Close to insight, without the CFO chasing receipts
Recurring advisory only works on books the CFO trusts, and most of the month goes to getting them there: reconciliations, data requests, report packs assembled by hand. We install the operating system that does the preparation, so the senior person spends the meeting advising instead of formatting.
Bad inputs, repetitive close work, fragmented reporting, client chasing
The expensive advisory hour gets consumed by cleanup before the advice can start. The 2024 CAS Benchmark Survey from CPA.com and the AICPA's Private Companies Practice Section found that client advisory services practices grew at a median rate of 17 percent, that 51 percent of them invest in technology continually, and that only 10 percent still use hourly billing as their primary pricing method.
| Reconciliations consuming senior time | Matching, duplicates and missing support reviewed line by line by the most expensive person on the engagement. |
|---|---|
| Documents and data arriving late | Every client has a different spreadsheet and a different way of sending it. The close waits on the chase. |
| Close status in people's heads | Thirty clients, thirty close processes, and no single view of dependencies, blockers and who is waiting on whom. |
| Report packs assembled by hand | The numbers are done; the narrative, the KPI table and the action list still take another day. |
| Forecasts that cannot be trusted | Scenario work is slow because the inputs are, and a model invents drivers when nobody defines them. |
| Advice that disappears after the meeting | Agreed actions have no owner and no follow-up, so the next meeting starts from the same place. |
The Close-to-Insight Operating System
Narrow, auditable agents connected to a control plane, not a general CFO bot. Installed on the cloud accounting stack you already run.
- 01
Client requests and the close control tower
Predictable closes and one view of every client's status.
- A client data request agent that tracks missing inputs across every recurring engagement
- A close orchestrator that watches dependencies, identifies blockers and escalates on a timer
- One portfolio view of close status, risks, service economics and capacity
- 02
Exceptions, packs and narrative
Staff review exceptions instead of every line, and the pack drafts itself from approved data.
- An exception analyst that flags unusual transactions, mismatches and missing support for review
- A report-pack builder that drafts narrative, KPI table and action list from approved figures, with sources linked
- Variance narrative drafted only from defined drivers and assumptions; the CFO owns both
- 03
Cash, meetings and follow-through
The advisory meeting arrives prepared, and the advice turns into tracked work.
- Cash and working-capital watch: receivables aging, liquidity runway, the triggers you define
- Advisory meeting prep: KPIs, covenant issues, cash, anomalies and prior commitments in one briefing
- Meeting-to-action: tasks, owners and due dates created after the meeting, with follow-up
The same core, cut for a practice with thirty different closes
| Who is in the room | A recurring-advisory practice with thirty clients and thirty different close processes. |
|---|---|
| Demo documents | Trial balances, bank feeds, board packs, variance reports. |
| The automation scenario | The month-end data request chase and the report pack. |
| The guardrail | The model never invents a driver. The CFO owns every assumption. |
| The forbidden claim | Any forecast presented as fact. |
| The seasonal peak | Year-end close and budget season, built in the third quarter. |
Formats, weeks and labs are on the training page.
Every number in a pack carries a source and a reviewer. Assumptions are owned by the CFO, recommendations are approved by the CFO, and nothing goes to a client as a forecast that a person has not signed.
- Assumptions and drivers: defined by people, never inferred by a model
- Journal entries and close sign-off: human approval before posting
- Client recommendations: the CFO approves the agenda and the advice
Start with a workflow review
Forty-five minutes, no obligation. We map where preparation is eating judgment in your practice and tell you what to install first.