Fractional CFO for manufacturers
Finance built for suppliers who live by someone else's build rate.
For Wichita aerospace and manufacturing suppliers: job costing that tells the truth, customer concentration in plain view, capex planned with the lender, and cash planned around rate changes you do not control.
The supplier's month
- The customer's build rate changed again and your schedule followed.
- One customer is 40% of sales and pays on their terms, not yours.
- The quote for the new machining centre is on your desk.
Or call (316) 555-0179. Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:30 pm.
The problems
What moves a supplier's cash.
- Rate changesA customer's production rate moves and your orders, staffing and inventory move with it, usually faster than your cash can.
- ConcentrationOne or two customers carry the year. Their payment terms are your cash cycle.
- CapexA new machine is a bet on volume. The financing, the ramp and the payback all need to be in the forecast before you sign.
- Cost of qualityScrap, rework and the cost of keeping certifications current. Context for margin by job, not a quality programme.
What we set up
Three things in the first quarter.
- 01
Job costing that ties out
Labour, material and machine time coded to the job, reconciled to the books, margin by part number.
- 02
A rate-aware forecast
A 13-week forecast that carries a rate change through orders, payroll and receipts.
- 03
The capex case
Payback, financing and runway for the next machine, ready for your banker as a loan package.
Reporting
Four numbers on one page.
The monthly page we build for supplier owners. Illustrative values.
Top customer share
38%
Of trailing twelve-month sales. Illustrative.
Margin by job
22.4%
Average gross margin, last 90 days. Illustrative.
Days sales outstanding
57
Against 45-day terms. Illustrative.
Runway
9.8 MO
At the current build rate. Illustrative.
Kansas incentives
HPIP and PEAK, in the right order.
Kansas incentive programs can affect the cash case for an expansion, but the order of steps matters. Our HPIP and PEAK guide sets out what to check before you apply.
- Before
Check eligibility and timing
Most incentives must be applied for before you hire or invest. We check before the purchase order, not after.
- During
Build the records
Payroll, wage and investment records kept the way the program reviews them.
- After
Report and requalify
Annual reports filed on time so the benefit is not lost.
The detail
From a supplier's finance office, originally.
Lena was controller and then finance director at a Wichita aerospace supplier for eleven years. She has priced jobs into a rate cut and financed machines into a rate increase.
When a supplier owner starts thinking about a sale, concentration and capex are the first questions a buyer asks. We cover that on the exit readiness page.
Who leads it
Lena LindqvistFounding Partner, Fractional CFO
Theo BanerjeePartner, Forecasting and Lender PackagesLena leads supplier engagements. Theo builds the forecast and the lender case.
Where we work
Old Town first, then the whole metro.
We work from 317 N Rock Island St, Suite 210, Wichita, KS 67202, on the second floor of a restored brick warehouse. The first meeting is at your shop, your yard or your office, anywhere in the Wichita metro.
- Old Town
- Delano
- College Hill
- East Wichita
- Derby
- Andover
- Maize
- Haysville
- Park City
- Bel Aire
- Goddard
- Newton
- El Dorado
- Kansas, by video
Before you book
Questions from supplier owners
Not answered here? Call (316) 555-0179 and ask a partner.
Q01Do you work with suppliers outside aerospace?
Yes. Precision machining, composites, fabrication and contract manufacturing for agriculture, energy and industrial customers follow the same economics.
Q02Can you help with customer concentration?
We cannot change who your customers are. We can show the risk clearly, plan cash around it, and model what losing or winning a customer does to runway.
Q03Do you set up job costing in our ERP?
We design the costing and the reports and work with your ERP administrator or vendor on the setup.
Q04Will HPIP or PEAK apply to us?
Eligibility depends on your industry, wages, investment and timing. The Kansas Department of Commerce decides. We check the requirements with you before you commit.
Q05Where do supplier engagements usually start?
With the fixed-fee cash review, because the forecast is where rate changes and concentration show up first.
Next step
Plan cash around the next rate change, not after it.
The 13-week cash review is a fixed $1,950: your bank data in, a working model and your runway number out, reviewed with a partner in a two-hour session. Three details in the form, or one call.