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These are the patterns we see in almost every founder conversation before they engage us.
You know the headline numbers but lack the forward-looking financial model to run scenarios, test assumptions, and back your decisions with evidence your board or bank will trust.
You are profitable on paper but the bank balance tells a different story. Working capital is poorly managed, debtor days are too long, and cash headroom is uncomfortably thin heading into a growth push.
Your accountant produces the management accounts. Nobody is translating the numbers into clear commercial decisions and communicating them to your leadership team in a way that drives action.
Fundraising, refinancing, or preparing for a transaction requires financial storytelling at a level your existing team has not been trained for. The wrong presentation to the wrong audience costs you significantly.
Revenue has plateaued and the business is working harder for the same result. Margins are being squeezed. You need someone who can identify the structural financial issues holding you back and build a credible plan.
A qualified CFO costs £100,000–£180,000 per year in salary alone before employer's NI and benefits. That is not the right allocation at your stage. A fractional model gives you the same calibre of expertise at 10–20% of the cost.
This is not a checklist of tasks. It is a genuine strategic partnership — embedded into your business, attending your meetings, and accountable for financial outcomes.
Annual budgets, three-year strategic plans, and rolling reforecasts built around your commercial objectives. We translate your growth ambitions into credible, bankable financial narratives.
A rolling 13-week cash flow forecast that gives you genuine visibility. We optimise your debtor days, creditor terms, and working capital cycle so the cash position reflects the performance.
We replace sprawling spreadsheets with a concise monthly board pack that tells the financial story clearly. The metrics that matter, the variances that need explaining, the actions that follow.
Kish attends your investor calls, bank meetings, and board sessions. We prepare the financial narrative, anticipate the tough questions, and make sure you walk into every room with institutional-grade credibility.
We identify where your business is genuinely making money and where it is not. Unit economics, client profitability, product margin, overhead allocation — the analysis that reveals the real drivers of your bottom line.
We build the financial narrative, data room, and valuation framework long before you need them. Whether you are raising investment, refinancing, or planning an eventual sale, the groundwork starts 12 to 36 months before the event.
At £1M–£20M revenue, most businesses have three realistic choices. Here is what each one actually delivers.
| Capability | Consult EFC Fractional CFO |
Your Accountant | Full-Time CFO £100–180k/yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward-looking financial strategy | ✕ | ||
| Cash flow forecasting & working capital | ✕ | ||
| Board-ready reporting & KPI dashboards | ✕ | ||
| Investor & bank meetings attendance | ✕ | ||
| Exit & fundraising readiness | ✕ | ||
| ICAEW qualified & regulated | Varies | Varies | |
| Typical monthly cost | Fixed fee — enquire | £200–£800 | £8,000–£15,000+ |
We are selective about who we take on because this service only works when there is a genuine strategic need and a founder who wants to act on it.
Revenue between £1M and £50M. You have outgrown your accountant but are not yet at the stage where a full-time CFO hire makes commercial sense.
Your business model has recurring revenue, project-based billing, or complex cost structures that demand more sophisticated financial oversight than a compliance accountant provides.
You are actively seeking external capital or considering a refinancing and need a credible CFO-level voice in every conversation — not just a model built by your accountant the week before.
You are thinking about what a sale, MBO, or partial exit might look like and want someone in your corner who understands how buyers and acquirers actually assess and value a business.
We move quickly because most businesses that need a fractional CFO needed one six months ago.
We talk through where you are, what decisions you have in front of you, and whether this engagement would actually move the needle. No pitch, no pressure. Just an honest conversation about whether we are the right fit.
We review your existing accounts, management information, and reporting to identify the three to five highest-priority financial issues. This diagnostic shapes the entire engagement and makes sure we focus where it matters most.
We are in your business as a genuine member of the leadership team. Weekly or fortnightly check-ins, monthly board pack preparation, and direct involvement in any significant financial decisions, negotiations, or stakeholder conversations.
Free · No obligation · Available within 48 hours
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