Financial Management Structure for Growth

Hi,

I’m looking for someone with strong experience in financial management, budgeting, forecasting and management reporting for growing companies.

We’re currently at a stage where we need much better visibility into the financial side of the business, but I’m not looking to build an accounting system.

What I’m trying to get control over is:

* Budgeting
* Forecasting
* Cash flow planning
* Revenue tracking
* Contribution margin (DB1)
* Profitability
* Management reporting
* Board reporting
* Growth planning

I need a simple but professional way to understand things like:

* How much have we sold?
* How much has been delivered?
* How much has been invoiced?
* How much has been paid?
* What do we owe suppliers/partners?
* What is our actual contribution margin?
* What will our cash position look like in 30/60/90 days?
* Budget vs actual performance
* Forecast vs actual performance

My initial thought was to build a strong Excel or Google Sheets model and potentially use AI tools such as Claude or ChatGPT to assist with analysis and reporting.

Before I move forward, I’d love to hear how you would approach this.

If you were brought in as a finance/FP&A consultant, how would you structure the financial management side of the business?

Would you build it in Excel, use existing software, connect it to accounting systems, or recommend a different approach?

I’m mainly looking for guidance from someone who has done this before and can help create a solid foundation for growth.