Blog
Notes on AI, automation & fractional CFO work
Practical thinking on where AI actually pays off, automation that holds up to scrutiny, fractional CFO work, and getting found in search and AI answers.
Can ChatGPT recommend my business? A 5-minute test
Ask ChatGPT for "a good accountant near me" and it names names. Whether it names yours depends on what it can find and verify about you online. Here's how the AI engines actually pick businesses, and a five-minute test to see where you stand.
Read moreBoard Reporting for SMEs: What to Include and How to Automate It
Good board reporting gives decision-makers the numbers they need without burying them in spreadsheets. This guide covers what belongs in an SME board pack, what to leave out, and how to automate the build so it stops consuming a week of someone's time every month.
Read moreWhat does a fractional CFO cost in Australia?
A fractional CFO in Australia typically costs $3,000–$15,000 a month, against $230k–$287k+ before super for a full-time hire. Here's how the numbers break down, what drives the range, and how to tell if it's worth it — with the honest caveat that no independent benchmark exists.
Read moreVirtual CFO vs fractional CFO: what's the difference?
In practice, a virtual CFO and a fractional CFO are the same thing — senior finance leadership, part-time. "Virtual" stresses remote; "fractional" stresses part-time. Here's what the labels actually mean, why they don't change what you get, and the questions that genuinely sort one provider from another.
Read more13-Week Cash Flow Forecasting for SMEs
Most SME cash flow forecasts are either out of date, built in a spreadsheet nobody trusts, or simply missing. A good forecast tells you what your bank balance will look like in 13 weeks — and why. Here is what that actually requires.
Read moreWhen to hire a fractional CFO: the signs that matter
Hire a fractional CFO when finance decisions outgrow your team but don't yet justify a full-time hire. The signs you're in that window, and what to rule out first.
Read moreWhy auditors make good AI consultants
Auditors make good AI consultants because the job is the same shape: probe a process you can't fully see, find where it could go wrong, test the controls, and decide whether you'd sign the output. Scepticism, controls thinking and evidence transfer almost unchanged.
Read moreAI risks in finance — and the guardrails
The real risks of AI in finance are confident wrong answers, leaked data, silent errors and over-trust. None are reasons to avoid AI — they're reasons to add the guardrails finance already knows: scoped access, a human at the decision point, and an audit trail.
Read moreWhy a simple automation usually beats 'AI'
Most of the time a simple automation beats AI: a scheduled sync, a clear rule or a short script is cheaper, more trustworthy and less surprising than a model. AI earns its place only when the task genuinely needs judgement that rules can't capture.
Read moreWhere AI actually helps in finance — and where it doesn't
AI helps most in finance where the work is high-volume, rules-based and checkable: reconciliation, invoice coding, first-draft commentary. It helps least where judgement, accountability or a defensible signature is involved. Here's how to draw the line.
Read moreAI in finance: a plain-English guide for business owners
AI in finance means using software that handles messy, varied work — reading documents, suggesting codings, spotting odd transactions — to take load off your team. Used well it saves hours; used badly it produces confident wrong numbers nobody catches. The difference is scoping and oversight. Here's the short version.
Read moreWhat a Fractional CFO Actually Does
A fractional CFO gives you senior finance leadership part-time: the strategy, the numbers behind the decisions, and oversight of the finance function — without the full-time cost. Here's what that looks like in practice, and the signs you've outgrown your bookkeeper.
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