Financial Needs Assessments
A fixed-scope, fixed-fee diagnostic of your organization's financial operations. What's working, what's exposed, and what to do about it — in priority order, with costs attached.
Most organizations don't need a consultant to tell them something is wrong. They already know. What they need is someone to tell them precisely what, in what order, and what it costs to fix.
When organizations call us
A new executive director inherited books they don't trust
A district is facing a mill levy, bond, or major capital decision
A large restricted gift or grant arrived and nobody's sure how to handle it
The board keeps asking about reserves and getting different answers
Growth has outrun the finance function
An audit produced findings and there's no remediation plan
The board needs an outside read before committing to something expensive
What we examine
Fund structure and restriction tracking · chart of accounts and functional allocation · grant compliance and reporting readiness · cash flow, reserves, and liquidity · budget process and accuracy · internal controls and segregation of duties · financial policies · staffing and systems fit · board reporting quality
How it works
Phase 1 — Discovery. Document review, systems access, and interviews with staff and board leadership.
Phase 2 — Analysis. We test what we were told against what the records actually show.
Phase 3 — Findings. A written report: current state, risks ranked by severity, and prioritized recommendations with cost estimates.
Phase 4 — Presentation. We present to your board or leadership and answer the hard questions in the room.
Typical engagement: 6–10 weeks.
Fee: starting at $10,000, scoped to size and complexity.
What you get
A written assessment your board can act on, a prioritized roadmap, and a straight answer about whether you need ongoing support — including an honest answer if you don't.
"Though he's not internal and didn't have any clients in our exact business, that hasn't fazed him — he's learned the business, the industry, the ins and outs, all to help us make smart financial decisions." - Rachel Popp, Co-Founder and CEO, Big Fish Collective