Senior review on top of the books you already have
Most small and mid-sized companies do not need a full-time CFO. They need a senior finance person in the room a few days a month. Someone who reads the financials before the owner does, catches a margin slip in week two instead of at year-end, and can sit across from a banker and answer questions without guessing.
That is what this service is. It sits on top of the accounting work, whether our team handles your bookkeeping and month-end close or your own staff does. Controller-level work makes the numbers right. CFO-level work decides what to do about them: where cash is going over the next quarter, which locations or SKUs carry the business, what price increase your customer mix can absorb, and how much debt service your operating cash flow will actually cover.
We work inside your systems. QuickBooks Online and Desktop, Xero, NetSuite and Sage Intacct for the general ledger. Bill.com for payables, Gusto, ADP and Paychex for payroll data, Ramp and Expensify for spend, plus your POS, e-commerce and practice management exports. Models and dashboards are delivered in Excel and Google Sheets that you keep, not in a platform you have to rent from us.
What the engagement covers
Pick the pieces you need. Engagements usually start with cash and margin, then add budgeting and lender reporting once the reporting rhythm is steady.
13-week cash flow forecasting
A rolling 13-week model built from real bank activity, AR aging, AP aging, payroll dates, sales tax and 941 deposit dates, and debt service. Refreshed weekly against actuals so you see a shortfall six weeks out instead of on the Friday it lands. Paired with an annual cash forecast for the larger decisions.
Budgeting and quarterly reforecasts
An annual operating budget phased by month and split by department, location or service line, with assumptions written down so they can be defended. Quarterly reforecasts update the full-year view for what actually happened. Budget versus actual arrives with written commentary, not just a variance column.
Pricing and margin analysis
Gross margin by product, service line, customer, job or location. Labor as a percent of revenue against a target you set. Cost pass-through modeling, so you know what a 6 percent food cost jump or a state wage increase does to the bottom line before you sign anything.
Unit economics
Four-wall contribution and EBITDA by location for multi-unit restaurant and retail operators. Contribution margin per order, blended acquisition cost, return rate and repeat purchase behavior for e-commerce sellers. Realization and effective rate per billable hour for professional services firms.
KPI design and management reporting
Eight to twelve metrics that match how you actually make money, defined in writing so each one means the same thing every month. Delivered as a one-page dashboard sitting on top of the financials, with every number traceable back to the general ledger.
Learn moreLender and investor reporting
Monthly and quarterly packages formatted for the audience reading them. Loan package preparation, debt schedules, borrowing base support, capex plans, and covenant tracking with the debt service coverage and fixed charge coverage math run before the bank runs it.
How we start
The first month is diagnostic and build. You have usable output inside the first thirty days, not at the end of a long discovery phase.
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Week one: financial diagnostic
We read the last twelve months of financials against the general ledger. Chart of accounts structure, revenue cutoff, how payroll, sales tax and owner distributions are landing, balance sheet accounts nobody has reconciled in a year, and whether cash basis or accrual basis is the right reporting choice for how you are managed and financed. You receive a written list of what we found and what each item is hiding.
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Week two: cash model and KPI set
We build the 13-week forecast from bank activity, AR aging, AP aging, the payroll calendar, federal and state deposit dates, and your debt schedule. Then we agree on the eight to twelve KPIs worth reporting and write down exactly how each one is calculated.
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Weeks three and four: budget and reporting package
An annual operating budget phased by month and broken out the way you actually run the business. We set the format of the monthly reporting package and lock a close calendar, so the numbers arrive on a date you can plan around instead of whenever they happen to be finished.
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Ongoing: monthly and quarterly cadence
Weekly cash update, monthly close review with budget versus actual commentary, quarterly reforecast, and an annual planning session. Lender and investor packages go out on whatever schedule your loan agreements and investors require.
The engagement, in numbers
What you actually receive
Concrete documents on a set schedule. Every item below is a file you receive, not a slide about strategy.
- Weekly cash flow updateThe 13-week model refreshed, last week's forecast compared against what really cleared the bank, and any shortfall in the next 30 days flagged with the options to cover it.
- Monthly reporting packageP&L by month and by location or department, balance sheet, statement of cash flows, AR and AP aging, and budget versus actual with written commentary on the variances that matter.
- Quarterly reforecastFull-year revenue, margin and cash outlook rebuilt on actual results through the quarter, with a short note on what changed and why.
- Margin and pricing reviewGross margin by line, labor percent against target, food or materials cost against target, and the top and bottom performers among your SKUs, locations, jobs or service lines.
