When all roads lead to you as the CFO, where do you turn?

Being a CFO today means balancing growth, governance, risk and transformation all at once. Expectations are bigger, timelines are shorter, and resources tighter. When the pressure mounts, you need more than advice. You need a partner who listens, understands your world, and helps turn ideas into impact.

What it feels like to work with us

Your challenges aren’t one-size-fits-all

Neither is our approach. Our model flexes to fit your needs, delivering support across five key stages. Choose any stage as a stand-alone engagement or combine them for a seamless, end-to-end experience.

  • Assess: diagnose root causes of challenges preventing you and your finance teams from being effective and efficient
  • Design: creating or co-creating – pragmatic, practical solutions
  • Fix: implement changes in partnership with in-house teams, bringing tangible improvements quickly
  • Run: hands-on support to run core finance operations through outsourcing solutions and resource augmentation
  • Connect: keeping you plugged into our programme of insight, events, and peer connection for CFOs. 
The video is playing. This video is playing in mini-player mode.
CFO Solutions

CFO Solutions

What we help you achieve

No two finance functions are the same. Your priorities depend on your goals, challenges and stage of growth. That’s why we use the CFO Scorecard – a practical framework that focuses on the four dimensions of the CFO role:

  • Value creation
  • Stakeholder management
  • Operational delivery
  • Business protection
CFO Solutions [189 kb]

At every stage, you’ll have a senior adviser by your side—someone who listens with empathy, challenges constructively, and opens doors to a powerful network. Progress feels easier, faster, and more connected.

Whether it’s a project, interim placement, outsourcing, or a blend, our approach flexes to what works best for you.

Value creation
  • Refocus on value with diagnostics, one-to-one workshops and readiness assessments to help you get ahead of the curve
  • Build a future-fit team through designing and implementing the right finance function for your future needs as an organisation
  • Making best informed decisions via practical improvements to data quality, processes, skills, mindset, reporting and technology 
Stakeholder management

  • Clarify the road ahead through CFO workshops, visioning sessions, and wider alignment 
  • Build future-fit finance skills with workforce planning, technical training, and programmes such as finance business partnering and future finance leaders  
  • Supporting story telling to better assess and communicate the impact of accounting and regulatory change to internal and external stakeholders 
Operational delivery
  • Expand capacity with smart resourcing and outsourcing
  • Automate compliance and strengthen reporting with digital finance tools and financial expertise
  • Accelerate audit readiness through diagnostics, automation and CFO tools
Business protection
  • Improve cash flow visibility and scenario analysis through horizon scanning and forecasting
  • Interpret new regulations and prepare your team to meet requirements efficiently
  • Strengthen governance through pragmatic, regulation-ready solutions

How we can help:

  • Becoming truly “audit ready”: We help you prepare for and manage a smoother audit process, building confidence with the audit team and transparency across all stakeholders. That can include training of your team, preparation of workpapers, or management of the process. (Audit Readiness and Remediation) 
  • Taking the strain and providing scalability through Outsourcing: Take advantage of our economies of scale by outsourcing your finance and reporting processes to our ‘engine room’. Our own investment in technology can help you to reduce costs while enhancing quality. (Outsourcing of Finance Processes)  
  • Staying off the compliance naughty step and addressing new regulation pragmatically: We help organisations to navigate confidently through the changing array of reporting requirements, including TCFD, CSRD, Gender pay gap and payment practice and performance reporting. For new accounting standards – such as FRS102 – we support you to identify not just the accounting impacts but the upstream impact on processes and downstream impact on stakeholder reporting. (Welcome to our FRS 102 hub – are you ready? | Grant Thornton
  • Clarifying the path ahead: We can help an individual CFO – or a whole finance function – set their direction and establish a clear, realistic roadmap for development through diagnostic projects, sounding board roles, and challenging workshops.  (CFO Room and Defining the Future Strategy for a CFO)
  • Ensuring finance is future fit: We support clients to redesign team structures, processes, and ways of working to ensure finance can play the role that the organisation wants it to play.  While it is no silver bullet, future-fit work often includes a focus on supporting the digital AI and automation journey in Finance by challenging and supporting the Finance tech strategy and implementation. (Finance consulting | Grant Thornton)
  • Preparing finance professionals for the future: We can provide training programmes and peer group support that equip your team members with the with the capabilities, skills and mindset you need for a future-ready finance function. ( Finance Business Partnering | Grant Thornton)   (Uncover the new formula for finance teams | Grant Thornton
  • Sleeves rolled up, practical support: At times of peak demand – such as acquisitions, technology implementation, transformation, and year end – we provide pragmatic support to help you accelerate your plans and execution. 
  • From wading through treacle to walking on clouds: Addressing any backlog of paperwork and reconciliations while building better processes, including leveraging your tech better, outsourcing, or implementing and documenting new ways of working. As well as providing extra pairs of hands to address periods of peak demand, we can outsource or redesign and automate activities, streamlining workflows so you can focus on value-adding tasksrather than looking back. (Process Automation and Design to Optimise Routine Processes and Reporting) 
  • Putting you in a position to Making Best Informed Decisions: Supporting the establishment of teams, processes, KPI selection, reporting formats and high quality data to enable insight and decision making for the future. (Enterprise performance management | Grant Thornton
testimonial client avatar
CFOs today face pressure from every direction – growth, governance, risk, people, performance. You don’t need advice that adds more noise. You need a flexible partner who listens, understands your world, and turns ideas into impact.
Simon Davidson Partner, Finance Consulting
Future-ready finance with full-service support

