Beyond the Numbers

Practical thinking on business finance, careers and the mindset behind both - written from 20 years of hands-on experience.

Latest · Cash Flow

Profitable but always broke: why your P&L lies about your bank account

Your business is profitable but the bank account tells another story. A finance consultant explains the profit-cash gap and the discipline that closes it.

4 min read

You've outgrown your finance function. Hiring is the expensive answer.

'We just need more finance people' is usually wrong. Four checks that show whether your real problem is capacity or complexity - before you spend £200K on headcount.

3 min readRead →

How a finance team gets to 96% forecast accuracy (four disciplines, no new software)

Forecast accuracy is a method issue. The four disciplines that took forecasts from board joke to 96%+ accurate across £10M to £200M+ budgets.

3 min readRead →

FP&A for small business owners: what to build at £1M, £5M and £20M

Your accountant tells you what happened. FP&A tells you what happens next. What to build at each size of business - before hiring anyone.

4 min readRead →

The CFO mindset for personal money: corporate discipline at kitchen-table scale

The discipline that runs £200M budgets works identically at £2,000. Forecasting, automation and scenario thinking for your own money - for educational purposes.

3 min readRead →

The board pack diet: fewer numbers, better decisions

Forty-page board packs are an act of defence. Five KPI-design moves that make a board trust its numbers - from packs built across pharma, FMCG and financial services.

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The 13-week cash flow forecast, explained for founders

What a 13-week cash flow forecast is, why 13 weeks, and how founder-led businesses run one weekly without new software. From 20 years of finance leadership.

4 min readRead →

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