3 tactics to jumpstart FP&A advisory services at your firm

Whether you are a fractional CFO or advisory firm looking to scale differentiated FP&A services, you know the challenges of today's professional services landscape all too well.

Common roadblocks to getting started with FP&A advisory

• Acquiring the right-fit clients that need and appreciate CFO-level impact
• Pricing your service offerings to match your value
• Recruiting top talent to build a thriving execution model
• Standardizing and automating workflow to ensure profitable scale
• Retaining and upselling clients with optimal execution and customer service

What if there was a plug-and-play platform that enables full cycle FP&A execution in a fraction of the time compared to conventional methods (e.g., spreadsheets and disparate systems)?

What if you flipped from 80% execution and 20% analysis to 80% analysis, CFO-level insights, and deeper relationship building with your clients (and yes, 20% tactical execution)?

What if you could up-skill your team on cutting edge technology that finally makes their day job easier, while also investing in concrete skills for the future of finance?

If the above resonates with your current situation, then you have come to the right place! Our team at Clockwork has lived through the growing pains of scaling accounting and CFO services for entrepreneurial companies, so we are passionate about the platform and playbook to support like-minded Advisory firms accomplish their growth agenda.

Three tactics to initiate and guide your FP&A advisory practice

By leveraging Clockwork to fuel automated, streamlined, and CFO-level insights, you have the ability to package and offer customized FP&A services with a fraction of the time and energy as the old school way.‍

1. Team evaluation - know what you already have and what you need

Assess your team's desire and capabilities to move upstream from accounting (bookkeeping, month-end close, etc.) to Advisory (variance analysis, budgeting/forecasting, cash flow management, scenario planning, etc.). Evaluate the technology enablers that your team views as impactful to both efficient execution and up-skills them on cutting-edge solutions of the future.

2. Current client motivations and pain points - know what is most valuable for them

‍Understand your clients' financial/operational pains and desired gains that align with their business goals and objectives. From top-line growth and diversification, to profitability analysis and pricing strategies, to executing hiring plans for critical roles, Clockwork is your financial command center to keep a pulse on business performance while increasing the confidence in decision-making that entrepreneurs desperately need to operate in an ever-changing environment. You serve as a trusted advisor with Boardroom level impact, while your entrepreneurial clients get to focus time where they shine -- building and growing phenomenal products/services, nurturing customer relationships, and energizing their team with a compelling vision for the organization.

3. Develop your baseline offering - leverage insights above to move quickly and effectively

Once you have a grasp on the current state of your team and clients and the roadmap ahead, you are ready to pull together a powerful FP&A offering to deploy to existing and new clients. There is a clear need for a scalable solution to execute their business agenda with seasoned CFO guidance and best practices, without the six-figure investment that is typically required. We propose leading with a baseline offering that establishes the proper finance essentials via formal budgeting/forecasting, weekly cash flow management, and monthly performance reviews. From this foundation, you can then guide your clients to more robust CFO-level practices such as rolling forecasts, customized executive dashboards with industry KPIs to gauge performance, and scenario planning to pressure test business resilience in worst-case or best-case circumstances given the volatile economic conditions.

Feel free to use the below FP&A services package, powered by Clockwork, to visualize your pathway to establishing or accelerating your high-impact advisory practice!

If you're interested in being a Clockwork Partner, please reach out. As former advisory firm owners/operators, we are passionate about building with our partners. To that end, we provide hands-on pricing/packaging support as part of our activation and partnership program, free of charge.

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