Finance, data, and managing risk, while central to any company’s health and success, are often seen as expansive and complicated topics for CEOs and their teams. Without a full time CFO, scaling businesses frequently miss out on key areas of value that financial and governance tools can deliver. Yet, much can be achieved through compact and targeted actions. Below, we detail examples of how we have supported clients through small consulting projects delivered in days rather than weeks. If this is of interest to you, or if we can assist in any other way, please contact Mark Widnall. 

Financial Modelling 

A business seeking investment is expected to maintain a robust, flexible financial forecast model that can be stress-tested under different scenarios and used as a guide to valuation. 

The model should forecast core financial statements (including cash flows) and all relevant business measures over a three-to-five-year period. It should also provide valuation calculations using a variety of methods. We have developed detailed, flexible financial models for companies across various sectors, delivered within a week or two, which have been instrumental in raising finance, securing new investment, and planning for business expansion or sale. 

Clients across consumer, business services, and tech sectors have leveraged our financial models and advisory services to successfully raise investment rounds of between £1m and £3m in 2023/24. These businesses are now powering through their next phases of growth. 

For a client in the online education sector, we developed a financial model that has become a key component of their planning and forecasting process. Beyond the core financial statements, the model tracks metrics used by the apprenticeship regulator to assess the financial health of training providers, including profitability, solvency, and gearing scores. If profitability falls below target, the model helps identify actions to improve solvency and offset the shortfall, ensuring the business maintains its overall financial health. 

Operational Cash Flow Forecasting 

Every business leader knows how challenging it is to operate precisely according to plan. Monthly management reports provide insight into whether a business is on or off track. 

When managing cash, timely and detailed data is essential. An operational cash flow model tracks actual cash movements within a business and forecasts cash needs over the short and medium term. Depending on the situation, this may require monitoring on a weekly or even daily basis. Therefore, an operational cash flow forecast must be straightforward to update and easy to maintain. 

Using accessible tools in Excel, we have developed an operational cash forecasting tool that can be updated simply by saving a bank statement file. The tool provides analysis at any level of detail appropriate for the business. 

Thanks to the detailed and accurate operational cash flow model we implemented, one of our clients successfully navigated a period of tight cash control without breaching banking covenants. The model provided insights that guided the timing of planned financing activities and helped prioritise cost management actions to improve their cash position. 

Analysis of ESFA Funding Reports 

Apprenticeship training providers receive funding reports from the ESFA each month, detailing the financial impact of learner activities. The ESFA determines a learner’s status based on reported activity, which may not always align with the status recorded in the provider’s management system. Analysing these reports is critical to ensuring funding completeness and understanding discrepancies with internal management information. However, this analysis can be challenging due to the structure of the ESFA reports, particularly across academic years. 

Using Excel tools, we developed a methodology to optimise and automate the analysis of ESFA funding reports. The model tracks learner statuses (and their associated funding impact) over time and across academic years. It can be analysed at both learner and aggregated levels and is updated simply by saving monthly reports in a designated folder. This approach enhances the insights available from ESFA reports and significantly improves the efficiency of delivering those insights. 

The value of this analysis is clear to our clients. By highlighting the commercial impact of delays in learner activity, they were able to update a key measure in their learner management system. This change helped coaches more effectively prioritise their mentoring activities and support learners in getting their programmes back on track. 

Contact us today 

If you are looking to enhance your business’s financial resilience, optimise cash flow, or improve planning and forecasting, we can help. Get in touch to discover how our tailored consultancy services can drive value for your organisation. 

Your Checklist: Financial Solutions to Drive Growth

• Financial Modelling: Build robust, flexible financial models to secure investment, plan for expansion, and strengthen valuation.

• Cash Flow Forecasting: Gain real-time insights with easy-to-update tools that optimise cash flow and ensure financial stability.

• ESFA Funding Analysis: Automate funding report insights to prioritise learner support and maximise funding opportunities.