The illustrative scenario
A startup approaching a funding round should stress-test runway before negotiating its capital requirement.
This is a planning illustration, not a client story or a promised result. Your transaction facts, entity and applicable rules can produce a different recommendation.
Identify what needs deciding
A virtual CFO adds forward-looking finance decisions beyond transaction entry and tax filing.
Expecting advisory meetings to replace missing bookkeeping or daily payment controls creates gaps.
Write the question in business terms and separate what you know from assumptions. The adviser should explain which missing facts could materially change the proposed approach.
Gather evidence for the decision
Prepare financials, funding commitments, cash balances, forecasts and the founders priorities.
Build a dated record of the facts and explain any inconsistent records. Keep originals and identify the source of each estimate; forecasts and actual financial results should not be presented as the same thing.
Turn the assessment into an action plan
Diagnose finance gaps, set a decision calendar and establish a cash-flow and reporting cadence.
Agree review availability, forecast deliverables, board support and implementation ownership.
For each action, agree its owner, dependency and completion evidence. Obtain approval before a material decision is implemented and plan for possible requests for additional records.
Check the result and continuing responsibilities
Retain forecasts, board packs, decision logs and a tracked finance improvement plan.
Which finance decisions will you own and which activities require our internal team?
Review what remains outside the assignment, including future compliance and recordkeeping. Request advice tailored to the actual facts rather than using this illustration as an instruction to file or transact.
How to use this resource
