Startups
Runway you can rely on, and books that survive diligence
Early finance is judged twice: monthly, on whether the runway number is right, and once, brutally, in diligence. We build for both — a forecast that holds, and records that survive being examined.
Runway you can rely on.
Reconciled actuals → burn → months remaining
At a glance
Runway is computed from a spreadsheet that does not reconcile to the bank.
Numbers you can act on
Burn, runway and the cash bridge between months.
The economics
Why the numbers are harder here
A startup's finance function is usually assembled under time pressure by people doing three other jobs. That is reasonable and it works, until two things happen at once: the runway calculation starts driving real decisions, and an investor asks to see the underlying records.
The second is where the cost of the first shows up. Diligence does not ask whether the business is good; it asks whether what it has been told is verifiable. A company with strong numbers and weak records is a harder diligence than one with modest numbers and clean ones.
The problem
Where visibility breaks down
- Runway is computed from a spreadsheet that does not reconcile to the bank.
- Revenue is recognised on invoicing or collection rather than on delivery.
- Founder and company expenses are mixed, which is a diligence finding every time.
- Equity instruments, option grants and convertibles are recorded informally or not at all.
- Investor reporting is assembled fresh each quarter, so the numbers move between decks.
Where we concentrate
How we focus the engagement
Numbers you can act on
- Burn and runway computed from reconciled actuals, updated on a fixed cycle.
- Revenue recognised on a stated basis, applied consistently.
- Unit economics built from real cost, including the costs founders tend to omit.
- Scenario planning around the decisions actually in front of the board.
- A reporting pack that stays the same shape, so numbers can be compared.
Diligence readiness
- Statutory records, filings and registers current rather than reconstructed.
- Cap table, option grants and convertible instruments documented and reconciled.
- Related-party and founder transactions identified and disclosed before they are found.
- Contracts, leases and obligations assembled in one place and kept there.
- The basis for every assumption in the projections written down at the time.
Reporting
Reports worth receiving
- Burn, runway and the cash bridge between months.
- Revenue by cohort and by recognition basis.
- Unit economics with the cost build shown.
- Budget against actual, with variances explained.
- A diligence file that stays current rather than being assembled on request.
Common questions
Questions we hear in this sector
We are pre-revenue. Is this premature?
The runway calculation matters most when there is no revenue to cushion an error in it, and the records built now are the ones diligence will examine later. Starting clean is considerably cheaper than reconstructing.
Do you value the company or advise on the raise?
No. Statutory valuation is signed by an independently engaged licensed professional. We prepare the financial information, the assumptions and the supporting records the process depends on.
Can you work alongside our existing accountant?
Yes, and often that is the right structure — bookkeeping continues where it is, and we add the reporting, controls and readiness layer above it.
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