- Debt and covenant scheduleEvery loan and lease with rate, maturity, monthly service and balance, plus debt service coverage and fixed charge coverage calculated exactly as the thresholds in your agreements define them.
- Capex planEquipment, build-out, vehicle and technology spend mapped into the cash forecast, with lease versus buy compared and the tax treatment coordinated with your CPA before you commit.
- Lender packageTrailing twelve month and year-to-date financials on a consistent basis, forecast with stated assumptions, debt schedule, aging reports, and the supporting schedules a credit analyst asks for on the second call.
- Owner or board meeting summaryOne page. Cash position and runway, KPIs against plan, the two or three risks worth naming, and the decisions that need to be made this month.
Bookkeeping, controller review and CFO work are three different jobs
Companies often pay for the first, assume they are getting the third, and wonder why nobody is answering the strategic questions. Here is the split.
| Area | Bookkeeping and close | Controller review | CFO advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transactions | Bank and credit card feeds coded daily or weekly | Coding rules, exception review, class and location accuracy | Reads the coding for margin signal, not only for accuracy |
| Month-end close | Reconciliations, accruals, prepaids, fixed asset roll | Sign off on the close checklist and unusual variances | Explains what the result means and what changes next month |
| Payroll | W-2 processing and 941, 940 and state filings coordinated in Gusto, ADP or Paychex | Labor accrual, departmental allocation, multi-state setup review | Headcount plan, overtime exposure, labor cost inside your pricing |
| Cash | AR invoicing and AP scheduling in Bill.com | Weekly cash position and approval controls | 13-week forecast, collections strategy, timing of draws and paydowns |
| Reporting | Standard P&L, balance sheet and aging reports | Tie-out, consistency, US GAAP treatment questions | Budget versus actual, KPI dashboard, lender and investor package |
| Financing | Documents pulled on request | Supporting schedules prepared and reconciled | Loan package, covenant tracking, and the banker conversation itself |
Scroll the table sideways on a small screen.
Questions owners ask
How is this different from hiring a full-time CFO?
A CFO with the experience you want costs a senior salary plus bonus, benefits and employer payroll taxes, and that is before the recruiting time. Plenty of companies simply do not have forty hours a week of CFO work. You get the same senior review on a fixed monthly cadence, and the cost scales with the scope of the work rather than with a job title.
Do you have to do our bookkeeping for us?
No. We can advise on top of your in-house accountant or your current provider. The one requirement is that the books close on a reliable schedule and actually reconcile, because forecasting on top of bad data is guessing with better formatting. If the books are behind or the balance sheet needs cleanup, we will say so on the first call and quote that work separately.
Do we have to switch accounting software?
No. We work in QuickBooks Online and Desktop, Xero, NetSuite and Sage Intacct, and we pull from Bill.com, Gusto, ADP, Paychex, Ramp and Expensify. If your current setup is genuinely limiting you, for example one QuickBooks file running six locations with no class or location tracking, we will tell you what a change would cost and what it would buy before you decide.
Do you prepare our tax returns?
No. CFO advisory is not tax preparation or tax representation. We prepare the year-end package your CPA needs, including the adjusted trial balance, fixed asset and depreciation detail, accrual and prepaid support, and 1099-NEC vendor detail with W-9 status confirmed. We also join the call when your CPA has questions, so you are not the messenger between two sets of numbers.
We are applying for a bank loan. What do you actually produce?
A complete lender package. Trailing twelve month and year-to-date financials on a consistent basis, a forecast with stated assumptions, a debt schedule, AR and AP aging, and the debt service coverage and fixed charge coverage calculations the credit analyst will run anyway. The same package works for conventional bank debt, SBA 7(a) requests, equipment financing and a line of credit renewal.
How do you track loan covenants?
We pull the actual covenant language out of your agreements, build each calculation the way the lender defines it, and run it every month alongside the close. If a ratio is drifting toward its threshold, you hear it from us with a quarter of runway to do something about it, not from your bank after the fact.
What does it cost and how fast can we start?
A fixed monthly fee, quoted after a free consultation. Price follows scope: number of entities and locations, transaction volume, reporting cadence, and whether you need cash forecasting only or the full package with budgeting and lender reporting. Most clients run their back office for 40 to 60 percent less than a comparable in-house team. We can usually begin the diagnostic within two weeks of the consultation.
Free consultation, no-cost quote
Call (209) 456-5966 or email info@yfgconsultants.com. We will walk through your last twelve months, tell you plainly what we would fix first, and send a no-cost quote for the scope that fits your business.