Specialty / Business advisory · Virtual CFO
Advisory work, on the same audit-trail spine as the compliance work.
Compliance work is shrinking margin. Advisory is where chartered accountants grow. Marco Reid runs the cash-flow models, the KPI dashboards, the board reports, the exit-readiness checks — with the credentialled CA / CPA signing every output before it reaches the client. The compliance and the advisory live on the same ledger; the same audit trail covers both.
Coverage by jurisdiction.
The statutes, the regulators, and the matter types Marco Reid handles for this specialty in each market.
New Zealand
Authorities
- ✓APES 110 — Independence + ethics for advisory engagements
- ✓APES 220 — Taxation services (where advisory has tax components)
- ✓APES 305 — Terms of engagement
- ✓CA ANZ Member Conduct Rules
- ✓Companies Act 1993 — director-duty advice rails
- ✓Te Tiriti o Waitangi considerations for iwi commercial advisory
What we cover
- ✓Virtual CFO retainers (monthly KPI, cash-flow, board reports)
- ✓13-week rolling cash-flow forecast + scenario stress
- ✓Pricing strategy + margin analysis for SMEs
- ✓Exit-readiness review (10-year vendor-due-diligence prep)
- ✓Capital-raising support (deck, model, VDD pack)
- ✓Director governance + Companies Act compliance advisory
- ✓Iwi commercial entity advisory (post-settlement)
Common matters
Australia
Authorities
- ✓APES 110 + 220 + 305 (CA ANZ + CPA Australia)
- ✓Corporations Act 2001 — directors' duties advisory rails
- ✓AFSL regime (where advisory crosses into financial advice)
- ✓Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (where advisory has tax components)
- ✓ASIC RG 175 — financial product advice (avoid crossing the line)
What we cover
- ✓Virtual CFO retainers (monthly KPI, cash-flow, board reports)
- ✓ATO benchmarks + industry comparison advisory
- ✓Capital structure + debt-vs-equity analysis
- ✓Exit-readiness + business-valuation prep (Maintainable Earnings, DCF, Asset)
- ✓Pre-IPO + capital-raise support
- ✓Family-business succession planning
- ✓Where-the-line-is advisory: avoiding incidental financial-product advice without an AFSL
Common matters
United Kingdom
Authorities
- ✓ICAEW Code of Ethics + Practice Assurance
- ✓Companies Act 2006 — director-duty advisory
- ✓FCA Conduct of Business sourcebook (where advisory crosses into regulated advice)
- ✓ICAEW Practice Assurance Standards
- ✓Insolvency Act 1986 — director-warning advisory
What we cover
- ✓Outsourced FD / Virtual CFO retainers
- ✓Cash-flow + working-capital optimisation
- ✓Restructuring + turnaround advisory
- ✓Pre-pack administration + CVA support
- ✓M&A target evaluation + integration planning
- ✓Where-the-line-is advisory: avoiding regulated investment advice (FCA Authorisation)
Common matters
United States
Authorities
- ✓AICPA Statements on Standards for Consulting Services (SSCS) No. 1
- ✓AICPA Statements on Standards for Tax Services (SSTS)
- ✓AICPA Code of Professional Conduct
- ✓State CPA boards — independence + advisory rules
- ✓SEC + state securities laws (where advisory crosses into investment advice)
What we cover
- ✓Outsourced CFO / Controller retainers
- ✓13-week rolling cash-flow forecast + bank reporting
- ✓M&A buy-side + sell-side advisory
- ✓ESOP feasibility + valuation
- ✓PE add-on integration
- ✓Family office advisory
- ✓Section 1202 QSBS planning + qualification reviews
Common matters
How Marco Reid helps.
13-week rolling cash flow
Drives off the bookkeeping ledger automatically. Updates daily as bank feeds reconcile. Variance-from-forecast surfaced at the partner level; client sees a clean weekly snapshot.
KPI dashboards from real data
Industry-standard KPIs per sector (gross margin, EBITDA margin, days-sales-outstanding, employee productivity, customer-acquisition-cost). Drawn from the live ledger, not from spreadsheets the client emails over.
Scenario + stress modelling
What if rates rise 200bps? What if customer churn is 5% higher? Marco runs the model in seconds; the partner reviews the assumptions and signs the output before it reaches the client.
Board pack drafting
Monthly + quarterly board pack assembled from the ledger + KPIs + cash-flow + commentary. Drafted in the firm's house style. Partner reviews + signs before delivery.
Exit-readiness checklist
10-year vendor-due-diligence checklist. Marco surfaces the gaps (incomplete contracts, undocumented related-party transactions, missing employment agreements, IP not properly assigned). Owner gets a remediation plan.
Where-the-line-is checks
Australia AFSL, US Investment Advisers Act, UK FCA — advisory work that crosses into regulated investment advice without authorisation is a regulatory breach. Marco flags client questions that risk crossing the line and escalates to the partner.
Marco Reid is a workspace and tooling vendor. It is not itself licensed to practise. Every consumer-facing output passes through SignoffRequest and is approved by a credentialled practitioner in the relevant jurisdiction before release.
Move the practice up the value chain.
Compliance is shrinking margin. Advisory is where chartered accountants grow. Marco Reid handles the data plumbing; you handle the judgement calls. Every advisory output signed before release.