Fractional CFO for Agencies & Professional Services Firms
Services
Partnering CEOs and their leadership teams to provide the financial leadership, strategy, and analysis they need to make confident business decisions grounded in numbers. It’s about clarity.
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My work is about creating relationships with the CEO and leadership team based on trust and confidence. From that foundation, we have ongoing conversations about the who, what, when, why, and how of achieving the vision and goals of the owner. We clarify the long term business strategy and create a financial roadmap to get there.
Our partnership provides peace of mind to owners wearing too many hats, and opens up capacity to focus on scale, optimization, and maximizing enterprise value.
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Accounting looks backwards. Finance looks forward. We create financial projections that match company goals, and update them monthly incorporating changing factors. This way leadership is always focused forward, clear about how closely the financials are tracking to target, and identifying early and often what decisions to make to stay on track.
We get better and predicting by predicting often and measuring performance. Together we become adept at seeing around corners, mitigating risks, and pouncing on opportunities.
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I establish financial reports and a dashboard of metrics that shows the current picture of the business against stated goals and industry benchmarks.
I conduct multi-level profitability analysis: for the company, by line of business, client, and project, and then I collaborate cross-functionally to find and fix the leaks. I oversee accounting staff in budget-to-actuals variance reporting and continuous reforecasting.
I oversee staff in cash flow forecasting, anticipate capital needs, and work with banks to secure financing. I establish a rate model to ensure billable rates include adequate profit margins. I build staffing models to project resources needed for profitable business growth and scale, and I integrate pipeline data to align staffing with constantly updated revenue expectations.
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High-touch, execution-first support as you build and run your acquisition strategy. We work through a battle-tested acquisition playbook for deal screening, structure, negotiation posture, and next-step clarity.
This is ultimately about building a programmatic M&A capability to build exponential enterprise value and maximize optionality.
Who are typical EssJay clients?
Agencies & Professional Services Firms who are:
Generating $5-$15m in annual fee revenue
Employing 25-75 in total headcount
Run by a CEO, partners, or C-suite where someone is wearing an ill-fitting CFO hat
Clear about their values, and living them even when things get stressful
**One of my policies is to only do business with people I would hang out with.
Values
I’m here to do three things:
Do good work
with good people
and have a positive impact on the business and people I work with.
I only work with CEOs and business owners where there is an alignment of core values. My values are honesty, integrity, accountability, kindness, respect, mutual trust, and authenticity.
My work is an expression of my talents and allows me to connect with others, contribute meaningful value, and have an impact on the organizations I work with. I'm motivated by mastery, precision, and excellence. I enjoy being part of the engine that supports the livelihoods of the people employed by my clients so that we can all thrive financially and have the freedom to live our highest and best. It's important to me to contribute to companies that are healthy (healthy bottom line and healthy staff), continuously evolving, and built to last.
As an attentive listener, I ensure business owners feel heard and supported as they navigate complex challenges. I prioritize working with individuals whose presence I find genuinely enjoyable, and while I have a passion for numbers, my true motivation lies in the joy of authentic connection.
