No real cash flow visibility
You know the bank balance, not the runway. Payroll, suppliers, and the tax bill all compete for the same cash, and nobody can say with confidence what next month looks like.
A Retained CFO for Growing Businesses
Executive financial leadership, without the full time salary.
Growing Caribbean SMEs rarely need a full time CFO. They do need one in the room for the decisions that matter. Helm Financial and Advisory Services gives you a qualified Financial Controller on a retained basis: real numbers, real forecasts, and a steady hand on the finances.
A retained CFO is a senior finance professional you keep on a simple monthly arrangement, on hand when you need them, for far less than a full time hire.
- FCCA / ACCA qualified
- IFRS for SMEs
- the Caribbean
The cost of flying blind
Most SMEs do not fail on sales. They fail on financial visibility.
A bookkeeper records the past. An auditor checks it once a year. Neither is sitting beside you when a decision needs to be made. That gap is expensive, and it usually shows up at the worst possible time.
Surprises at year end
The annual accounts arrive months late and tell you what happened, not what to do. A profit on paper somehow never matches the money in the account.
Decisions made on gut feel
Hiring, pricing, a new location, a loan: big calls get made without a model behind them. Margins erode quietly and the business outgrows its own numbers.
The fix is not more software. It is having a qualified finance leader accountable for the numbers every single month.
Four ways to work together
Pick the level of finance leadership you need now.
Start with clean compliance, step up to a retained Financial Controller, bring in full CFO firepower for the big decisions, or add a driver-based budget and planning service to any tier. You can move up as the business grows.
Bronze
Compliance & Accounting
A clean, reliable financial backbone. The numbers are accurate, on time, and ready for the bank, the board, and the tax authority.
For: Owners who need the basics handled properly and on schedule.
- Monthly bookkeeping and reconciliations
- Annual financial statements to IFRS for SMEs
- VAT and payroll compliance support
- Audit ready files and liaison with your appointed auditor
Silver
Retained Financial Controller
A qualified Financial Controller embedded in your business, owning the monthly finance cycle and turning data into decisions.
For: Growing SMEs that need finance leadership but not a full time hire.
- Board ready monthly management accounts
- 13 week rolling cash flow forecast
- Annual budget with monthly variance analysis
- Margin and cost control reviews
- Monthly leadership meeting and commentary
Gold
CFO Advisory
Strategic financial partnership for the big moves: financing, expansion, restructuring, and investor or bank conversations.
For: Established SMEs preparing to scale, raise finance, or transact.
- Financing and bank proposals, modelling included
- Three statement financial models and scenarios
- Capital investment and pricing strategy
- Profit improvement and turnaround planning
- Board and stakeholder representation
Platinum
Budgeting and Planning
An assumption-driven annual budget and a three-year plan built to board standard, with base, upside, and downside scenarios. Backed by FP&A experience and supported by an ongoing monthly budget-vs-actual review.
For: Owner-managed businesses that need a credible plan for the year ahead, for growth decisions, or for a lender or board.
- Assumption-driven annual operating plan (AOP)
- Three-year financial projection across three scenarios
- Base, upside, and downside scenario modelling
- Board-ready budget pack with written narrative
- Monthly budget-vs-actual variance review (ongoing retainer)
A full time Financial Controller is a major fixed cost.
A senior, qualified finance hire in the region commands a substantial salary, plus benefits, recruitment, and the risk of the wrong fit. The retained model gives you that same calibre of expertise for a predictable monthly arrangement, scaled to what your business actually needs.
Request a complimentary financial health reviewComplimentary, no obligation. Retainers are quoted after the review.
Sector expertise
Every industry has its own financial trap.
Generic accounting misses what actually drives your margin. Here is the specific problem we solve in each sector we serve.
Construction
Profit looks fine overall, but you cannot tell which jobs make money and which quietly bleed.
Job and contract costing, work in progress tracking, and retention aware cash flow so every project is priced and managed to a real margin.
Wholesale & Distribution
Cash is tied up in stock, margins are thin, and slow movers hide on the shelf.
Inventory and gross margin analysis by product line, supplier terms review, and a working capital plan that frees up trapped cash.
Manufacturing & Food Processing
You know the selling price, not the true cost to produce, so pricing is a guess.
Product level unit costing, yield and wastage analysis, and a cash conversion cycle view from raw material to receipt.
Hospitality
Busy nights do not always mean a profitable month, and you cannot see why.
Department and outlet profitability, occupancy and cover analysis, and labour to revenue ratios that protect the bottom line.
Healthcare
A growing practice with rising costs and no clear picture of what each service line actually earns.
Practice and service line profitability, payer and receivables management, and capacity planning tied to the numbers.
Not on the list?
These are areas of deep experience, not a limit. Wherever you operate in the Caribbean, the financial discipline is the same. Let us talk.
Start a conversationHow it works
From first review to monthly leadership.
A simple, low friction start. No long tie in to find out whether it fits.
- 01
Financial health review
We start with a complimentary, no obligation review of where your finances stand today: cash position, margins, reporting, and the risks hiding in plain sight.
- 02
A clear plan
You receive a focused plan: what to fix first, the reporting you will get each month, and the right level of support for your stage and budget.
