CFO and exit advisory for business owners
Build the business a buyer would pay for.
You built the company. I help you see it the way an investor does: numbers you trust, cash you can plan around, a capital structure that works for you, and a business that's ready to sell whenever you decide.
Some of this will sound familiar.
- You personally guarantee everything, and you stopped noticing years ago.
- Your P&L shows up five weeks after month end, and you don't fully trust it.
- Your bank said no, or said yes on terms you didn't love, and you never saw a second offer.
- You've thought about selling someday, but you don't know what it's worth or what a buyer would pick apart.
- Every question that actually matters still gets answered by you.
None of that means you're running the business badly. It means you've outgrown your bookkeeper and you're nowhere near needing a full-time CFO. Most companies your size sit in that gap for years.
Where we start
Find the Money
I don't start with strategy. I start with cash. Before anyone talks about growth plans, I go looking for money that's already yours and sitting in the wrong place. It's usually hiding in the same handful of spots.
In a business with $2–25M of revenue, there is often a meaningful amount of cash to recover. Not new sales. Money you've already earned, stuck in the wrong place. If we don't want to keep working together after six weeks, we stop. You keep the money either way.
Why it matters
Your price is earnings times a multiple. You can move both.
Buyers pay for earnings they can verify and risks they can live with. Clean, documented earnings raise the first number. A business that runs without you, with a diversified customer base and tight financials, raises the second. Most owners leave money on the table because nobody prepared either one.
| Illustrative sale | As is | Prepared |
|---|---|---|
| Adjusted EBITDA | $2.00M | $2.30M |
| Multiple | 5.0× | 5.5× |
| Enterprise value | $10.0M | $12.65M |
Illustrative only. The same company after documenting $300K of add-backs and reducing buyer risk enough to earn half a turn more. Every business is different.
The Owner's Way
Three phases, from clear numbers to a sale on your terms
Owners join at whatever stage fits. Some want a finance partner for the long haul. Others have a sale in view and need to get ready fast.
Phase 1
Clarity
Financials you can make decisions with, delivered on time every month.
- Monthly close and reporting
- 13-week cash forecast
- The handful of KPIs that drive value
Phase 2
Strength
A business that earns more, and finances itself on better terms.
- Margin and pricing work
- Lines of credit and term debt
- Lower cost of capital
Phase 3
Readiness
A company that holds up under a buyer's diligence, so you sell from strength.
- Quality-of-earnings preparation
- Add-back documentation
- Banker and buyer introductions
Services
How we work together
Fractional CFO
A senior finance partner on your team, part-time. Monthly reporting, cash planning, budgeting, and a straight answer on the decisions that keep you up at night. I take on a small number of clients so each one gets real attention.
Monthly retainerStarts with Find the Money, a six-week engagement
Capital and financing
I've arranged loans and lines of credit for portfolio companies for two decades. I'll help you pick the right structure, prepare the lender package, and negotiate terms that leave room to grow.
Project or retainerLines of credit, term loans, SBA, refinancing
Exit readiness
Whether a sale is a year away or five, I prepare the business the way a buyer's diligence team will examine it, then help you choose the right banker and process.
Starts with the Exit SoundcheckThen a defined preparation plan
Signature engagement
The Exit Soundcheck
Before a show, every channel gets checked so nothing fails on stage. The Soundcheck does the same for your sale: a fixed-fee review of your business through a buyer's eyes, before a buyer ever sees it.
- Readiness scores across six areas buyers weigh most
- Adjusted EBITDA with documented add-backs
- The risks most likely to cut your multiple, ranked
- A prioritized plan and a realistic timeline to sale
Example only. Owner dependence and customer concentration are where we'd start for this company.
From the buyer's side of the table
What a buyer asks for in the first week
I've sat on the buyer's side for hundreds of these conversations. If you can hand these over cleanly and quickly, you control the process. If you can't, the buyer starts renegotiating.
- Monthly P&L and balance sheet, trailing 36 monthsClarity
- Adjusted EBITDA bridge with support for every add-backReadiness
- Revenue by customer, with top-10 concentrationStrength
- Net working capital by month, to set the pegReadiness
- Debt schedule, leases, and lender covenantsStrength
- Org chart showing who runs what without the ownerStrength
- Budget versus actual for the current yearClarity
About
Ted Fourticq
I spent twenty years investing in owner-led companies. Now I sit on the owner's side of the table.
As a private equity investor in the lower middle market, I've analyzed hundreds of businesses across dozens of industries and worked alongside the owners and managers who run them. I've arranged the financing, built the reporting, and sat through the diligence. One example: we took a precision aerospace manufacturer from $1 million of EBITDA to $17 million through six acquisitions, and sold it for $140 million.
You've seen one company's numbers up close: your own. I've seen hundreds, which is why I can tell within a week whether your margins are normal or something is quietly leaking.
I've also been the operator: co-founder and CFO of a craft brewery, where I led its roughly $2 million capital raise, and CEO of a technology company. I know what it feels like when the numbers are your own.
- Private equity, lower middle marketTwo decades as an investor and general partner
- OperatorCo-founder and CFO, craft brewery · former CEO, technology company
- JD/MBALoyola Marymount University
- BAVanderbilt University
- Certified fractional CFO2026
What I'm not
- Not a bookkeeper or an accountant. I work alongside yours, and I'm not trying to replace them.
- Not selling you software, a subscription, or a system.
- Not here to tell you to sell your company. Plenty of owners I work with never do.
Start here
Tell me where the business is headed.
A 30-minute call, no pitch. We'll talk about where you are, where you want to be, and whether I'm the right person to help you get there.
Book a 30-minute call