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Advisory

Business advisory.

Most accounting work stops at the return. This is the part that runs the business: the numbers you look at each month, and what you do about them.

01 · Scope

What this covers.

  • Virtual CFO engagements and monthly management reporting
  • Cash flow forecasting, including 13-week rolling models
  • Budgeting and variance analysis against it
  • Board packs, bank submissions and lender reporting
  • Review of the finance function, controls and delegation
  • Cloud accounting and systems implementation
  • Due diligence and support through a transaction
  • KPI and pricing analysis by product, job or site

02 · The work

Profit is an opinion. Cash is a fact.

A profitable business can run out of cash, and an unprofitable one can trade for years. The difference is timing, and timing is only visible in a forecast someone maintains. We build the model with you, then keep it current, so the question "can we afford this?" has an answer inside a day rather than a fortnight.

Reporting is designed around decisions you actually make. A twenty-page pack nobody reads is worse than one page of numbers you argue about. Where a business has grown quickly, the first job is often simplifying what is measured, not adding to it.

We also do the unglamorous work: checking that the ledger closes on time, that the balance sheet reconciles, that the person who runs payroll is not also the person who approves it. Strong reporting on a weak ledger is fiction with formatting.

03 · Clients

Who this is for.

  • Businesses of $5m to $100m turnover without a full-time CFO
  • Owners who are the bottleneck on every financial decision
  • Companies preparing for a sale, a raise or a banking review
  • Groups where each entity reports separately and nobody consolidates

An engagement usually starts with a diagnostic month: we report on the business as it stands, and you decide whether the ongoing rhythm is worth paying for. Some clients stop there, which is a fine outcome.

Details

Questions we are asked

What does a virtual CFO actually do?
It replaces a full-time finance hire with a monthly rhythm: management accounts prepared and explained, a rolling forecast, and a meeting where decisions are made against them. The scope changes with the business — some clients need a board pack each month, others need a cash flow model and someone to argue with the bank.
We already have a bookkeeper. Where does this fit?
Above it. A bookkeeper records what happened and is essential to getting the numbers right. We review the quality of the ledger, then work on what the numbers mean: margins by job or product, the gap between profit and cash, capital that is about to be needed. The two roles usually make each other better.
Which accounting systems do you work with?
Xero and MYOB are the platforms we see most, with QuickBooks Online in a minority of cases. Just as often the problem is the systems around the ledger — job management, point of sale, payroll, inventory — not talking to it, which is why part of the engagement is usually making the data reliable enough to report from.
How is advisory work priced?
We do not work from a fixed price list. We scope the work with you, then agree a fee that fits your budget and the reporting the business actually needs — and we say early if the two will not meet. The fee is reviewed when the scope changes, not because a month was busier than the last one.

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Enquiries

Start with a conversation.

Tell us what you are trying to resolve. If we are not the right firm for the question, we will say so at the first meeting.

Enquiries are received by appointment, monday to friday, 8.30am – 5.30pm. We reply to every enquiry within one business day.

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Or write directly to contact@liuandassociates.com.au