The forecast keeps surprising people.
The model produces a number, but explaining what moved, why it moved and what happens next takes too long.
WORK WITH SARAH
FP&A help for the moments when the answer actually matters.
I work with CFOs and finance teams on forecasting, scenario planning, management reporting, cash visibility and the models behind important decisions.
Usually the problem is not a shortage of numbers. It is that Finance is producing numbers faster than the business can turn them into an answer.
WHEN IT MAKES SENSE TO CALL
Usually, something has stopped being clear.
Not every finance problem needs a consultant. Sometimes the forecast is just wrong and someone needs to fix the formula. The useful outside work starts when the numbers are technically there, but management still cannot see what changed, what matters, or what to do next.
Management needs to see the downside.
A hiring plan, pricing move, investment or operating change needs scenarios before the company commits.
Reporting is busy. Decisions are not.
The monthly pack has plenty of information, but the meeting still spends too much time figuring out what actually changed.
Cash suddenly deserves more attention.
Liquidity, collections, hiring or growth have made short-term cash visibility more important than the old process assumed.
The model has become its own department.
Too many tabs, too many manual steps and too much institutional knowledge are sitting inside one workbook.
FP&A works because someone keeps rescuing it.
The process technically functions, but every cycle depends on manual heroics that should have disappeared by now.
WHERE I HELP
Finance work built around better decisions.
The deliverable might be a forecast, model, reporting pack or cash view. Nobody needs another spreadsheet with a heroic number of tabs. The work should make the business easier to understand and the next decision easier to make.
FORECASTING + PLANNINGBuild a forecast people can interrogate.Driver-based forecasting, planning process design, forecast diagnostics and clearer explanations of what changed.
SCENARIO MODELINGSee the consequences before committing.Base, upside and downside cases; sensitivities; operating scenarios; and decision models built around the variables that matter.
MANAGEMENT REPORTINGTurn the monthly pack into a management tool.Variance analysis, KPI structure, forecast updates and executive reporting that gets to the question behind the number.
CASH VISIBILITYMake the next 13 weeks less mysterious.Short-term cash forecasting, receipts and disbursement visibility, liquidity scenarios and a process Finance can maintain.
FP&A SYSTEMS + MODELSReduce the manual heroics.Model reviews, rebuilds, operating rhythms and finance processes designed for the company you have now—not the one you had three years ago.
HOW AN ENGAGEMENT WORKS
Start with the problem. Scope the work second.
You do not need to show up with a polished scope of work. Start with the thing Finance keeps explaining twice. We can figure out whether the problem is the model, the process, the reporting, or something underneath all three.
01 / DIAGNOSE
Find the real constraint.
We look at the decision, the current process, the model or reporting behind it, and where clarity is getting lost.
02 / BUILD
Fix what actually needs fixing.
The work stays focused: forecast, scenario model, cash view, reporting system, model rebuild or a better FP&A operating process.
03 / HAND OFF
Leave Finance stronger.
Good consulting should eventually make the consultant less necessary. The team should understand the model, the process and the thinking well enough to keep using them after the engagement ends.
GOOD FIT
This tends to work well when…
- A CFO or finance leader owns the problem.
- The company has enough complexity that the current process is starting to strain.
- Management needs analysis tied to a real operating decision.
- The team wants practical work they can continue using.
PROBABLY NOT THE RIGHT FIT
This is less useful when…
- You mainly need bookkeeping or transaction processing.
- The goal is simply to outsource recurring data entry.
- You want a generic template without adapting it to the business.
- There is no management decision or finance problem behind the request.
START WITH THE PROBLEM
You don’t need to know the exact engagement yet.
Tell me what is happening in the business, what Finance is struggling to explain, and what decision needs to get better. That is enough to start a useful conversation.