Business Development

An operating model that runs without the owner at the centre.

Diligence is unkind to businesses that cannot produce their numbers on demand. We put in the operating model, the finance function and the systems that let a lender, a buyer or a board read the business without translation.

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What this covers

How work is taken in, tracked, delivered and closed; the finance function, from a reliable monthly close to management reporting and planning; the KPIs and board reporting that track the plan; procurement and cost; working capital and cash conversion; and the systems and data that hold it together.

Numbers move out of the founder's head and into records an incoming manager, an investor or a buyer can rely on.

Why it moves value

Reporting that reconciles to the financial statements is the precondition for a credible quality-of-earnings review, a lender's reporting requirements and an investor's monitoring. Without it, every figure in a process is negotiated rather than accepted.

Working capital and cash conversion matter as much as margin: lenders size facilities on cash generation, and acquirers set a working-capital target that can move the price. Both are prepared before a process, not argued during one.

What the work leaves behind

KPI definitions that reconcile to the general ledger; a monthly pack covering the income statement, cash, KPIs and variance to budget; a plan with owners, milestones and an EBITDA bridge; savings traced to invoices; a working-capital analysis; a short-term cash forecast where the facility calls for one; and the reporting a lender requires.

At a glance

The operating cadence.

01
Plan
Budget and priorities, each with an owner.
02
Execute
Work taken in, delivered and closed.
03
Measure
KPIs that reconcile to the ledger.
04
Report
The monthly pack and the board pack.
05
Adjust
Decisions made on the numbers.

Then again, every month: the cadence a lender, a buyer and a board rely on.

The operating cadence: a plan with owners, measured on KPIs that reconcile to the ledger, reported monthly and adjusted on the numbers.

Workstreams

What the work covers.

Prioritised after the diagnostic, each with an owner, a baseline and a timetable.

Operating model

How fulfilment and the back office are organized, who owns each part, and how work moves between them.

Finance function

A reliable monthly close, management reporting, budgeting and planning, and the finance leadership to run them.

Management operating system

A small set of KPIs that track the plan and reconcile to the financial statements, a monthly review and a board pack, on a fixed cadence.

Core processes

Order to cash, procure to pay and service delivery: the processes that turn revenue into cash and cost into output.

Procurement and cost

Spend visibility, supplier terms and the cost base, managed against the plan rather than reviewed once a year.

Working capital and cash conversion

Receivables, payables and inventory managed to release cash and to establish the working-capital pattern a buyer or lender will test.

Systems and data

The core systems and the data in them, consolidated so that one version of the numbers exists.

Capital readiness

What capital providers look for here.

Acquirers, lenders and equity investors examine the same business through different questions. The work is prepared against the capital the owner intends to raise, or the sale they intend to run.

Acquirers

Quality-of-earnings readiness: reporting that reconciles, documented adjustments, a normalised working-capital pattern, and systems that transfer with the business.

Lenders

Cash conversion, working capital and reporting discipline: the timely, accurate figures a facility's reporting and covenant tests depend on.

Equity investors

An operating model that scales: unit costs that fall as revenue grows, board-grade reporting, and the capacity to absorb the growth the investment is meant to fund.

Questions

What owners and sponsors ask.

What does a buyer's quality-of-earnings team look at first?

Whether reported earnings reconcile to the underlying records, which adjustments are claimed and how they are supported, and how working capital behaves over time. The work prepares each of these before the process opens.

Do you replace the finance team?

No. The work strengthens the function: processes, reporting and, where the plan requires it, a finance leader placed into the seat.

What do lenders want from operations?

Timely financial statements and KPIs, covenant calculations on the accounting basis the facility agreed, and evidence that cash conversion and working capital behave the way the forecast says they will. Lenders increasingly challenge reported figures and add-backs, so the support matters as much as the number.

Transaction credentials available upon request.

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