The Blackpine Cabinet application has moved: it is now at www.blackpine-cabinet.com. Open it there, then reinstall it from that address.

Blackpine Capital Advisory

Outsourced finance function

A part-time chief financial officer, for companies that need the function without yet filling it full time. Your accountant keeps the books and prepares the accounts; we help management use them to decide.

Budget, actual, forecast Over one financial year, the budget line, the actual curve up to the current month, then the forecast as a dotted line to the year end. The variance between budget and actual is marked. BUDGET FORECAST ACTUAL VARIANCE FINANCIAL YEAR
Fig. 1Budget, actual and forecast on the same chart.

The questions

The questions that arise.

  1. 1.1

    Do our figures arrive early enough, and do they answer the questions we are asking?

  2. 1.2

    How much cash will we need over the coming months?

  3. 1.3

    How do we build a budget, then explain the variances?

  4. 1.4

    What should we present to the bank, and how do we monitor our facilities and undertakings?

  5. 1.5

    Should we hire a finance director, and when?

The moment

When clients call on us.

  • The company has grown, and its figures arrive too late or no longer answer management’s questions.
  • A bank, a shareholder or an investor asks for regular financial information.
  • Cash is tightening and needs close monitoring.
  • Between two finance directors, or before a first hire.

The scope

What the work covers.

  • Budgeting: building the budget with management, tracking it, explaining the variances.
  • Reporting: regular dashboards that management, shareholders and banks can read.
  • Cash: forecasts, monitoring of receipts and payments, anticipating tight periods.
  • Bank relations: preparing files and meetings, monitoring facilities and undertakings.

The engagement

One engagement, four stages.

Before we start, an engagement letter sets out in writing the question asked, the scope, the timetable, the fees and confidentiality.

  1. Frame the question

    What has to be decided, and why now.

    With management, we define what the function must provide: which decisions to inform, for whom — management, shareholders, banks — and how often.

  2. Establish the facts

    Figures, contracts, constraints: what is settled and what is not.

    We start from the accounting kept by your team and your accountant, your financing agreements and your forecasts, and we identify what is missing to steer the business.

  3. Compare the options

    What each one commits, what it closes off, what it leaves open.

    The organisation of the function — budget, dashboards, cash forecasts, frequency — is proposed to you in writing, with our reasoned opinion.

  4. Decide, then follow through

    The decision is yours; we follow its implementation with you.

    You choose the organisation that suits you. We then run the function part time; with the banks, we prepare and accompany, and the company remains their counterpart.

What you receive

What you receive.

  • A budget built with management, then tracked, with the variances explained.
  • Regular dashboards that management, shareholders and banks can read.
  • Cash forecasts, and monitoring of receipts and payments.
  • Preparation of your bank files and meetings, and monitoring of facilities and undertakings.

The exact scope is set out in writing in the engagement letter, before any work begins.

Your other advisers

With your other advisers.

We work with your accounting team and your accountant, who remain responsible for the bookkeeping and for preparing the accounts, and where applicable with your statutory auditor. With the banks, we prepare and accompany; the company remains their counterpart.

How we work with your advisers

The limits

What we do not do.

The company’s funds stay in its own accounts: we do not receive them.

Status of the firm

Blackpine Capital Advisory advises its clients on their strategy, on the structure of their business interests and their wealth, and on their financial decisions. The firm does not manage portfolios, does not receive its clients’ funds, and provides neither regulated investment advice nor recommendations on financial instruments.

Guides

To go further.

General reference points on the questions in this area, dated and sourced.

Other areas

The other areas.

Contact

A first conversation.

Tell us in a few lines what is on your mind. We will come back to you to arrange a conversation; if we are not the right people to help, we will say so.

Get in touch