Virtual CFO service. What do you get?
Retainer work
To boost your company's performance, engage a part time Finance Director (a.k.a. CFO) on an ongoing basis
The amount of days per month you use is flexible to your needs
Here is Data Driven Finance's Company performance-boosting workflow:
DATA - this usually means starting with your Xero data, or getting you on to Xero if you're using an antiquated accounts system
REPORTING - we'll sort out your chart of accounts and make your reports mean something. We'll also look at your non-financial data to include in reports e.g. project milestones
FORECASTING - we'll build a strong, bespoke forecast model and set targets. This forecast info also gets included in your reports.
COACHING & STRATEGY - we'll hold regular 'work on the business' sessions, to help you see the wood from the trees
Retainers start at 2 days per month
Forecast models
As a tech-savvy CFO, I use both Excel and online apps to deliver accurate forecasts for companies. I am also an expert user of Xero, and have detailed knowledge of how to use it to its full potential. This includes advising you on which connected apps to use with Xero to get the best workflows.
Excel
I have been trained (by Full Stack Modeller) in the FAST standard for producing 3-statement financial models in Excel. If you've never seen your company's finances in this format then you're in for a treat!
FAST stands for Flexible, Appropriate, Structured & Transparent. These gold-standard bespoke models are easier to understand and a more future-proofed than other methods.
They are shared with you as online links, so you can view them in a browser - you don't need to install Excel.
Online apps
Futrli Advisor
I use Futrli Advisor for reporting, but also to produce cash flow forecasts
Brixx
I use Brixx for cash flow forecasts in some projects. It is simple, cloud-based and flexible. Ideal for a start up with a relatively simple business model
Syft
I use Syft for extra analysis and visual reporting capabilities
Strategy & Planning
Once we start building a financial model for your company together, we are into the planning and strategy phase. This is both the Forecasting and Business Coaching parts of the Company performance-boosting workflow shown in the graphic above.
Meetings during this phase are a great way for you to step out of the everyday fire-fighting and take some time to work ON the business.
I have a great deal of knowledge of business strategies and you can use me as a sounding board to test out your business model as we put together the forecast.
What business strategies, you may ask? I work with several clients and learn a great deal from them about running various kinds of small businesses. On top of that I always see things in terms of the business financials, so am able to keep you on track.
I also study pricing and strategy from various sources and frameworks, one of which is the EOS system...
EOS system
Once the data is assured and the reporting and forecasting is in place, we can move into the business coaching phase.
I use EOS - the Entrepreneurial Operating System - to provide a framework for early stage companies. It allows you to implement structure and gain focus. It's like a book of instructions on how to run a company effectively
It results in scalability, lower staff turnover, and better financial performance
Added bonus: companies who use EOS have a higher value when it comes to cashing in at exit.
Success story from EOS
(hover mouse to see)
Nolan Duck, DBG Advisors
Founder/CEO
In October of 2017 Eric Little, CEO of Crimson Building Company, asked me to help him “get a handle on” his company. He felt that the company wasn’t operating as smoothly as he wanted it to. I agreed to help Eric by using the book Traction by Gino Wickman as a guide as we implemented EOS or the “Entrepreneurial Operating System.”
I am an M&A Advisor and Coach and over the past fourteen years I have been working with business owners who wanted to do exit planning even if they weren’t ready to sell. I became an EOS Implementer in order to help these owners build the value of their companies so they could eventually capitalize on a lifetime of hard work.
The leadership team started by using a tool called The Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) which helped the leadership team clearly define who they were, where they were going and how they planned to get there. We worked through the Six Key Components of their organization and this helped the company gain a clearer understanding of where they were hitting on all cylinders and were they weren’t.
As a part of this process the company established a scorecard system that would help the company actually track where they were in real time. This process led to a realization that while they were very busy they weren’t making much money. They were doing £4,000,000 in gross revenue but had very little net profit. EOS helped the team come to a realization that a wholesale restructuring needed to take place ASAP.
Eric Little said, “Without EOS we would have never realized what we were doing.” The process literally saved the company by exposing the dysfunctions that were hidden in the weeds.
Many business owners can’t see the forest for the trees. They are so busy taking care of 36,000 problems that pop up every day that they can’t focus on the key component that really drive their companies. EOS is a tool that fixes that problem.
Data analytics
I'll help you hook up data from various sources so you can make sense of it and see the trends.
That might mean:
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setting up a data model in Power BI to analyse your Shopify data
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or hooking up your Xero data to the forecast model
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or analysing your staff's work patterns from Jira data
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or relating your sales activity in Pipedrive to your sales forecast
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or pulling in data from a Google Sheet for analysis with data pulled into Excel from elsewhere
Or it could just be ad-hoc analysis of payroll data, or anything! I can help you see the patterns in data.
