Field notes on FP&A, finance ops, and AI.
Practical thinking on outsourced FP&A for finance leaders at PE-backed and high-growth companies.
Which EBITDA Add-Backs Survive Diligence (and How to Build a Schedule a Buyer Won't Cut)
Buy-side providers commonly disallow 10 to 30% of the add-backs sellers propose. Here's how to sort your adjustments into the ones that hold and the ones that get cut, and how to document each before a buyer or lender asks.
How to Run a Customer Profitability Analysis (and Why Your Biggest Customer Might Be Your Least Profitable)
Gross margin by customer hides the freight, rebates, payment terms, and service time that big accounts quietly consume. Here's how to build a cost-to-serve view in a spreadsheet, with a worked example and what to do with the answer.
FP&AHow to Build a Headcount Plan for Your 2027 Budget (and Why Salary Times Heads Is Always Wrong)
Payroll is the biggest line in most $5M–$50M budgets, and it's usually modeled as salary times headcount. Here's how to build a headcount plan that holds up: fully loaded cost, start dates, open-role timing, and a worked example.
PE & Portfolio OpsHow the Net Working Capital Peg Gets Set (and How to Keep It From Costing You Money at Close)
The working capital peg moves purchase price dollar for dollar, and it's negotiated off your monthly balance sheets. Here's how the peg is calculated, where the arguments happen, a worked example, and what a finance team should do 12 months before a deal.
PE & Portfolio OpsHow to Report an Add-On Acquisition to Your Board: Consolidated vs. Pro Forma vs. Organic (With a Worked Example)
The first board package after an add-on closes will show revenue up 29%, and nobody will know what it means. Here's how to split reported, pro forma, and organic growth so the board can see what the deal did and what the business did, with a worked example and the covenant math.
FP&AHow to Run the Annual Budget Process in 6 Weeks: A Week-by-Week Timeline for $5M–$50M Companies
Most budget cycles drag because nobody set the targets before the templates went out. Here's a six-week calendar, who owns each step, and the two meetings that decide whether you finish by Thanksgiving or in February.
FP&ARolling Forecast vs. Annual Budget: Why the Answer Is Both (and Who Each One Is For)
The annual budget is a commitment. The rolling forecast is an estimate. Most $5M–$50M companies need both, and you can run both without two planning cycles. Here's the split.
Cash & TreasuryHow to Build a Debt Covenant Tracker (and What Actually Happens If You Trip One)
Middle market borrowers are running at 4.4x leverage and 2.4x interest coverage, which leaves about 17% of EBITDA between you and a breach. Here's how to build a covenant tracker that tells you six months early, and what a lender really does when you miss.
FP&AScenario Planning vs. Sensitivity Analysis: What Your Board Is Actually Asking For
Most finance teams run sensitivity analysis and call it scenario planning. Here's the difference, why only 38% of teams do real scenarios, and how to build three your board will use.
FP&AHow to Measure Forecast Accuracy (and What a Good Number Actually Looks Like)
Only 14% of finance teams formally track how accurate their forecasts are. Here's the math for forecast error and bias, what a good number looks like at $5M–$50M, and how to build the scorecard in an afternoon.
Cash & TreasuryWhat Is a Good Cash Conversion Cycle? The Benchmarks, the Math, and Where the Days Hide
Top middle market companies convert cash in 24 days while their peers take 44. Here's how to calculate your cash conversion cycle, what a good number looks like, and which levers actually move it.
FP&AHow to Write Budget vs. Actual Variance Commentary (With Examples)
The numbers in a budget vs. actual report don't explain themselves. Here's how to write variance commentary a board actually reads, what to flag, and what to skip.
PE & Portfolio OpsHow to Prepare for a Quality of Earnings Review (and Why the Work Starts a Year Early)
A quality of earnings review doesn't grade your company, it grades your records. Here's what a QoE actually digs into, what trips up lower middle market sellers, and the reporting habits worth building long before you go to market.
FP&AThe KPIs a Multi-Location Business Should Actually Track (Start at the Unit Level)
If you run a multi-location business, the numbers that decide your valuation live at the unit level, not on the consolidated P&L. Here are the five KPIs worth tracking, and why the company average hides your worst locations.
PE & Portfolio OpsWhat Belongs in a PE Board Reporting Package (and What Your Sponsor Reads First)
The monthly board package is the document your PE sponsor uses to judge whether the thesis is working. Here's what belongs in it, what to cut, and the order your board actually reads it in.
FP&AHow to Build a Driver-Based Budget (and Why Static Budgets Break by Q2)
A driver-based budget ties every number to a few operating assumptions, so when reality changes you can re-forecast in an afternoon instead of rebuilding the file. Here's how to build one, and why the 'last year plus 8%' budget falls apart by spring.
Cash & TreasuryThe 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast: The Report Your Board and Lenders Actually Watch
For PE-backed companies, liquidity is the thing that ends careers — not the P&L. Here's why the 13-week cash flow forecast is the report that keeps you out of trouble, and how to build one that holds up under scrutiny.
Finance OperationsClosing the Books in Days, Not Weeks: A Practical Path to a Faster Month-End Close
A three-week close isn't a badge of diligence — it's a symptom of a broken process. Here's how to compress your month-end close without giving up accuracy, and why it's the highest-leverage fix in finance.
PE & Portfolio OpsThe 90-Day FP&A Mandate: What Your PE Firm Expects After an Acquisition
When a private equity firm closes, a quiet clock starts. Here's the financial reporting infrastructure your new owners expect within the first quarter — and how to stand it up without burning out your team.
Finance StrategyFractional vs. Full-Time FP&A: The Real Cost Math for $5–50M Companies
A full-time FP&A hire isn't the only way to get board-grade financial planning. Here's an honest breakdown of what each path actually costs — and when each one makes sense.
AI & AutomationHow AI Agents Are Changing FP&A for Lean Finance Teams
AI isn't replacing the financial analyst — it's removing the 40 hours of monthly grunt work that kept analysts from doing analysis. Here's what actually changes when agents handle the assembly line.