Future-ready finance with full-service support

The challenge
A global services firm needed a scalable finance function and roadmap to navigate shifting PE exit timelines, demanding specialist expertise and added capacity.
The solution
We built a vision and operating model, delivered BAU support, technical guidance, and acted as a CFO sounding board, freeing focus for transformation.
The results
Client gained a clear roadmap, reduced workload, and prepared for outsourced finance activities, achieving seamless, adaptive support throughout.
Transforming finance for growth and efficiency

Transforming finance for growth and efficiency

The challenge
A UK energy and agriculture firm with PE backing needed a scalable, efficient finance function and KPI framework to support rapid growth and investor demands.
The solution
We designed a Finance Blueprint, improved processes, documented policies, implemented ERP and tech enablers, and provided interim finance team support.
The results
Client now has a robust finance model, new KPIs, upgraded systems, and improved controls, enabling growth and meeting PE reporting expectations seamlessly.
Standardising processes for PE-backed growth

Standardising processes for PE-backed growth

The challenge
A £750 million construction group, ahead of PE exit, needed process standardisation and improved controls while easing pressure on an overstretched finance team.
The solution
We mapped processes, drove improvements, supported change management, and provided project and secondment resources to address gaps and enable adoption.
The results
Client achieved stronger processes, improved controls, and added bandwidth, positioning the business for exit and integration of a new acquisition.
Rapid exit readiness for a gaming business

Rapid exit readiness for a gaming business

The challenge
A PE-backed gaming company faced resource constraints and lacked IPO/exit experience, making it hard for the CFO to prepare for dual-track exit options.
The solution
We delivered a dual-track readiness review, drafted technical papers, prepared historical financials, improved processes, and redesigned the finance team.
The results
The business achieved full readiness for IPO or buyout, enabling a successful secondary buyout through rapid remediation and strengthened finance capability.
Hillingdon Council: A future-fit finance programme

Hillingdon Council: A future-fit finance programme

The challenge
Like many councils, we face financial strain and system challenges. Our Finance Modernisation Programme strengthens practices, improves systems, and builds a resilient, insight-driven finance function fit for the future.
The solution
Partnering with Hillingdon Council, we co-designed a Finance Modernisation Programme—reviewing practices, improving systems, and embedding best-practice processes to balance short-term needs with long-term transformation.
The results
Our team combined local government finance expertise with cloud system knowledge and a delivery-focused approach. The programme will embed strong financial practices and unlock full value from the council’s technology investment.
    The Finance Leaders Barometer
    The Finance Leaders Barometer

    The Finance Leaders Barometer

      FAQ

      We will never suggest any formal work until we have had a thorough discussion with you about your specific circumstances and objectives, so that we understand exactly how we can elevate your role or your finance function.  

      We want to know you, your organisation, and your situation before suggesting a specific approach to supporting.  That said, common starting points for engaging us include: you interviewing tow or three candidates for a resource augmentation role to ensure they are a good fit; us performing a “health check “ or diagnostic on your finance function or a specific activity such as month end close; or us facilitating a workshop with you to define the scope of any outsourcing. 

      Yes – in several ways. Technology is of course having a huge impact on organisations, with Finance functions no different.  Because we have “been there, done that”, we know the pitfalls to avoid and the balance between ambition and realism.  So we can share views on the art of the possible, make recommendations for technology choices, redesign processes, implement solutions, support the change management and training tht is needed to ensure sustainable adoption.

      We take a deeply human, empathetic approach to supporting clients. We recognise that focussing on technology or process alone is rarely the full answer. So we place a significant emphasis on working with our clients to develop skills and leadership. That can range from our regular CPD accredited webinars, to bootcamps on specific skills such as Finance Business Partnering, to executive coaching, technical accounting syllabus, and leadership courses such as our Future Finance Leaders programme and CFO Room offerings. Every individual and every business has its own training and development needs. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss your specific circumstances.

      While some clients engage us as a ‘one off’ to assist with a specific pain point, most of our clients engage us regularly, as we support different aspects of their finance function development over time.  

      An individual engagement can last from one day to help clarify the path ahead for you to be as effective as you can be in your role; or a single workshop to understand the implications of new accounting standards); through rapid diagnostics over two to four weeks; through audit readiness support over a couple of months; through to long term outsourcing on an annual contract basis. Our support can flex up or down, be shorter or longer, be narrow or broad – we work with you to scope exactly what you need at any given time.

      We can provide quotes for work on a fixed fee, day rate, or annualised basis. We often provide volume rebates.  

      Specific rates depend on the seniority of team, volume of support, and length of engagement required.  We commit to transparent pricing and work very closely with you to ensure any support is necessary, effective and efficient.

      Yes and no! Our flexible, agile model means that you will always be supported by the most appropriate and relevant individuals. 

      Because we work seamlessly as one platform, whatever support you require from our CFOS platform will rightly feel like you are dealing with one single team who are fully joined up. 

      You won’t need to repeat yourself continuously to bring new experts up to speed – we do that “behind the scenes” on our side.  And while you may see multiple faces from Grant Thornton, depending on your needs, you will always have one senior leader responsible to you for all service. 

      We believe we bring a unique blend. We are large enough to have all the tools in the toolkit that you will need to elevate your Finance Function; but we are small enough to co-ordinate seamlessly and to give you real focus and attention. With most of our team having worked at the coal face in industry, our experience and empathy means we bring pragmatic and practical solutions to the table.