For sponsors, CEOs & search partners
Own the planning and performance visibility a growing platform needs, and build processes a permanent team can maintain.
Growth and acquisitions change what a company needs from FP&A. A dedicated interim leader can establish priorities, coordinate operating inputs, and build useful reporting and forecasting. My work at Galloway and ACES provides relevant examples; the scope below describes a proposed future mandate.
Explore completed FP&A work and an interactive, fictional forecast example at PE FP&A, my dedicated financial planning and analysis website.
The business need
A leadership vacancy, acquisition program, or change in sponsor expectations can create planning and reporting work that needs a dedicated owner. Management may need a reliable forecast, comparable acquisition reporting, or a clearer connection between operating activity and financial results.
The priorities should be focused enough to deliver meaningful progress, with an executive sponsor and the resources required to resolve dependencies across the business.
Proposed mandate
Responsibilities would be agreed around the company’s priorities.
Build the forecast around operating drivers management can review, such as bookings, backlog, project timing, utilization, staffing, or service volume. Document assumptions and identify where judgment or weak source data affects the result.
Establish a consistent management, board, or sponsor reporting rhythm. Connect actual results, forecast expectations, and operating performance. Explain material changes and identify the decisions or follow-up required.
Develop comparable reporting across acquired businesses, with clear definitions and a bridge between organic and consolidated performance. Coordinate financial and operating inputs so management can understand acquisition contribution and integration priorities.
Where agreed, assess the function, support hiring, develop staff, and document recurring work. Establish owners and definitions for operating measures. Give the permanent team the assumptions and instructions needed to maintain the process.
A proposed approach
The sequence would be adapted to the situation and agreed scope.
| Priority | What it establishes |
|---|---|
| Agree the decisions to support | Set planning and reporting priorities with the CFO or executive sponsor. |
| Assess the inputs | Review financial data, operating measures, definitions, and important gaps. |
| Establish a baseline | Create consistent actual results and a documented starting point for the forecast. |
| Build the review process | Assign owners, review assumptions, and agree how dependencies and exceptions are resolved. |
| Develop permanent capability | Document processes, team priorities, and a practical handoff. |
Completed work
Examples of past responsibilities and deliverables, with each role’s scope identified.
Galloway · Full-time consulting · Kelso / ARA
Integrated five acquisitions into organic and pro forma reporting, with acquisition performance tracking. Built monthly reporting and Value Creation Plan KPI packages recognized by Kelso and ARA.
The engagement also includes forecasting, backlog, bookings, pipeline, and utilization analysis, connecting operating information to the financial view of the business.
Read the acquisition reporting exampleACES · FP&A consulting · General Atlantic
Led key budget components and the location budget’s transition to Adaptive Planning. Built facility-expansion models and a 13-week cash forecast with receipts by payer, then trained the assistant controller to maintain the forecast.
These examples support planning, modeling, and process development experience within a behavioral health business.
Read the healthcare planning exampleOwnership and resources
Effective FP&A leadership needs an executive sponsor, defined ownership, and access to the people and information required. At the outset, the CFO and interim leader should agree on priorities, decision rights, staffing, and the responsibilities of operating contributors.
That foundation supports a useful review rhythm and a function the business can continue to use. Team buildout, hiring, and management responsibilities would be defined as part of the new engagement’s scope.
Explore the finance tools & resourcesStart with the business situation
For a sponsor, CFO, or recruiter evaluating an interim FP&A need, an initial conversation can establish the priorities, ownership, and resources required, and whether my experience matches the situation.