Business Advisory & Virtual Finance Director

A virtual finance director works to a fixed rhythm: month-end close reviewed, the management pack read before the meeting, and a short list of decisions put to you with the numbers behind each one. Between meetings there is someone to call before you sign a lease, take on a hire or accept a term sheet. The role suits owner-managed businesses that have outgrown a bookkeeper but are not ready for a full-time FD, and the fee is agreed in advance.

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The budget is built bottom up from headcount, pricing, pipeline and known cost commitments, then phased across the year so seasonality does not masquerade as a problem. Each month, actuals are set against it and the variances that matter are explained in a paragraph, not buried in a spreadsheet. KPI dashboards are kept deliberately small: gross margin, cash runway, debtor days and whichever operational measure drives your model. The dashboard feeds the board pack and is refreshed as the business changes.

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Most businesses know their overall margin and very few know it by job, customer or product line. Profitability and margin analysis starts by rebuilding cost of sales properly: direct labour at true hourly cost, materials at invoiced rather than quoted prices, subcontractor spend and the overheads that follow the work. The result often shows two or three lines carrying the business and several losing money. You receive the analysis, the pricing and mix decisions it points to, and the tagging changes needed so the ledger keeps reporting it.

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The 13-week cashflow is the working tool: receipts by customer, payments by supplier and payroll, VAT and PAYE dates laid out week by week so a shortfall is visible a month out, not on the day. The annual model sits above it and links the P&L, balance sheet and cash so a change in debtor days or a new hire flows through everywhere. Scenarios are run on the decisions in front of you. Cashflow forecasting and modelling is refreshed on a set cycle, not built once and left.

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Lenders read the numbers before the story, so the pack is built around an integrated forecast that shows serviceability, covenant headroom and what happens if trading falls short. We write the business plan in the form the funder's credit team expects, assemble the supporting documents, and handle the questions that come back. Where the request is for invoice finance or asset finance, the debtor book and asset schedule are prepared to the funder's requirements. Funding support ends when the facility is drawn, not when the application is sent.

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A valuation is only useful if the basis is stated and the method fits the purpose. We set out whether the figure is market value or fair value under the articles, then apply earnings, net asset or discounted cash flow methods, with the adjustments for owner remuneration, minority holdings and lack of marketability explained. For EMI, the report is drafted for agreement with HMRC's Shares and Assets Valuation team. Business valuations are delivered as a report you can put in front of a buyer, a co-shareholder or a tribunal.

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On the buy side, financial due diligence tests whether the numbers you are paying for are real: quality of earnings, working capital normalisation, debt and debt-like items, revenue recognition and the tax exposures that would become yours on completion. The findings shape price, the completion accounts mechanism and the warranties your solicitors draft. On the sell side, we prepare the data room and a vendor pack so questions are answered before they are asked and the deal does not stall in the final weeks.

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When a shareholder leaves, three questions need answering in order: what the shares are worth, who buys them, and how it is paid for. We model each route, including a purchase of own shares by the company, a sale to the remaining shareholders and a staged earn-out, and show the tax outcome for both sides, including whether capital treatment applies. The remaining owners see the effect on cash and control before anything is signed. Shareholder exits and buyouts are worked alongside your solicitors, who draft the agreement.

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The options paper starts with a requirements list drawn from your own processes: order to cash, purchase to pay, stock, projects, payroll and the reporting the board wants. Candidate systems are then scored against it, with the total cost over several years, the integration effort and the disruption of the move set out honestly. The recommendation may well be to stay put. Systems and ERP selection ends with a shortlist, a recommendation and an implementation plan you can hand to whoever does the build.

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The first fortnight is about cash: a daily cash book, every creditor listed by urgency, and a decision on who is paid this week. We then open conversations with HMRC on Time to Pay, with lenders on covenant waivers and with suppliers on terms, backed by a forecast they can believe. A viability assessment sets out whether the core business can trade its way out and what has to change. Where it cannot, turnaround and restructuring support means saying so early and working alongside an insolvency practitioner.

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Getting the structure right at incorporation is cheaper than unpicking it later. Before the IN01 is filed we settle the share classes, the split between founders and how future investors or option holders will come in, then register for corporation tax, PAYE and, where sensible, VAT from the right date. The first-year compliance calendar you receive lists every filing and payment date for accounts, confirmation statement, CT600 and payroll, with the bookkeeping system set up to match. Company formation and start-up setup is priced as a single fixed fee.

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