Strategic financial leadership, without the full-time hire.
You are running a growing business and the numbers are getting too complex to manage without proper financial oversight — but a full-time Finance Director is not the right spend yet. A part-time FD gives you the commercial thinking, forecasting and strategic input you need. Scoped to what your business actually requires, with a clear monthly fee and every engagement reviewed personally by Annabel.
- Financial strategy and commercial oversight, without a full-time salary
- Cash flow forecasting and profitability analysis in plain English
- Decisions informed by numbers, not instinct and bank balance
- 16 years of in-business, strategic experience behind every recommendation
No long-term contract. If it is not the right fit after three months, you leave with cleaner financials and nothing owed. That is a reasonable position for both sides.
Get a free quote
Scoped to your business. Response within one working day.
What our clients say
★★★★★
Fixed Mistakes, Saved Thousands
“She has fixed so many lazy, unprofessional mistakes by my old accountant by being so meticulously thorough, offering amazing business advice & has saved me thousands.”
★★★★★
Changed How Accounting Should Work
“She opened my eyes to how an accountant actually should work with you.”
★★★★★
Smooth Transition, Clear Communication
“She has made the whole process of changing accountants so smooth and stress-free. Her step-by-step guidance and clear communication made everything easy to follow.”
★★★★★
Vital Part of Business Growth
“I now see her as a vital part of my business and its continued growth.”
Growing fast, but flying blind on the numbers?
Revenue is up, the team is expanding, and decisions are coming at you faster than your financial information can keep pace with. You are making calls on pricing, hiring and investment based on gut feel and what is sitting in the current account. That is fine for a while. At some point it stops working.
- No clear picture of actual profitability — just revenue and a bank balance
- Cash flow surprises arriving at the worst possible moment
- Strategic decisions made without proper financial modelling or forecasting
What having an FD actually looks like
A part-time FD is not a bookkeeper with an upgraded job title. It is strategic financial input — the kind that tells you whether a new hire makes commercial sense, what your margin looks like by product line, and where the cash goes. Monthly, in plain English.
- Profitability by product, service line or client — not just total revenue
- Rolling cash flow forecast so you see the pinch points before they arrive
- Financial modelling behind the decisions that matter: hiring, pricing, investment
- Tailored monthly fee — scoped to your business, confirmed before work starts
What clients say about the commercial difference
These are the clients who needed more than compliance. They needed someone who could sit alongside them and think commercially about the numbers.
I switched accountants to work with Annabel because I felt she truly cared about helping businesses to take control of their finances. She opened my eyes to how an accountant actually should work with you! She has fixed so many lazy, unprofessional mistakes by my old accountant by being so meticulously thorough, offering amazing business advice & has saved me thousands! She even went through my dad’s accounts who had been through liquidation & had a really tough time just because she cared & wanted to see if she could help. I 100% trust Annabel & she proves time & time again why it was the best move for my business to switch to her. I highly recommend her to anyone who is looking for someone who genuinely cares, who is meticulously thorough & offers great advice!
Working with Annabel has been fantastic. She has made the whole process of changing accountants so smooth and stress-free. Her step-by-step guidance and clear communication made everything easy to follow, even for someone who does not naturally “speak accounts.” Annabel’s energy, passion, and genuine desire to help people understand their business finances really shine through in everything she does. Her support and knowledge have been superb, and I now see her as a vital part of my business and its continued growth. Thank you, Annabel, for all your help; you truly live up to your company name!
What a part-time FD engagement covers
Three core components delivered monthly. Each one is there because it changes what decisions you can make — not because it fills a report.
Monthly Management Accounts and Insight
Delivered within 5 working days of month close, in plain English — not a spreadsheet dump. You get the numbers that matter plus a clear read on what they mean and what to do about them. Margin by product or service line is standard, not an add-on.
Included as standardCash Flow Forecasting and Scenario Planning
A rolling cash flow model that reflects your actual business — committed costs, expected receipts and the hiring or investment decisions sitting on your desk. You see the pressure points before they become a problem, not after. Updated each month as the picture changes.
Strategic advisoryCommercial and Strategic Financial Advice
This is where 16 years of working inside real businesses at a strategic level makes a difference. Whether it is a pricing decision, a new hire, a growth plan or a conversation with investors, you get financial thinking that has been tested in real commercial situations — not constructed at a desk from your filed accounts.
Senior-level inputNot one good experience. A consistent pattern.
Three different clients. Three different situations. The same observation: an accountant who thinks commercially and tells you what to do next.