- 03
Monthly leadership
Every month you get board ready accounts, an updated cash flow forecast, and a working session to turn the numbers into decisions.
Why trust us with your numbers
Qualified, experienced, and focused on your business.
Helm Financial and Advisory Services is led by a qualified Financial Controller (FCCA / ACCA) with years of hands-on experience running the finance function of an established business. You get that same discipline and rigour, focused entirely on your business: clean numbers, clear reporting, and advice you can act on.
- FCCA
- Chartered certified, fully qualified
- 13 wk
- Rolling cash flow forecast horizon
- IFRS
- For SMEs reporting standard
- Caribbean
- SMEs served regionally
FCCA / ACCA qualified
Led by a fully qualified chartered certified accountant, held to the professional and ethical standards of the ACCA.
Financial Controller experience
Years spent running a real finance function: closing the books, building budgets, managing cash, and turning numbers into decisions. That experience is now focused on your business.
IFRS for SMEs standards
Accounts prepared to a recognised international framework that banks, investors, and auditors trust.
Built for the Caribbean
Fluent in the realities of doing business in the Caribbean: local banking, regulation, and market conditions.
Client results will appear here as the practice grows. We would rather show a blank space than a borrowed quote.
Early client? Your outcome could be the first case study featured here.
Illustrative results
How a retained CFO engagement works
Real client outcomes are confidential, and we will not borrow another firm's. Until consented client stories are ready, here is how typical engagements unfold across the sectors we serve.
These are illustrative scenarios, not real clients. They are representative of the sectors we serve and are shown pending consented client stories. Outcomes are directional examples, not measured results from a named business.
Construction
Profitable on paper, short on cash
- The situation
- A contractor was winning work and showing a profit, yet kept running short of cash between progress payments and could not see which jobs actually made money. Duty and forex on imported materials kept moving job costs after the price was agreed.
- What a retained CFO did
- A retained Financial Controller introduced job and contract costing that captured landed cost including duty and freight, a work in progress and retentions view, and a 13 week rolling cash flow forecast tied to the contract schedule and VAT remittance dates.
- Representative outcome
- The owner could see margin by job, time labour and supplier payments to expected receipts, and walk into the bank with a forecast rather than a guess.
Wholesale & Distribution
Cash trapped on the shelf
- The situation
- A distributor carried wide stock with thin margins. Cash was tied up in slow movers, imported stock exposed every order to duty and exchange rate swings, and nobody could say which product lines truly earned their keep.
- What a retained CFO did
- We built gross margin analysis by product line on a landed cost basis, reviewed supplier and forex terms, and set a working capital plan with reorder discipline around the fastest and slowest movers and a cash buffer for hurricane season.
- Representative outcome
- A clearer view of margin and stock turn by line, a path to release cash from slow inventory, and pricing and purchasing decisions grounded in the numbers.
Manufacturing & Food Processing
A selling price set by guesswork
- The situation
- A food processor knew its selling prices but not the true cost to produce each line. Imported raw materials carried duty and forex movement, yield and wastage varied by run, and pricing was effectively a guess.
- What a retained CFO did
- A retained Financial Controller built product level unit costing that included landed raw material cost, labour, and overhead, added yield and wastage tracking by run, and mapped the cash conversion cycle from raw material purchase through to customer receipt alongside VAT remittance timing.
- Representative outcome
- A defensible cost per unit for every line, visibility of where yield and wastage eroded margin, and pricing decisions grounded in real cost rather than a mark up on guesswork.
Hospitality
Busy nights, thin months
- The situation
- A hospitality operator was busy but the monthly result swung unpredictably, and the team could not explain why a strong month for covers was a weak one for profit. A quiet hurricane season stretched cash without a plan for it.
- What a retained CFO did
- A retained CFO put in place outlet and department profitability, labour to revenue tracking, board ready monthly management accounts with written commentary, and a seasonal cash buffer to carry the slower months.
- Representative outcome
- Visibility of which outlets and shifts carried the month, labour cost managed against revenue, and a monthly leadership session to act on the trend.
Healthcare
Growing practice, unclear economics
- The situation
- A private practice was growing, but rising costs and slow paying insurers left the owner unsure which service lines actually earned their keep or when cash would arrive.
- What a retained CFO did
- A retained Financial Controller introduced service line profitability, receivables and payer management to shorten the time from treatment to payment, and capacity planning tied to the numbers, with a cash buffer set aside for hurricane season and VAT remittance dates.
- Representative outcome
- A clear picture of which service lines and clinicians drove profit, a tighter collection cycle on payer receivables, and capacity decisions grounded in the economics rather than instinct.
Find out where your finances really stand.
Request a complimentary financial health review. We will look at your cash position, margins, and reporting, then tell you honestly what is working and what is not. No obligation to go further.
Request a complimentary financial health reviewOnly a limited number of reviews each month. A retained engagement is a predictable monthly fee, far less than a full-time hire.
- Complimentary and no obligation
- Keep the findings, even if we never work together
- A qualified accountant, not a sales call
Prefer to talk first? Email us at hello@helmadvisory.gd.