The monthly debrief
Know what your numbers are telling you, and what to do next.
Plenty of good businesses run on gut feel and a once-a-year set of financials. Big enough that the decisions carry weight, too small to justify a full-time finance director. That's the gap Debrief fills. Every month you get a debrief on your numbers: what's making money, where your cash is, what you can take on next, and the move worth making. Most finance services hand you the numbers. Debrief tells you what they mean, for one monthly fee agreed up front.
The problem
Busy isn't the same as profitable.
If you're growing but can't answer these with confidence, you're flying blind, and it's costing you.
"Are we actually profitable?"
Revenue is up, but you can't say which jobs, products or clients make money, and which quietly lose it.
"Why is cash always tight?"
The business is busy and growing, yet the bank balance never reflects it. Where is the money going?
"Can we afford this?"
New equipment, a key hire, an expansion, big decisions made on gut feel instead of the numbers.
How it works
Start with clarity. Then stay in control.
A paid diagnostic tells you what's really going on. Monthly reporting makes sure you never get blindsided again.
Financial Health Diagnostic
Over 2–3 weeks we work through your last two years, sit down with you, and hand back a written brief: three things you don't yet know about your business, plus a 90-day plan.
Your monthly debrief
Each month you get a clean management pack, profit, cash, KPIs, and a 45-minute call where we talk through what it means and what to do about it.
You decide with confidence
Price the right way, fix the margin leaks, free up cash, and make the big calls knowing the numbers behind them. We work alongside your accountant, not instead of them.
How pricing works
No two finance functions are the same size of problem. So pricing starts with the diagnostic.
A one entity retailer and a seven entity group with donor funding are not the same job, and a shelf price would get one of them badly wrong. The diagnostic tells us what your business actually needs. From there you get one monthly fee, agreed before any work starts and fixed for the term, never billed by the hour.
Financial Health Diagnostic
3 sessions over 2–3 weeks · a written brief with 3–5 findings and a 90-day plan · credited to month 1 if you go monthly within 30 days.
- Monthly pack: P&L, balance sheet, cash flow
- 5 KPIs & variance vs prior year
- 45-min monthly strategy call
- WhatsApp & email support
- Everything in Clarity, plus:
- Annual budget & budget vs actuals
- 7 KPIs & 13-week cash-flow forecast
- Priority response between calls
- Everything in Control, plus:
- Scenario planning (expansion, capex)
- Board- & funder-ready reporting
- Quarterly deep-dive strategy session
Group oversight and finance-function modernisation
Several entities closing into one set of accounts, board and funder reporting, independent oversight for a CEO, or a finance team you want to modernise with AI so it produces the same reliable pack every month. This is scoped and quoted per engagement, starting with a short scoping phase.
Every engagement starts with the diagnostic · your fee is agreed up front and fixed for the term, never hourly · all amounts exclude VAT.
What you get every month
A clean pack, and someone to tell you what it means.
The report is the easy part. The value is the conversation about what to do next.
Management accounts
Profit & loss, balance sheet and cash flow, month and year-to-date, against last year and your budget.
KPI dashboard
The 5–7 numbers that actually run your business, margins, cash, debtor days, tracked every month.
Plain-English commentary
A clear read on what moved, why it moved, and the specific actions to take this month.
The monthly call
45 minutes to talk through the numbers and the decisions in front of you, with ad-hoc questions in between.
Honest fit
We're a boutique, defined by what we take on, and what we don't.
Built for you if…
- You own and run the business, big enough that the decisions matter, with no full-time FD
- You have no in-house finance function, you make the calls
- Your accountant does year-end and tax, and nothing in between
- You're tired of guessing whether you can afford your next move
Not the right fit if…
- You only want a cheap tax return, we'll refer you to a great compliance accountant
- You're very early-stage or pre-revenue, let's talk when there's more to steer
- You already have a capable full-time FD
- You want ad-hoc consulting billed by the hour, we don't do hourly
Why Debrief
The management information of a big firm, without the FD salary.
Built for owner-managed businesses that need clear numbers every month, and someone to talk them through.
Numbers you can use
Plain-English management information aimed at the decisions in front of you, not another compliance pack.
A rhythm, not a report
The product is a monthly conversation about your numbers. Consistent, forward-looking, and yours.
Alongside your accountant
We don't replace your compliance accountant. They handle the year-end; we handle the monthly steering.
Questions
The things owners ask first.
How is this different from my accountant?
What accounting systems do you work with?
What's the commitment?
What does it cost?
Who you'll work with
Hi, I'm Steve.
For years I watched good businesses make big calls half-blind on the numbers, owners who are excellent at what they do, but who've never had a monthly read on whether they're actually making money.
I started Debrief to give those owners the monthly debrief they'd never had: clear numbers every month, in plain English, for a fixed fee, and a proper conversation about what to do with them. I'm a CGMA (ACMA), I work alongside your accountant, and I keep a small book on purpose, so the businesses I take on get my attention.
Book a diagnostic
Find out what your numbers are telling you.
Send a few details and I'll come back within one business day. If it's a fit, we start with the Financial Health Diagnostic, and you'll know three things about your business you don't today.
- A reply within one business day
- A 20-minute call to see if it fits
- Straight talk, never a hard sell
Thanks, that's in.
I'll come back to you within one business day.