Saved Thousands With Thorough Business Advice
“She has fixed so many lazy, unprofessional mistakes by my old accountant by being so meticulously thorough, offering amazing business advice & has saved me thousands!”
Vital Part of Business Growth
“I now see her as a vital part of my business and its continued growth.”
Set Mind at Ease From Day One
“Having never been self employed or a limited company before, the support and advice I have had has been extremely helpful and has set my mind at ease knowing that any problems or queries I have will be handled or answered.”
Not a title. Sixteen years of doing the actual job.
Most accountants have processed numbers from a distance. Annabel has sat inside growing businesses and contributed to the decisions that shaped them. That is a different kind of input.
Inside-the-business experience
Annabel has worked at a strategic and operational level inside real businesses for 16 years — not processed their numbers from a distance and filed a report. The commercial advice here is grounded in what actually happens when you make a pricing call or hire too early. That context changes the quality of the input considerably.
Numbers ready in five working days
Management accounts delivered within 5 working days of month close, every single month. Decision-ready data on time means you can act on the current position — not on figures that are six weeks behind. That is the standard here, not an aspiration.
Plain English. No spreadsheet theatre.
A part-time FD engagement is only useful if you can understand what you are looking at. There are no jargon-heavy reports designed to look impressive. There is a clear read of where the business stands and a direct view on what the smartest next move is. That is the whole point.
Up and running in three steps.
The onboarding process is handled on this side. Your job is to take the call and answer a few questions about your business. The rest follows.
Free discovery call
A free, no-obligation 20-30 minute call. Annabel asks about your business, your current setup and what is keeping you up at night — no scripts, no pitch deck. You get honest advice whether you become a client or not.
Tailored proposal
A proposal built around your specific situation — not a template tier. Scoped to what your business actually needs, with a clear fee and no surprises. If the scope is not right, it gets adjusted before anything is agreed.
Onboard and hand over
We take the admin off your plate — a smooth transition from your current setup or previous accountant, handled entirely by us, so your books are running properly from day one. There is no period where things fall through the gap.
Decisions backed by real numbers
Monthly management accounts land within 5 working days of month close. You know your margin, your cash position and what the numbers are telling you to do next. Strategy and gut feel start pointing in the same direction.
“I have recently had the pleasure of the wonderful service of Annabel, appointed as my bookkeeper and accountant. Having never been self employed or a limited company before, the support and advice I have had has been extremely helpful and has set my mind at ease knowing that any problems or queries I have will be handled or answered. Friendly, supportive and very quick to respond to any queries or sort advice. I would 100% recommend.”
Things people ask before getting in touch
What does a part-time FD actually do, compared to a bookkeeper or accountant?
A bookkeeper keeps the records accurate. An accountant files the compliance. A part-time FD uses those numbers to drive commercial decisions — pricing strategy, hiring models, cash flow planning, scenario analysis. The work is forward-looking and strategic, not retrospective and regulatory. It sits above the compliance layer, and it is the layer most growing businesses are missing.
What does a part-time FD engagement cost?
Fees are scoped to each client’s specific situation and confirmed during the free discovery call — there is no published price list because the scope varies. What you will get is a clear proposal with a fixed monthly fee before any work starts. No hourly billing, no scope creep without a conversation first.
My books are behind and a bit of a mess. Is that a problem?
It is a starting point, not a barrier. Catch-up work is scoped and quoted separately, so you know exactly what it costs to get to a clean baseline before the ongoing engagement begins. Most clients arrive with books in some state of disarray. Leaving with considerably less to worry about is generally the pattern.
Is there a minimum contract or lock-in period?
There is no long-term contract. Engagements run on a rolling monthly basis and can be ended with reasonable notice. The expectation is that the work earns the continuation — not that a contract does. If it is not the right fit after a few months, you leave with cleaner books and a clearer financial picture than when you started.
Do I need to be based in Bournemouth or Dorset to work with you?
No. The practice is cloud-based via Xero, and clients are onboarded and supported remotely across the UK — video calls, shared dashboards and phone. Location is not a factor. The majority of the strategic work happens on screen, not in a meeting room.
Can a part-time FD help with salary and dividend planning as well as the strategic work?
Yes. Tax-efficient remuneration — the right split between salary and dividends for your personal and corporate position — is a standard part of the advisory work. It is considered alongside the commercial strategy, not bolted on at year-end when it is largely too late to do anything meaningful about it.
Stop making decisions without the numbers to back them.
A free discovery call takes 20 minutes. You leave with a clear view of what a part-time FD engagement would look like for your business — and honest advice on whether it is the right move right now.