Senior finance leadership without a full-time Finance Director.
As your business grows, the financial decisions become more important, more complex and harder to make from historic accounts alone.
Leask Advisory Solutions provides Fractional CFO and strategic finance partner support for owner-managed, international and growth businesses that need clearer reporting, stronger cashflow visibility, better board-level insight and more confident commercial decisions.
Led by Julia Leask FCMA, CGMA, Leask gives you access to senior finance judgement when the business needs more than compliance, but does not yet need, or cannot yet justify, a full-time Finance Director.
You may not need a full-time FD. But you may already need FD-level thinking.
A Fractional CFO becomes valuable when the numbers need to support bigger decisions.
You have reports, but not enough insight
The accounts explain what happened, but not what to do next.
Leadership needs interpretation, challenge and forward-looking decision support.
Cashflow is harder to predict
Profit, sales and cash are not telling the same story.
You need clearer visibility before making commitments, investments or growth decisions.
The business is preparing for funding, exit or succession
Investors, buyers, successors or boards will need better evidence.
Weak reporting or unclear forecasts can damage confidence and value.
The business has outgrown informal control
Too much knowledge sits in the owner’s head or across disconnected systems.
The business becomes harder to scale, fund, sell, hand over or manage from a distance.
The role is not just to manage finance. It is to connect finance to decisions.
A strong Fractional CFO helps leadership understand what the numbers are really saying.
That means looking beyond historic accounts and helping the business answer better questions.
Julia works as a strategic finance partner, not just a report producer. She helps interpret the numbers, challenge assumptions, improve visibility and support decisions that affect cashflow, growth, governance and business value.
From reports to decisions
- Are we making enough profit in the right places?
- Why is cash tight if the business is profitable?
- What do we need to fix before investment or exit?
- Can the business run without everything coming back to the owner?
- Are our forecasts credible?
- Are we making decisions early enough?
Senior financial judgement where the business needs it most.
Financial leadership
Bring senior finance thinking into leadership and board-level decisions.
Gives the business FD-level judgement without a permanent hire.
Management reporting
Build clearer reporting, KPIs, forecasts and financial visibility.
Helps leadership make decisions from insight, not instinct.
Cashflow planning
Understand cash timing, working capital, runway and future pressure points.
Reduces surprises and supports better commercial decisions.
Board and investor reporting
Prepare numbers and commentary that support board, investor or parent-company scrutiny.
Builds confidence with stakeholders who need reliable information.
Commercial challenge
Test assumptions, pricing, margins, investment decisions and growth plans.
Helps avoid decisions based on optimism, habit or incomplete information.
Finance function development
Strengthen systems, controls, roles, advisers and reporting rhythms.
Builds foundations that can support growth or hand over to an in-house FD later.
Business value support
Identify what is strengthening or weakening long-term value.
Helps owners prepare for growth, succession, investment or exit.
Practical support shaped around the business, not a generic package.
Fractional CFO support can vary depending on what the business needs.
For one business, the priority may be cashflow and management reporting. For another, it may be investor readiness, board reporting, UK operations, finance function development or preparing the business for succession.
Typical support may include:
Monthly finance leadership
Review performance, cashflow, forecasts, risks and decisions with the owner or leadership team.
Board-level reporting
Prepare or improve management information, board packs and financial commentary.
Decision support
Provide financial challenge around hiring, pricing, investment, growth, cashflow or exit options.
Finance team and adviser coordination
Work with accountants, bookkeepers, outsourced finance teams and advisers so the bigger picture is joined up.
Transition support
Help build the finance function to the point where a permanent Finance Director or internal finance leader becomes viable.
Fractional CFO support in real business situations.
Neurofenix
What Leask helped with: Julia helped build and lead the UK, US and group finance function, supporting Series A due diligence, board reporting, investor scrutiny, international growth and a £5.5m investment.
Shows how Fractional CFO support can help a growth business mature before a full in-house Finance Director is in place.
Escalon Services / Neurofenix collaboration
What Leask helped with: Rachel Fuller’s team supported the US books while Julia acted as CFO and handled reporting to the board and C-suite for the wider company.
Shows Julia can lead the strategic finance layer while working effectively with outsourced finance providers.
Njord Survey
What Leask helped with: Julia supports a Swedish-owned business with UK financial visibility, forecasting, budgeting, cashflow, governance and practical leadership support.
Shows Leask’s ability to act as part of the leadership picture, not as a distant adviser.
Trusted at board and C-suite level.
“Julia was acting CFO for the company… she handled the reporting to the board and to the C-suite for the entire company.”
Rachel Fuller
Head of Diversified and International, Escalon Services
Fractional CFO support works best when the business is ready to use the numbers differently.
Better fit
- Established business with growing complexity
- Owner, board or leadership team wants better financial insight
- Preparing for growth, investment, exit, succession or UK expansion
- Needs challenge, reporting and cashflow visibility
- Existing finance support needs senior leadership above it
Not the right fit
- Business only needs basic bookkeeping or VAT support
- Business wants low-cost compliance only
- Pre-revenue business with no budget for senior support
- Wants reports produced but no change made
- Not willing to share information or be challenged
Start by understanding where senior finance support would make the biggest difference.
Business Value Assessment
What may be strengthening or limiting the value of your business.
Cashflow Clarity Assessment
Where cash may be delayed, trapped or misunderstood.
Investment Readiness Assessment
Whether your forecasts, reporting and finance story are ready for scrutiny.
Exit Readiness Assessment
Whether owner dependence, weak systems or unclear reporting could affect future value.
Practical resources before you decide what support you need.
Business Value Guide
Understand what may be strengthening or weakening the value of your business.
Cashflow Improvement Tool
Identify why profit may not be turning into usable cash.
7 Steps to Raising Capital
Prepare the financial story needed for investment conversations.
Board Reporting Guide
Build clearer reporting for leadership, investors or boards.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Fractional CFO?
A Fractional CFO provides senior finance leadership on a part-time or flexible basis. The role is to help the business understand the numbers, improve reporting, manage cashflow, support decisions and prepare for growth, investment, exit or governance requirements.
Do we need a full-time Finance Director instead?
Not always. Many businesses need FD-level thinking before they need a permanent hire. Fractional CFO support can be the right step when the business needs senior financial judgement but not a full-time Finance Director.
Will Leask replace our accountant or bookkeeper?
No. Leask works alongside existing accountants, bookkeepers, outsourced finance teams and advisers, adding the senior strategic layer above compliance and day-to-day finance work.
Can Leask support board or investor reporting?
Yes. Julia has experience supporting board and C-suite reporting, investor scrutiny, due diligence and parent-company reporting.
Can this help us prepare for a permanent Finance Director?
Yes. In some businesses, Fractional CFO support helps build the finance foundations, reporting and structure needed before a permanent Finance Director is appointed.
Need senior finance leadership without a full-time FD?
If your business needs clearer numbers, stronger cashflow, better board reporting or more confident commercial decisions, Leask can help you understand what is really happening and what needs to happen next.
Fractional CFO support gives you senior financial judgement at the point where the decisions matter, without waiting until a full-time Finance Director is the only option.