Why a Portfolio FD - Phoenix Advisory

Senior finance judgement, right-sized to where your business actually is.

Most founder-led businesses reach a stage where revenue is growing, but clarity is not. Reporting arrives late or doesn't answer the right questions. Cash feels tight even when sales are up. Decisions get made on instinct because no one has the time, the data or the seniority to step back and look properly.

That is usually the point where bookkeeping is no longer enough, but a full-time CFO still makes little sense. A portfolio FD is built for exactly this stage.

What's the difference?

All three roles matter, and most growing businesses end up needing all three over time. They do different things.

Bookkeeper

Records what has happened. Day-to-day transactions, bank reconciliations, supplier and customer ledgers.

— Looks backwards

Protects accuracy.

Typical question: "Has it been recorded correctly?"

Financial Controller

Owns the integrity of the numbers. Month-end close, internal controls, accuracy of management accounts and statutory reporting.

— Looks at the present

Protects control.

Typical question: "Do the numbers tie back?"

FD / CFO (incl. Portfolio FD)

Translates the numbers into decisions. Strategy, forecasting, capital, profitability, commercial direction.

— Looks forward

Protects judgement and direction.

Typical question: "What does this mean, and what should we do about it?"

A bookkeeper protects accuracy. A financial controller protects control. An FD or CFO protects judgement and direction, making sure the business asks the right financial questions and makes decisions before problems arrive rather than after.

Most £1m–£5m businesses already have the first two layers in some form. What they're missing is the third.

Portfolio FD or full-time CFO?

A portfolio FD provides senior financial leadership on a right-sized basis: typically a few days a month, scaling up or down as the business needs it. A full-time CFO is usually the right call once a business needs daily executive involvement and permanent leadership capacity.

Portfolio FD / Fractional CFO

Senior judgement on a right-sized basis. Days a month, scaling up or down with the business.
Typical fee: a fraction of a permanent FD/CFO total cost. Predictable monthly retainer.
Brings cross-business perspective and benchmarks from working with several founders.
Easy to scope, scale or pause as the business changes.
Often the right fit between roughly £1m and £15m of revenue, where senior thinking is needed but not 40 hours of FD attention every week.

Full-time CFO

Full-time leadership. Daily operating involvement and permanent capacity.
Typical cost: £100k–£200k+ all-in for a permanent FD/CFO at this scale, plus on-cost, equity and recruitment risk.
Single-business focus. Deep institutional knowledge but a narrower frame of reference.
A significant hire. Slow to recruit, expensive to undo if the fit is wrong.
Often the right fit once the business has the scale, complexity and capacity to absorb a permanent senior finance hire.

When it fits

When a Portfolio FD is the right fit.

A portfolio FD usually makes sense when several of the following are true:

Revenue is roughly between £1m and £15m, or scaling quickly within that band.
You have a bookkeeper or accountant in place, and the basics are largely under control, but reporting still doesn't give you the answers you actually need.
Cash is harder to predict than it should be. Stock, working capital or channel mix all play a part.
You can't see profitability cleanly by product, channel, customer or service line.
You're making bigger decisions than you used to, on pricing, hiring, capital, lenders and investors, and you want a senior thought partner alongside the bookkeeping.
You don't want, or can't justify, a £100k+ permanent FD or CFO hire just yet.

When it doesn't

When a Portfolio FD isn't the right fit.

A portfolio FD probably isn't the right answer when:

What the business actually needs is a strong bookkeeper or financial controller, not strategic input.
The business already has a senior finance team and needs an FD or CFO embedded in daily operations.
You're looking primarily for tax planning or audit, which is the work of a tax adviser or auditor.

In any of those cases we'll say so on the Discovery Call and, where we can, point you in a more useful direction.

Frequently asked questions.

How much time do you spend with the business?

Most retained engagements run between two and six days a month. The number itself matters less than the rhythm: a regular cadence of reporting, review and decision support, with capacity to step in around bigger pieces of work as they come up.

Do you replace our existing accountant or bookkeeper?

Usually not. We're happy to work alongside your current accountant, bookkeeper or in-house finance team. Where it makes sense to consolidate compliance work into one team, to reduce coordination effort or close gaps, we can do that, but it's never a precondition.

What size of business is this for?

We focus on UK Ltd businesses with revenue between roughly £1m and £5m, occasionally larger where the brief fits. The most common pattern is a founder-led brand with a small leadership team, complexity across products and channels, and ambition to scale without losing control of the numbers or their own time.

Why health optimisation brands?

It's where the work and the personal interest meet. The brands we focus on sell products that help people live, move and feel better, categories I follow personally as someone who trains seriously and buys in this space. That overlap matters: it shapes the questions we ask, the benchmarks we hold, and the conversations we're able to have with founders building in the same world.

How do you charge?

Engagements typically follow a clear sequence: a free Discovery Call, then a fixed-fee Diagnostic Review, then, where it makes sense, fixed-fee projects to put the foundations in place, and an ongoing retainer at the right level of involvement. Compliance services can sit alongside where they help. Indicative ranges are shared on the Discovery Call and confirmed in writing once the brief is clear; every engagement is properly scoped before any commitment.

What happens after the Discovery Call?

If there's a fit, the next step is a Diagnostic Review, the structured starting point for any wider engagement. We'll take you through a short onboarding, then send an engagement letter setting out the scope and the fee. It's all agreed in that one document, so there's no separate proposal to negotiate. If there isn't a fit, you'll get an honest view and, where possible, a useful pointer towards someone better placed to help.