Fractional CFO/FD
A senior finance lead on your leadership team for a few days a month. Strategy, budgets, board reporting and a clear view of where the business is heading.
Get your business from A to B.
Fractional CFO/FD support for growing businesses. We come in, plan the route and do the work. Better numbers, stronger cash and a business that investors and buyers want.
- 20 years in accounting and finance
- Exit and integration experience on a $1bn+ sale
- Member of the FD4 network
Where are you now? Where do you want to be?
A. Today
- Numbers arrive late, or you do not trust them
- Cash keeps surprising you
- Investors or the board ask questions you cannot answer quickly
- The founder carries the finance load
- A sale or raise is coming and nothing is ready
B. Where we get you
- Monthly reporting you trust, on time
- A rolling cash forecast you can plan around
- A model and data room that stand up to investors
- A finance function that runs without you
- A business that is ready for buyers and due diligence
How we help
Hands-on work, not just advice. We build what is missing and leave your team able to run it.
Forecasting and cash
Budgets, rolling forecasts and cash flow models built on assumptions that hold up when challenged.
Management information
Monthly reporting and KPIs that founders and boards actually use. A clear view of where money is made and lost.
Fundraising readiness
Investor-ready numbers, financial model and data room. Support through investor questions and due diligence.
Getting ready to sell
We clean up the numbers, test adjusted EBITDA as a buyer would and fix the gaps before buyers find them.
Selling your business
Information memorandum, financial packs, buyer questions and due diligence support, alongside your corporate finance adviser.
Buying a business
We test the target’s numbers, flag the risks and plan the integration before you sign.
After the deal
Post-acquisition integration. Reporting, controls, systems and a finance team that works to group standards.
Group and international finance
Multi-entity consolidation, intercompany, transfer pricing, VAT and reporting to an overseas parent.
What sets the price of your business
Buyers pay a multiple of your profit. The multiple reflects how much risk they see. Cut the risk and the same profit is worth more.
Adjusted EBITDAMultipleSurplus cashValue
Same profit, different price. £800k EBITDA at 4 times is £3.2m. At 6 times it is £4.8m. The extra £1.6m comes from lower risk, not higher profit.
From A to B: what moves the multiple
Lowers the multiple
Raises the multiple
The owner runs everything
A management team that can run the business
The plan lives in the owner’s head
A written three-year plan, backed by history
One customer is more than 10% of sales
A broad customer base with no customer dominating
Spreadsheets and workarounds
Documented systems and processes
Numbers buyers cannot check
Monthly reporting and a forecast buyers believe
Missing contracts and records
A data room ready before buyers ask
Open tax questions
Tax affairs settled and up to date
Too small to interest most buyers
Enough scale to bring in trade and private equity buyers
Which year gets valued
Buyers price on numbers they believe. With solid monthly reporting and a credible forecast, this year’s figures can set the price. Without them, buyers fall back to last year and cut the multiple too.
Your sales numbers count too
Buyers test revenue as hard as costs. They look at:
- How much depends on your biggest customers
- Whether new business relies on the owner or on a repeatable process
- Your pipeline and how accurate past sales forecasts were
- Pricing and discount discipline
- Conversion rates and how long deals take to close
- Repeat business, and whether key sales people will stay
We test these the way a buyer would, then help you fix what we find.
Make your business worth more to buyers and investors
Value is lost in the detail. Weak numbers, messy records and a forecast nobody believes all cut the price or stop the deal. We have seen deals from both sides. We know what buyers test and what makes them walk away.
Before a sale or raise
- Adjusted EBITDA and add-backs that stand up
- Clean monthly accounts
- A forecast you can defend
- A data room ready before anyone asks
- Red flags found and fixed early
During and after the deal
- Information memorandum and financial packs
- Buyer and investor questions
- Due diligence support on the sell side and the buy side
- Integration planning and delivery
We work alongside corporate finance advisers and lawyers. If you do not have them yet, we can help you find the right fit.
Experience you can rely on
20 years in finance. Trained in audit and practice, working with businesses across many sectors. Then senior finance roles in an international group.
- ACA
- ACCA
- MBA
Member of FD4, a national network of part-time finance directors.
- Supported a business through exit readiness and buyer due diligence on a sale worth over $1bn
- Led European finance through the post-acquisition integration that followed: operating model, controls, reporting and systems
- Owned budgeting and forecasting for a $250m+ European cost base
- Managed multi-entity, multi-currency finance across Europe, reporting to an overseas parent
- Sell-side M&A support for corporate finance advisers: information memoranda, financial packs and buyer-style testing of revenue and EBITDA
- Fractional CFO/FD to growth businesses: cash flow forecasting, funding talks with banks and lenders, and accounts reviews
Recent work
Sell-side support
Rebuilt the information memorandum and financial packs for a corporate finance adviser. Tested adjusted EBITDA as a buyer would. Now handling buyer due diligence questions.
Cash and funding
Built the cash flow forecast from scratch for a growing business. Found costs in the wrong place, which understated gross margin. Supported funding talks with the bank and a specialist lender.
Exit and integration
Supported a business through buyer due diligence on a $1bn+ sale. Then led European finance through the integration.
How we work
Intro call
30 minutes, free. We find out where you are and where you want to be.
Plan
A short review of your numbers, systems and team. You get a clear plan from A to B, with costs agreed up front.
Deliver
We do the work. A set number of days a month, or a fixed project. Scale up for a raise or sale. Scale down when things settle.
Who we work with
Founder-led and owner-managed businesses with turnover of £1m to £40m, in any sector.
Where is your business now? Let’s talk about where it could be.
Book a free 30-minute call. No obligation.
Book a call
Email us
contact@alturaglobalcfo.com
Based in London. Working with clients across the UK and internationally.