Fractional CFO & strategic finance · Scottsdale
Finance that makes the next decision easier.
Forecasting, cash planning and decision support for growing businesses — the analytical firepower of a finance team, without building one in-house.
The Monday brief
What lands in your inbox — and how it moves when the business does.
Run a scenario below. The figures, the chart and the recommended action update the way they would in a real reporting cycle.
Monday finance brief
Period ending August 31 · illustrative data
Confidence
94% · High
Run a scenario
Revenue
$4.82M
+8.2% vs plan
Gross margin
41.8%
-120 bps vs plan
Cash
$7.4M
+$0.3M vs forecast
FY revenue forecast
$61.2M
+1.4% vs plan
Revenue ($M, solid) vs. plan (dashed)
What changed
Revenue exceeded plan by $365K while gross margin slipped 120 bps.
Why it matters
Enterprise performance ran ahead of forecast; consumer demand landed roughly on plan, but promotional mix increased.
Recommended action
Reallocate $150K of Q4 marketing spend to the two highest-return channels and hold Region B hiring until October.
Illustrative demo data. Confidence reflects source completeness, reconciliation and agreement across independent analyses.
10+ yrs
FP&A, commercial finance and accounting
~$500M
Annual revenue supported by forecasts owned
$10M+
Acquisition synergies modeled and tracked
18
New showroom financial roadmaps built
Experience from the founder's prior roles across omnichannel retail, travel and healthcare — not results delivered on behalf of Archibald Ventures clients. Based in Scottsdale, working across Phoenix, Seattle and remotely.
Decisions, not dashboards
Accounting tells you what happened. We answer what to do next.
Four questions come up in every growing business. Each one has a specific work product behind it — the same output an internal finance department would produce.
- Can we afford to hire?
- A headcount plan tied to cash, showing when each role pays for itself.
- Why did margin decline?
- Margin bridge by product, channel and location — with the two drivers that actually moved it.
- Will cash hold?
- A 13-week cash outlook plus the months beyond, updated as reality changes.
- Should we expand?
- A scenario model for the new location, line or investment, with the downside case written out.
Delivered as a rolling forecast, a cash outlook, a written management report, a KPI view, variance analysis and scenario models — kept current, not rebuilt in a panic. Larger projects such as annual budgets, acquisition models and board packages are scoped separately.
How it works
Diagnose. Build. Operate.
A finance professional owns every conclusion. AI is the efficiency layer underneath — comparing, drafting and flagging anomalies faster than a person can.
01
Diagnose
A written review of reporting, forecasting, cash visibility, KPIs and the decisions in front of you — ending in a 90-day finance roadmap.
02
Build
We build the rolling forecast, cash outlook, KPI reporting and scenario models your business actually needs.
03
Operate
Every cycle you get a written read of performance, risks and one recommended action. AI adds speed and depth; an experienced finance professional owns the judgment and stays accountable.
Founder
Finance should make the next decision easier.
I'm Steve Archibald. Over the past 10 years, I've worked across FP&A, accounting and commercial finance — supporting forecasts of approximately $500 million and helping leaders make decisions around growth, investment and operations. I started Archibald Ventures to bring that same financial discipline to growing businesses without requiring them to build an entire finance department.
Based in Scottsdale, working with businesses locally and remotely.
Get started
Schedule a 30-minute call
We'll talk through what you're seeing in the business and whether a Finance Diagnostic is the right first step. No pitch deck.
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Prefer to send details first?
Tell us about the business and we'll come back with whether a Finance Diagnostic makes sense.
Common questions
How is this different from bookkeeping or accounting?
Bookkeeping records what happened. We focus on what to do next: forecasting, analysis and decision support that helps leadership allocate capital, manage cash and plan growth.
Do you replace our accountant or CPA?
No. We complement your existing bookkeeping, accounting and tax professionals. We do not provide tax, audit, assurance or legal advice.
What does an engagement cost?
Engagements are scoped to your business complexity and needs — revenue, entities, locations, data sources and reporting cadence. Pricing is discussed on the intro call.
How do we start?
Schedule a 30-minute call. If it's a fit, we begin with a Finance Diagnostic: a written assessment of your reporting, forecasting and cash visibility, plus a 90-day roadmap.