How it works
Accelerated discipline. Installed in months, run every day.
Every company makes the same few decisions over and over: what to charge, whom to hire, where cash goes, when to buy. Founderwright decides which numbers inform each one, who owns it, how often it is reviewed, and what happens when it moves. Then we build the system that runs it, with fractional CFO services included.
Four steps
Map, build, run, automate.
Reduce it to four measures.
In one conversation we reduce the company to capacity, utilization, discipline, and value, and map the decisions that move them. You leave with a one-page CUD.V diagnostic.
Build the system around them.
Connected to the tools you keep, on one set of definitions, and live on your real numbers from the first day. The company owns it.
Run the cadence.
A morning brief of exceptions, a weekly operating review, a monthly close, and board and lender packs. Every issue becomes a task with a name and a date.
Automate the routine.
Reconciliations, coding, accruals, and reporting are prepared by the system and approved by a person, so the back office doesn’t grow with revenue.
What gets installed
Six pieces of discipline. One outcome: decisions made on time, on the right numbers.
Decision inventory
List the decisions that move cash, margin, and value, and who makes each one today.
One set of definitions
One definition for every number, so finance, operations, and ownership read the same thing.
Cadence
Daily exceptions, weekly operating reviews, a monthly close and board pack, each with an agenda built from live data.
Ownership
Every issue becomes a task with a named owner and a due date, carried forward until it is closed.
Controls
Approvals, logs, and period locks, so every decision holds up in front of a lender, a buyer, or an auditor.
Automation
The routine work that feeds each decision, from reconciliations to reporting, done by the system and approved by a person.
Signs you need it
You need accelerated discipline if…
- Reports arrive after the decision has already been made.
- Two departments quote different numbers for the same thing.
- The monthly close runs into the middle of the next month.
- Issues come up in one meeting and come back unresolved at the next.
- Every new location or entity means another hire in accounting.
- A lender, the board, or a buyer asks for numbers that take days to assemble.
What’s included
An operating CFO, and a system built around your company.
Founderwright maps the decisions with ownership, builds the system that runs them, and stays on with fractional CFO services. As the system hardens with our support, more of that CFO work is prepared automatically.
The fractional CFO services
- A monthly operating review with an operating CFO
- Cash, 13-week forecast, and liquidity oversight
- KPI and variance commentary for ownership
- Lender, board, and buyer reporting packs
- Covenant monitoring and compliance certificates
- Budget, plan, and pricing analysis
The system underneath
- A decision map and written build plan from the first conversation
- Every core system connected on one set of definitions
- A morning decision brief and department boards
- Every issue turned into a task with an owner and a date
- Routine accounting prepared by the system, approved by a person
- Software and definitions owned by the company
Next to a CFO and COO
Three seats, three different questions.
In many owner-led companies, the CFO seat is part-time, the owner acts as COO, and no one owns how the company decides. That is the gap Founderwright fills.
| Seat | Accountable for | Looks at | Asks |
|---|---|---|---|
| CFO | Financial results, capital, and risk | The close, the forecast, and the lender | Will we have the cash, and are the numbers right? |
| COO | Operations and execution | Throughput, people, and process | Is the work getting done, and done well? |
| Founderwright | How the company decides, week to week | Which numbers, which owners, which cadence | Will the right person make the right call, on time, every time? |
Questions
What owners ask about how it works.
What does accelerated discipline mean?
The operating habits larger companies build over years with a full finance team: one set of definitions, a weekly operating review, a monthly close that stays closed, and every issue owned by a name. Founderwright installs them in months and runs them every day with a system and an operating CFO.
How is it different from hiring a CFO?
A CFO is accountable for financial results, reporting, and capital. Founderwright includes fractional CFO services and adds what a part-time CFO usually can’t: the system that assembles the numbers, surfaces the issues, and tracks every decision to an owner.
Do we need it if we have a controller?
A controller keeps the books accurate and on time, which every company needs. This sits above the close: turning accurate books into decisions with owners and dates, and automating the routine work so the controller’s time goes to review instead of assembly.
How long before it is running?
The first conversation produces the CUD.V diagnostic and a written build plan. The core systems connect first, and the decision brief runs on your own numbers from the first day of the build. Each module after that is scheduled in the plan.
What does it cost?
Build starts at $45,000, one time, and the company owns it outright. Build + Operate starts at $5,500 a month on an annual agreement, with the build and fractional CFO services included.
Start with your four measures.
One conversation about how the company runs. You leave with a one-page CUD.V diagnostic: where capacity, utilization, and discipline stand, the largest gap in dollars where the data allows, and the three moves to start with.
Get your CUD.V diagnostic logan@founderwright.com