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Insights on Finance, Growth and Leadership

Practical perspectives drawn from working directly with scaling service businesses. Focused on the decisions that drive profitability, cash flow, and long-term value.

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CFO Insights

Latest Articles

These articles explore the financial decisions, structural challenges, and strategic priorities that founders face as their businesses grow. Each piece is grounded in real-world CFO experience and practical financial leadership.

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Agency founder calculating AI tool payback period formula and profit margin impact

Is AI Actually Making Your Agency More Profitable? The Payback Formula That Answers This Question

Most agencies assume AI is worth it because it feels faster. Here's the payback formula that shows whether it's actually paying back your investment.
By ACC Finance Team
Blackboard with words exit strategy held by someone sitting next to a laptop

Business Exit Planning: What Actually Works

Most founders plan the sale and forget the handover. A founder who exited via an EOT talks about what real business exit planning looks like: shareholder alignment, succession, and preparing a team to run without you.
By ACC Finance Team
Chart showing how EBITDA multiples build a business valuation range

Business Valuation for Service Businesses: How to Calculate Your Company’s Worth

Business valuation for service businesses: how EBITDA multiples, recurring revenue and margin quality actually determine what your company is worth.
By ACC Finance Team
Illustration of a financial controller reviewing monthly management accounts and reports.

What Does a Financial Controller Do?

What does a financial controller do day to day, and how is it different from a finance director or fractional CFO? A practical guide for founders.
By ACC Finance Team
Two finance professionals engaging over management accounts for agencies

Management Accounts Explained for Agency Founders

Most agencies produce management accounts every month. Few get real value from them. Here is what separates a useful set from a box ticking exercise.
By ACC Finance Team
Image depicting gross profit and cost of sales written in chalk on green board

Gross Profit and Cost of Sales for Agency Founders

What gross profit and cost of sales actually mean for a UK agency, why the 50-70% margin benchmarks you'll find online don't tell you much, and what to track instead.
By ACC Finance Team
Image showing marketing key performance indicators used by agencies

Marketing Performance Indicators For Agencies That Actually Prove ROI

Clicks and impressions are not proof. Paper Planes founder Daniel Dunn shares how test-and-control testing reveals genuine marketing performance indicators, and why agency finance teams should be watching them closely.
By ACC Finance Team
white board marker drawing of chief financial officer or fractional cfo

How to Hire a Fractional CFO: Red Flags

What separates a genuinely capable fractional CFO from a good pitch? Three vetting questions every agency founder should ask before hiring.
By ACC Finance Team
Words related to Due Diligence in business positioned in a word cloud to form an arrow

Due Diligence Checklist for Agency Founders

A due diligence checklist covering 12 areas buyers check before an agency sale. Having it ready before a buyer appears is consistently the difference between a process measured in weeks and one measured in months.
By ACC Finance Team

Real CFO Insights and Perspectives on Scaling, Profitability, and Exit

Most service businesses don’t fail because of demand. They fail because financial insight lags behind growth. These articles break down the decisions that fix that.

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