The financial questions growing businesses should be asking.

A fractional CFO gives a growing business access to senior financial leadership without employing a full-time CFO.

The focus is forward-looking.

That can include cash flow, forecasting, profitability, pricing, hiring, investment, budgeting, reporting, acquisitions, finance team structure and commercial decision-making.

The job is not simply to explain what happened. It is to help leadership decide what happens next.

There is no single revenue number. The better indicator is complexity.

You may be ready for CFO support when:

• revenue is growing but cash is harder to predict
• leadership cannot easily see where profit is being made
• reporting is mostly historical
• hiring and investment decisions are becoming bigger
• the founder is still carrying most financial decisions
• the business is adding locations, products, entities or markets
• the finance team is accurate but not yet helping leadership look forward.

Breeze typically works with businesses between $2M and $30M in revenue, but complexity and the decisions ahead matter more than turnover.

They do different jobs. Your accountant is critical for tax, compliance and structuring.

A CFO works primarily inside the business, helping leadership answer questions such as:

• Can we afford this?
• What happens to cash if we grow?
• Where are we losing margin?
• What should we invest in?
• What does the next 12 months look like?

You should not replace a good accountant with a CFO. They should work together.

A bookkeeper keeps the day-to-day financial records accurate and up to date.

A Finance Manager typically owns the finance function, reporting, controls, processes and month-end.

A CFO uses that information to help leadership make commercial decisions.

As the business grows, these roles increasingly work together.

It depends on the gap.

If the main issue is getting accurate numbers, improving month-end, tightening processes and managing the finance team, you may need stronger Finance Manager capability.

If the numbers are reasonably reliable but leadership needs help with cash, forecasting, profitability, pricing, hiring or investment decisions, you may need CFO support.

Sometimes the answer is both.

Possibly.

In many cases, the best time to bring in CFO support is when the business is growing well but becoming more complex.

That gives leadership the chance to improve visibility and decision-making before cash tightens, margins slip or growth creates problems that are harder to unwind.

Because revenue, profit and cash are not the same thing.

Growth can require you to pay wages, suppliers, marketing, inventory and other costs before customers pay you. Cash can also be tied up in debtors, work in progress, tax, loan repayments or capital expenditure.

A growing business can therefore look profitable while the bank balance becomes tighter. The answer is to understand where the cash is going and what is coming next.

Profit is an accounting measure. Cash reflects when money actually comes in and goes out.

Common reasons for the gap include:

• slow-paying customers
• tax liabilities
• loan repayments
• capital expenditure
• owner drawings or dividends
• inventory
• work in progress
• rapid hiring
• growth happening faster than working capital can support it.

There is no universal number.

The right cash buffer depends on fixed costs, revenue volatility, debtor terms, customer concentration, seasonality, debt, growth plans and the level of risk leadership is comfortable carrying.

A generic "three months of expenses" rule can be useful as a starting point, but the better approach is to model the buffer the business actually needs.

A 13-week cash flow forecast shows expected cash coming in and going out over roughly the next three months.

It helps leadership see pressure points early and answer questions such as:

• When will cash be tight?
• Can we make this payment?
• Can we hire now?
• When can we distribute cash?
• What needs to change before there is a problem?

Start by looking below the total company profit number.

A business can appear profitable overall while individual clients, products, services or locations are producing weak margins.

The important question is not only: are we profitable? It is: where are we profitable, and why?

More revenue does not automatically mean more profit.

Common reasons include:

• pricing has not kept pace with costs
• new revenue requires too much labour
• utilisation has fallen
• discounting has increased
• sales mix has changed
• overheads have grown faster than revenue
• low-margin work is replacing higher-margin work.

That is why topline growth on its own is not enough.

There is no fixed rule, but pricing should not be set and forgotten.

Review it when costs materially change, demand changes, capacity becomes constrained, margins start slipping, the offer changes or the business is preparing for its next stage of growth.

The question is bigger than the salary. You need to consider:

• salary and superannuation
• recruitment costs
• equipment and systems
• onboarding time
• productivity ramp-up
• management capacity
• working capital
• how much revenue or capacity the role needs to support.

A good hiring model shows not only whether you can afford the person today, but what needs to happen after they start.

That requires more than checking whether you can fund the setup cost. You also need to model:

• fit-out or setup
• rent
• additional employees
• working capital
• ramp-up time
• break-even revenue
• impact on existing locations
• downside scenarios.

The real question is: what would need to be true for this location to make financial sense?

The purchase price is only part of the decision.

You also need to understand funding, working capital, integration costs, customer retention, staffing, tax, cash conversion and downside scenarios.

A deal can look attractive on EBITDA and still create significant cash pressure.

That depends on how much cash growth consumes.

Some businesses generate cash as they grow. Others need significant working capital before the additional revenue turns into cash.

A financial model helps show the point where growth starts putting pressure on cash, people or operating capacity.

Breeze works as part of the leadership team rather than sitting outside the business waiting for month-end.

Support can include:

• management reporting
• cash flow
• forecasting
• budgeting
• profitability analysis
• leadership meetings
• decision modelling
• finance team development
• board or investor reporting
• commercial projects.

The level of involvement flexes as the business changes.

Yes. A strong finance function usually needs all three disciplines.

Your bookkeeper manages the transaction layer. Your accountant manages tax and compliance. Breeze connects the numbers to the commercial decisions being made inside the business.

Usually not.

Breeze can strengthen the finance function already in place, support an existing Finance Manager or help build the team the business will need next.

The aim is to build a stronger finance function around the business, not create dependency.

Breeze primarily works with growing businesses between $2M and $30M in revenue.

The better indicator, though, is complexity. A $4M business making major hiring, pricing or expansion decisions may need more CFO support than a much larger but simpler business.

No. Breeze is based in Melbourne and works with growing businesses across Australia and New Zealand.

The cost depends on the size and complexity of the business, the state of the finance function and the level of support required.

Fractional support is designed to give a business senior CFO capability without the cost or commitment of a full-time CFO. Engagements are scoped around what the business actually needs.

The exact outcome depends on the business, but common areas include:

• stronger cash visibility
• better forecasting
• clearer margins
• better pricing decisions
• more confidence around hiring
• better reporting
• stronger financial controls
• clearer investment decisions
• a finance function that is better equipped for growth.

The goal is not more finance. It is better decisions.