I am a numbersmith. Other people might call me an accountant but that doesn’t do me justice. True, I am qualified as a chartered accountant but there are various things I don’t do such as statutory company accounts, personal tax returns or corporation tax returns. I have a good black book of folks who are much better qualified to look after these things than I am.
For the last 15 years or so I have been working with and advising early stage and growing companies, and most of these have been around central Scotland. My role is as a consulting finance director, CFO, company secretary or whatever other title you want to pin on me, but it means that I help my clients with as much of the financial and strategic aspects of starting and growing a company as they want me to.
A typical engagement starts with putting together financial projections that a client company can use to talk to prospective investors, and as an experienced financial modeller in Excel I can do a basic set quickly and efficiently to get them started. I am pleased to say that some of my models have been in use for more than 6 years. I’m glad they are that useful, that adaptive and that robust. Of course if there is already a set of projections drawn up I can work with that, or duplicate it in one of my own templates, which is often a useful diligence exercise.
Once a company is talking to prospective investors I can help in a number of ways including accompanying the management team to meetings and advising on investment terms right the way through to co-ordinating the closing of an investment round.
Closing an investment round is of course just a start; beyond that the heavy lifting begins to set the business plan in motion. The shopping list of things I do at that stage can include:
- Implementing accounts systems – typically Xero and Sage but I can pick up most
- Ensuring arrangements are in place for book-keeping and payroll
- Producing monthly management accounts and updated forecasts
- Board meetings – chairing, organising dates, producing agendas and minutes
- Liaising with investors to meet their reporting requirements
- Company secretarial work – statutory books, annual returns and the like
- Share option schemes
- Claiming R & D tax credits
There’s lots more but you wouldn’t read a longer list. What do you need?
If you like the sound of this then we should be talking. You can call me on the phone number shown under Contact Info or email me using the contact form.
You can call me Rob.
Just don’t call me an accountant.