Engagement 03 · Strategic Layer
Advisory-Only Partnership
Ongoing fractional CFO coverage for growing F&B brands that already have accounting in place. Monthly decision support, scenario modeling, and continuous margin monitoring — without replacing your current team.
Who It's For
Brands That Have Accounting — And Need Strategy on Top
Your bookkeeper records transactions. Your tax CPA files returns. Neither can tell you whether a new retail deal will actually make money, or how to structure a production ramp without destroying your cash position.
Advisory-Only is for brands that have strong accounting and/or tax/payroll coverage already in place — and need the strategic financial layer that their current team can’t provide.
Real Advisory Result
11X
ROI on Advisory retainer in year one. $104K in margin improvement for a $3.4M RTD beverage brand — including catching a retailer deal that would have created a month-4 cash deficit.
Already Have Accounting? Add the Strategic Layer?
Book a Clarity Call to confirm Advisory-Only is the right fit for where your business is today.
Monthly Coverage
What You Get Every Single Month
- Scoreboard and KPI progress review — latest vs. baseline, all driver trends
- Unit economics: SKU × channel contribution margin and mix analysis
- Scenario modeling (Base / Better / Downside) before every major decision
- 13-week rolling cash forecast — near-term liquidity and timing visibility
- Monthly action plan — 3 priorities, owners, due dates
- On-call availability for time-sensitive decisions between sessions
Engagement Type
Ongoing monthly retainer
Requires
Best For
Does Not Include
What This Catches
The Decisions That Look Like Wins — But Aren't
A major retail deal. A new distribution partnership. A co-packer contract extension. A production ramp for a new channel. Each of these can quietly destroy cash flow if the structure is wrong.
The Advisory relationship exists to catch those moments before they become crises. Every major commitment goes through a financial model review before signing. That process, once embedded in how you operate, is worth more than any single finding.
"I used to make big decisions on gut feel and hope. Now every major decision gets modeled first. That's the thing Scotty actually changed — not just the numbers, but how I think about the numbers."
— Founder, $3.4M RTD Beverage Brand — Advisory Engagement
Important : Advisory Is Not a Mix-and-Match
Advisory-Only is not an add-on to partial Elite services. We either provide the full Elite engagement (accounting, payroll, tax, and CFO advisory) or Advisory-Only. This ensures you receive cohesive, integrated strategic coverage — not fragmented advice layered on top of financial reporting we don't control.