Financial System/Fractional CFO - Multi-Site Cafe/QSR

We are a growing multi-site cafe/QSR business looking for an experienced hospitality finance and profitability specialist to come into the business and build a practical financial operating system that gives the owner complete visibility over the numbers and a clear path toward profitability. This is not a bookkeeping role. It is also not a traditional fractional CFO role where we receive monthly reports and a long list of financial terminology. We need someone who can get into the business, understand how it actually makes and spends money, identify where we are losing money, cut wastage, build the right financial structure, and implement it with us. The end result should be something we can use every week to make better business decisions. THE GOAL We want to move from: “I think we're making money here, but I'm not completely sure where we're at.” to: “We know exactly where the business stands, what we can afford, what is making money, what is losing money, and what we need to do next.” The system should give us clear visibility across: Revenue Gross profit COGS Labour Rent and occupancy costs Operating expenses Site-level profitability Cash flow Supplier spending Waste Product/menu profitability Marketing spend Catering performance Other major business costs We want a simple financial source of truth that the owner and management team can actually understand and use. 1. FINANCIAL VISIBILITY Build a clear financial dashboard/reporting system utilising software of choice showing the health of the business and each location. We should be able to quickly understand: What each site is generating What each site is costing What each site is actually contributing Where margins are moving Where cash is going Whether we're on track What needs attention This needs to be practical and easy to review regularly. ROAD TO PROFITABILITY Build a clear model showing what each site needs to achieve to be profitable. This should help us understand: Break-even sales Required daily/weekly revenue Labour limits COGS targets Rent/occupancy impact Gross margin requirements Site-level contribution Profitability at different revenue levels We want to understand what happens when sales increase, costs change, labour increases, prices change, etc. 3. COST CONTROL & MONEY LEAKAGE A major part of the project is identifying where the business is unnecessarily losing money. This could include: Supplier pricing Food and beverage costs Waste Over-ordering Labour inefficiencies Menu/product margins Pricing Unnecessary subscriptions or expenses Payment/processing costs Operational leakage Underperforming products Underperforming sites Other areas we may not currently see 4. BUDGETING & SPENDING CONTROL We need a much clearer understanding of what the business can actually afford. Build practical systems around: Site budgets Labour budgets Purchasing budgets Marketing budgets Monthly operating budgets Cash requirements Spending approvals Forecasting Upcoming commitments The owner should be able to understand the financial implications of a decision before money is spent. 5. CASH FLOW & FORWARD VISIBILITY We need to stop managing the business purely based on what is sitting in the bank today. Build a simple forward-looking cash flow system that helps us understand: What cash is coming in What needs to be paid Upcoming obligations Payroll requirements Supplier commitments Rent and other fixed costs Expected cash position Potential shortfalls We need enough visibility to make decisions before there is a problem. If you identify an area where we are losing $500, $2,000 or $10,000 per month, we want you to help us recover it, not simply report it. We look forward to chatting!