Finance leadership for companies that have outgrown their finance setup.
Your books close and your reports go out. But the forecast is a spreadsheet nobody trusts, and the big decisions still get made on instinct. I build the finance system that fixes that, then run it with you. AI-native where it makes sense.
30-minute call · No prep needed · You talk to me, not a sales team
The business grew. The finance setup didn't keep up.
These are the moments when leaders usually reach out.
"Our lender wants a cash forecast we can stand behind."
The bank is asking for more than the monthly statements, and the numbers have to hold up.
"We have a new investor."
The reporting they expect every month is beyond what the team produces today.
"Our CFO left."
The controller is keeping the books going, and nobody owns the plan.
"We're past $20M and still run on one person's spreadsheet."
It worked at $5M. Now every decision waits on the one person who understands it.
"We bought a planning tool and nobody is driving it."
The software is paid for. The forecast still lives in Excel.
"Everyone asks what our AI plan is for finance."
You don't have one yet, and you don't want to buy the wrong thing.
One finance system. Four parts.
This is what I build, and what I run with you afterward.
Reporting built for your business
I build the set of reports that fits how your business runs: daily alerts when something moves, weekly dashboards for the people running operations, and a monthly package leadership uses to make decisions. All from the same numbers, and automated wherever it can be.
Answers, not just numbers
Each month, the three to five things worth looking into, taken to root cause. What happened, why, and what to do about it, on one page.
A forecast you run the business on
I forecast the metrics that matter to you, down to the drivers that actually move the business: volume, pricing, headcount, whatever moves yours. It's updated every month, so when something changes you see what it does to the year.
A seasoned finance operator in your corner
Someone to answer your questions and help you work through the complicated calls as they come up. Every month I meet with your leadership team to go through what's working, what isn't, and what needs to change, and to track the key bets you're making.
Here's what it looks like for a sample company.
The month starts with an email like this
Results go out right after close, with the three to five things worth investigating and the decisions coming up at the review. Leadership reads one page and knows where the month landed.
- Finance explains the month first, so nobody is guessing
- Three to five priorities, never fifty
- Every finding feeds the forecast or a decision
Team, the short version: revenue beat plan, margin slipped, and the full-year outlook looks ahead of our commitment. We'll confirm it in the reforecast.
Revenue hit $3.4M, 4% above plan. New enterprise customers drove most of it.
Gross margin came in 1.6 points below plan, mostly from implementation hours running over.
Is the implementation overrun a one-month spike or a trend?
Which channel brought in the new customers, and can it take more spend?
Does the extra full-year profit hold once we reforecast?
Hold implementation pricing until we confirm the root cause
Decision at the reviewPre-approve up to $150K more in the top channel if the reforecast holds
Funded from profit ahead of planFull reforecast and recommendations at the review. — Jordan
September flash.pdfModel the big decisions before you make them
Before a big call on hiring, pricing or new spending, I model the options side by side so you can see what each one does to profit and cash. You decide with the numbers in front of you, and the next forecast shows how it played out.
- Know where you stand against the full-year profit target, not just last month
- Scenarios modeled before big decisions, so you commit with confidence
- Set targets you believe in, and make the decisions that get you there
It starts with knowing where you stand
I score your finance function on six pillars, from Ad Hoc to World-Class. You don't fix all six at once. You find the one holding the others back and move it up a level. That is what the Assessment does.
- Six pillars, from reporting to talent to data and tools
- Five levels, each with a named constraint and a next step
- A 90-day roadmap that starts with the binding constraint
1 Ad Hoc · 2 Standardized · 3 Partnering · 4 Strategic · 5 World-Class. Click a pillar for detail.
Forecasting
Level 2 · StandardizedWhy a tool alone doesn't fix it
Every finance system is part technology, part process, part judgment about what your business needs, and part leadership. Most firms sell one of the four. A tool with nobody driving it is an expense. A process nobody leads lasts two months.
Where AI fits
I use AI where it makes the work faster or better: first-draft commentary, flagging unusual movements, answering questions about your numbers, running scenarios. It needs clean, connected data to do any of that, so that gets built first. Where a spreadsheet is the better answer, you get a spreadsheet.
Built where a wrong forecast gets noticed.
I'm Brett Hampson. For 14 years I've led finance at high-performing companies of every size: Fortune 100, public, private equity-backed, and startups. Places where results matter and the system has to work.
The P&Ls I've run range from six figures to eleven figures, which is tens of billions of dollars. Now I bring what works at that level to service businesses between $10M and $100M, sized for your business and without the big-company overhead.
7,000 finance leaders read my newsletter, and 500+ have bought my book, The FP&A OS. I do the work myself.
I live in Cincinnati with my wife and two kids, and work with companies all across the US.
Start with a call. Commit one step at a time.
A call
We talk about what changed, what you have today, and whether I can help. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so and point you to someone who is. Book a time.
Finance System Assessment
An outside view of the one to three areas that matter most, the root causes holding them back, and a 90-day roadmap your team can start the next week. Money-back guarantee. Learn more.
The 90-Day Install
Real work, not just advice. I build what your roadmap calls for with your team, inside your real monthly cycle. For some companies that's the full system, running in 90 days. For others it's one critical rebuild, done right. The scope and the promise come out of your Assessment, and the Assessment fee is credited toward it.
Keep me on, or take it from here
When the 90-day Install is finished, the system is documented and ready to hand over. Keep me on to run it, or hand it to someone on your team. Either works.
Who this is for, and who it isn't.
A good fit if
- You run a service business, of any kind, doing $10M to $100M in revenue
- Your books close every month
- Someone on the leadership team wants to run the company on a forecast
- Something changed: an investor, a lender, a departure, or growth
Not the right fit if
- You need bookkeeping, tax or audit work. I can introduce you to firms I trust.
- You want software installed without changing how you run the month
- You work in finance and want to learn the approach yourself. The newsletter and The FP&A OS are a better place to start.
Common questions
Who does the work?
I do. If a build needs a specialist, such as a data engineer, I'll bring one in and tell you who they are.
We already have a CFO. Is this for us?
Yes. Many CFOs want the planning side of finance rebuilt and don't have the people or the time to do it. I work for the CFO in that case, and the system is theirs when I'm done.
We don't have a CFO. Is this for us?
Yes, as long as your books close every month. I work with the CEO or owner and your controller or outside accountant, and I can stay on to run the system after the Install if you'd like.
Do we need new software?
Often not to start. The Assessment shows what your current tools can do and where a new one would pay for itself. I don't resell software or take commissions on anything I recommend. My newsletter has sponsors, and if I ever recommend one of them, I'll tell you.
How much of our team's time does it take?
The Assessment needs a kickoff, a readout, and short interviews. In the Install I do the heavy lifting inside your real monthly cycle, so the new way of working replaces old work instead of piling on top of it.
What does it cost?
The call is free. The Assessment is $5,000, fixed. The 90-Day Install starts at $35,000, scoped from your Assessment, and the Assessment fee is credited toward it. If you keep me on after the Install, we scope that at the end. Never hourly, and every engagement comes with the same promise: you're satisfied, or I keep working until you are.
Can I learn the approach before we talk?
Yes. The newsletter is where I teach it every week, and The FP&A OS is the system written down.
Do you work with companies outside Cincinnati?
Yes. I'm based in Cincinnati and work with companies all across the US. Most of the work happens over video.
Start with a 30-minute call.
We'll talk about what changed and whether I can help. Want to see how I think first? Read the newsletter or The FP&A OS.
Rather write? Email me at brett@forecastingperformance.com. I read and answer every email myself.