Interim CFO Case Study: Securing Funding And Building A Finance Team For A £14m Business

What The Health Check Found

Secantor began with a financial health check, working with the Managing Director, the finance and administration team, sales and operations colleagues and the external accountants. It reviewed the reliability of the numbers, the processes behind them, the capability of the team and the main risks facing the business.

An under-resourced and unstable finance function

Skills were missing in management accounting, reporting, cash flow analysis and forecasting. Repeated changes of finance manager meant there was no continuity, so the business needed senior leadership straight away and a stronger permanent team behind it.

Reporting nobody could rely on

There was no month-end timetable, no consistently reliable monthly management accounts and no structured monthly review. Material inaccuracies in the records meant the Managing Director could not trust the picture of performance.

Cash flow held in one person's head

There was no regularly maintained forecast. This made future working capital needs hard to anticipate and complicated any approach to funders.

Informal processes between departments

Information passed informally between Sales, Administration and Finance. Many processes were manual and undocumented, and funding documents and contracts were not held in one place.

No budget, forecast or financial model

Management could not compare actual performance with expectations, forecast profit, understand future cash needs or test different growth scenarios. Gross profit analysis was also too thin to support commercial decisions.

The underlying issue was not poor trading. Growth had arrived faster than the structures to support it, and the founder's close knowledge of the business had been enough to cover the gaps until it reached this size.

Implementation: Five Priorities Over Six Months

1. Regaining control of the numbers

Working with the internal team and external accountants, the Interim CFO reconciled the key balance sheet accounts, including bank, debtors, creditors and stock, and improved the accuracy of the accounting records. A clear month-end timetable with defined responsibilities followed, so the Managing Director received dependable management information each month.

2. Taking cash and funding off the founder's desk

The Interim CFO took responsibility for cash and introduced a structured cash flow forecast that looked ahead at working capital needs, particularly the cash tied up in vehicle stock. Better information also strengthened the case for funding, and additional funding was secured during the assignment.

The Managing Director no longer had to oversee daily cash management, and could return to customers, commercial opportunities and the team.

3. Fixing the processes between departments

Key financial and administrative processes were documented and responsibilities clarified. Information began to flow more reliably between Sales, Administration and Finance, with less reliance on manual work and individual memory. The aim was practical, repeatable processes that suit the size and pace of the business.

4. Building the team from the bottom up

Secantor brought in a Financial Controller to run the finance function day to day. Over the following three months the Interim CFO worked alongside them, mentoring them as they took on technical accounting, management reporting and day-to-day leadership of the team. Existing administration and finance staff received practical training, so they understood their part in producing reliable numbers.

Once the Financial Controller was established, Secantor brought in a permanent Finance Director to sit above the function and lead it for the long term.

5. Handing over without slowing growth

The business kept growing throughout. With the Financial Controller developed and the team in place, the Interim CFO completed the handover to the permanent Finance Director after six months, so the knowledge, processes and disciplines built during the assignment stayed with the business.

Lessons For Other Businesses

Founder-dependent finance is a warning sign. When the owner is the only person who understands the cash position, the business has a single point of failure. Our article on when an SME needs a CFO sets out the other signals.

Replacing a finance manager does not fix a structural problem. If processes, reporting and funding are the issue, another hire inherits the same difficulties.

Establish the facts before choosing the solution. A structured diagnostic shows where the real weaknesses are, which is the logic behind Secantor's Strategic Business Review.

Sequence the hires. Putting a Financial Controller in place first meant the permanent Finance Director arrived to lead a reliable function rather than rescue a broken one.

Give an interim role a defined purpose. The value of an Interim CFO lies in leaving the business stronger and less dependent on outside help, here with a Financial Controller, a Finance Director and a trained team in place. For a different example, see how an Interim FD stabilised a fast-growing recruitment business.

Is Your Finance Function Keeping Pace With Your Growth?

If the business has outgrown the way its finances are managed, an initial conversation with one of our advisors is a practical first step.