Finance, decoded.
The Decipher blog, page 3
Practical finance for founders and owners: cash and runway, SaaS metrics, planning, fundraising, and buying or selling a business.
Cash flow forecasting: methods, templates and an example
What a cash flow forecast is, how it differs from a budget and a cash flow statement, which horizon to use when, direct vs indirect methods, a step-by-step build, a worked example, what to look for in a template, and how investors and lenders read the result.
FP&A software: when you need it and how to choose it
A vendor-neutral buyer's guide to FP&A software: what planning tools do, spreadsheets vs FP&A software, the signs a company has outgrown spreadsheets, an evaluation checklist, and a phased rollout that avoids a wasted year.
How to build a 13-week cash flow forecast, step by step
A step-by-step guide to building a 13 week cash flow model from open invoices, pay dates and bills, running a downside case, and keeping it current every Monday. Includes a free 13 week cash flow template.
Budget vs actual analysis: how to run a variance review
How to build a budget vs actual report, calculate and explain variances, set materiality thresholds, and run a monthly review that ends with owners and actions, plus how a board reads the result.
Burn rate and cash runway: how to calculate them properly
How to calculate gross burn, net burn, cash runway and burn multiple from cash rather than the income statement, with a worked example, a downside case, and how investors read the numbers.
Fractional CFO for startups: when to hire, the work by stage
When a seed to Series B startup needs a fractional CFO, what the work looks like at each stage, and the SaaS metrics, cash view and fundraising materials investors expect to see.
Headcount planning: a hiring plan your cash can survive
How to build a startup hiring plan that ties to the cash forecast: fully loaded cost, start dates and ramp time, hiring triggers, base, accelerated and hold scenarios, and how an investor reads the plan.
How much does a fractional CFO cost? Pricing explained
What a fractional CFO costs depends on scope and stage. How fractional CFOs price their work, what drives the number up or down, how it compares with a full-time hire, and how to tell whether a proposal is worth it.
How to choose a fractional CFO: questions and red flags
Fractional CFO firms, independent fractional CFOs and staffing marketplaces sell very different things under the same title. How to compare them, what to ask on the first call, which red flags matter, and how to line proposals up side by side.
Net revenue retention (NRR): how to calculate and read it
How to calculate net revenue retention (NRR) and gross revenue retention (GRR) from an ARR waterfall, the mistakes that distort them, and what investors check before they trust the number.