Finance Function Health Check

Is your accounting and finance function giving you the visibility, control, and confidence you need — or are you operating with blind spots?

This short self-assessment helps founders and CEOs get clarity on where their finance function is strong, where there are gaps, and what “good” could look like for a business at your stage.

It takes 4–5 minutes. Once submitted, Alyssa will review your responses personally and share a brief summary of:

  • Where you fall on the finance maturity curve

  • What improvements would have the biggest impact

  • Whether fractional, interim, or project-based support makes sense (if any)

Please record your answers in each of the 3 sections below, for example: “Section 1: 2, 4, 4, 3, 1. Section 2: 1, 3, 3, 2, 4. Section 3: 2, 2, 1, 2, 3 for submission in the form to follow.

Finance Foundations

Month-end, controls, accuracy, compliance, and day-to-day stability.

  1. How consistent is your month-end process?

    ☐ We don’t have a defined process / it varies monthly

    ☐ It gets done, but timing is unpredictable

    ☐ We have a process, but it’s not followed consistently

    ☐ We close monthly, usually within 10–15 days

    ☐ We have a tight month-end with defined owners and a 5–7 day close

  2. How confident are you in the accuracy of your numbers?

    ☐ Low — we find errors often, or things don’t tie

    ☐ Moderate — depends on who prepared it

    ☐ Good — but we don’t review much

    ☐ Strong — reconciliations are timely and clean

    ☐ Very strong — supported by checklists, sign-offs, and documented process

  3. Do you have clear responsibilities across bookkeeping, accounting, and finance?

    ☐ No — it’s unclear who owns what

    ☐ Partially — tasks are shared or split randomly

    ☐ Defined, but not always executed

    ☐ Clear ownership between bookkeeper/controller

    ☐ Very clear roles + documented responsibilities

  4. AP & AR processes:

    ☐ Ad hoc

    ☐ Mostly reactive

    ☐ Some structure (e.g., payment runs, invoice cadence)

    ☐ Defined and followed

    ☐ Defined, scheduled, and well-controlled (e.g., 3-way match, documented approvals)

  5. Cash management:

    ☐ We don’t have a cash view

    ☐ I check the bank daily to understand cash

    ☐ We track upcoming needs loosely

    ☐ We have a cash spreadsheet

    ☐ We have a rolling 13-week cash flow we rely on

Forecasting, Insights & Analysis

Forward-looking visibility, budgets, reforecasts, and decision support.

  1. Do you have an annual budget?

    ☐ No

    ☐ We make one, but don’t use it

    ☐ Yes, but ownership is unclear

    ☐ Yes, reviewed quarterly

    ☐ Yes, tied into monthly reporting + accountability meetings

  2. Do you reforecast regularly?

    ☐ Never

    ☐ Only when something breaks

    ☐ A few times a year

    ☐ Quarterly

    ☐ Monthly or rolling forecast

  3. How well do department leaders participate in budgeting/forecasting?

    ☐ They don’t participate

    ☐ Minimal involvement

    ☐ They give inputs, finance does the rest

    ☐ Active participation

    ☐ Strong ownership with finance guiding the process

  4. Do you receive meaningful variance analysis?

    ☐ No

    ☐ Only at year-end

    ☐ High-level commentary

    ☐ Monthly variance explanations

    ☐ Clear variance analysis highlighting causes + required actions

  5. How strong is your visibility into revenue, margins, and pipelines?

    ☐ Very limited

    ☐ We track it manually / inconsistently

    ☐ Basic ideas but no analysis

    ☐ Clear margin reporting

    ☐ Detailed by job / segment / channel with trends + insights

Strategic Value & Leadership

Does finance actually help the business make better decisions?

  1. How do you use your financial reporting today?

    ☐ Primarily for taxes

    ☐ To see if we’re profitable

    ☐ To check costs vs. plan

    ☐ To make operational decisions

    ☐ To drive strategy and guide the business

  2. How often do you meet with your finance lead?

    ☐ Never

    ☐ Only when something breaks

    ☐ Monthly

    ☐ Biweekly

    ☐ Weekly, with clear agendas and KPIs

  3. Is someone actively managing your banking relationships and debt strategy?

    ☐ No

    ☐ Only when needed

    ☐ Somewhat, but reactive

    ☐ Yes, proactively

    ☐ Very strong — forecasting and covenants deeply understood

  4. Do you feel your finance function anticipates issues before they happen?

    ☐ Not at all

    ☐ Rarely

    ☐ Sometimes

    ☐ Often

    ☐ Always — they warn me early and offer solutions

  5. What best describes your current finance leadership capacity?

    ☐ We don’t have real leadership — mostly bookkeeping

    ☐ We have accounting coverage, but not leadership

    ☐ We have a Controller but need more senior guidance

    ☐ We have a strong senior finance lead but lack bandwidth

    ☐ We have exactly what we need