I bring clarity to the numbers of businesses.
reporting, BUDGETINg, & STRATEGIC PLANNING
By using relevant reporting, having a well thought out and active budget, and strategically planning your future, you not only know what's going on, but you hold the reigns of your business.
Relevant and accurate reports are key to understanding how your business is actually performing. I have an arsenal of templates and tools that I've built throughout my career, and I can customize them to your specific needs. Or, I can adjust your existing reports to make them as useful and actionable as possible. Unearthing the truth of your business's economics and performance is my passion.
An active budget is a reflection of your strategic plan at a detailed, monthly, numerical format. Your budget should be reviewed regularly against actuals, a genuine story crafted about its current state, and any strategic repositioning or projects discussed and moved on quickly. You need to be nimble in today's market, and knowledge of your own performance couldn't be more important.
Contact me if you'd like to strategically plan your business's future, and track your progress towards it.
OPERations & PLANNING PROJECTS
Where operations meets finance lies powerful and strategic value. I understand how operational changes impact the financials, and can help you determine which operations project makes most sense to pursue next, in line with your strategic plan and budget.
If you're planning for growth, you need to structure your operations to support it. You might need a new fulfillment center, more employees, or a new ERP. I can help you figure out the best structure, map out costs, and prioritize projects' implementations. I have implemented 3 ERP's for growing fashion/apparel brands, one with a complex multi-channel business model.
I believe in continuous operational improvement. If your operations are already where they need to be, a thorough review of your processes and systems can identify areas for improvement, either through changes in processes or introducing new tools or ways of thinking. Projects like these can quickly create additional profit and strategic competitive advantage.
I also enjoy introducing production & merchandise planning to companies who have historically operated by gut feelings or internal negotiations with their teams. Formal analysis in these areas reduces inventory exposure, frees up employees' time, and uses analysis of real numbers to help make decisions.
bookkeeping & FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS
By assessing and digging into your current bookkeeping and data, I can get a deeper understanding of your business and identify areas that could benefit from some fine-tuning to create more efficiency, value, and profit.
Accurate bookkeeping is at the core of understanding how your business is performing, so if you're having issues or cleaning up from a prior bookkeeper, I can help determine a correction game plan (I'm a certified Quickbooks ProAdvisor). Accurate bookkeeping also makes tax time a breeze instead of an annual nightmare.
Once your books are in order, the real fun begins. I can do projects such as analyzing your pricing, costs and gross margins, creating strategic and working budgets and profit forecasts, building cash flow forecasts, dashboards, and calling out over/under spending areas.
I can also do a monthly review of your performance...assess how you're tracking against your budget, call out areas of over/under spending and identify and prioritize areas for financial & operational improvement.
Contact me to discuss your challenges to see if I can help.
“Sarah is an executive level C.O.O. who had a huge impact on our business. She increased our operational effectiveness with easy to understand processes, planning, and relevant budgeting & reporting. She cut costs and developed a merchandising strategy that helped increase sales annually and increased our profitability by 10 percentage points. Sarah set up the business for long term sustainable growth.” - Carla Hogg, CEO, Gentle Fawn