Ask any group of growing business owners what keeps them awake at night, and the answer is almost always the same: cash. Not profit margins, not turnover targets, not even their biggest client relationship. Cash.

And not because they are living lavishly or making reckless decisions. Usually quite the opposite. The truth is that cash has a tendency to leave a business very easily indeed, whilst arriving back in at a rather more leisurely pace. If you have ever run a business of any size, you will recognise that particular rhythm immediately.

So if you are nodding along to any of these, you are in very good company:

"Our VAT bill is due shortly and I am not entirely sure we can cover it."
"Payroll is coming around again and I am going to have to delay my own salary to make it work."
"We want to take on a new hire or launch a marketing campaign, but can we actually afford it right now?"

These are not signs of a failing business. They are signs of a business that has outgrown its financial visibility. And that is a very solvable problem.

Turnover is Vanity. Cash is Reality.

There is a lot of energy in the business world around growing revenue - increasing turnover, improving profitability, landing bigger clients. And of course those things matter. But here is something that does not get said loudly enough: cash flow is the single biggest reason businesses fail. Not poor service. Not bad products. Cash.

A business can be profitable on paper and still run out of money. It can have a full order book and still miss payroll. Understanding your cash position - not just your P&L - is what separates businesses that survive growth from those that stumble at exactly the moment things start going well.

What a Fractional CFO Actually Does About It

This is where the role of a Fractional CFO becomes genuinely valuable, rather than just a nice idea. A good Fractional CFO does not simply review your accounts once a quarter and send you a summary. They get into the mechanics of your business and help you build the systems that give you real financial visibility - on a rolling, practical basis.

Here are ten steps that make a tangible difference to cash flow, and that I work through with clients on a regular basis:

1. Build a rolling cash flow forecast.
Not a once-a-year document that sits in a folder and gets forgotten. A living, breathing forecast that is updated regularly and tells you, at any given point, what your cash position is likely to look like three, six, and twelve months from now.

2. Get invoices out faster.
It sounds basic, but invoice timing matters enormously. Delays in raising invoices translate directly into delays in receiving payment.

3. Tighten your payment terms.
Review what you are offering clients and whether it reflects what your business actually needs. Thirty days is not a universal law.

4. Chase debtors systematically.
A friendly, consistent follow-up process for overdue invoices is one of the highest-return activities any business can implement. It does not need to be aggressive — it just needs to exist.

5. Understand your VAT and tax cycles.
Knowing exactly when your tax liabilities land - and planning for them - means they stop being a nasty surprise and start being a line in your forecast.

6. Manage your supplier payment terms actively.
Just as you want your customers to pay you promptly, there is often flexibility in when you pay your own suppliers. This is a legitimate and underused lever.

7. Review your pricing regularly.
Many SMEs are undercharging for what they deliver. A CFO perspective on pricing - looking at margin, value, and market position - can make a significant difference to cash generation without touching volume at all.

8. Control costs with intention.
Not slash-and-burn cost cutting, but a deliberate review of where money is going and whether it is earning its place. Subscriptions, staffing costs, overheads — these creep upwards quietly if no one is watching.

9. Plan for growth before you need the cash.
Whether you are looking at hiring, a new market, or a capital investment, having the financial model built in advance means you can move with confidence rather than scrambling.

10. Pay yourself first.
This one surprises people, but it is important. A sustainable business is one where the owner's remuneration is planned and protected, not whatever happens to be left at the end of the month.

The Bigger Picture

What all of these steps have in common is that they require someone to be paying attention — consistently, strategically, and with a clear view of the numbers. That is precisely what a Fractional CFO brings to a business that is ready for that level of financial leadership, but is not yet at a stage where a full-time Finance Director makes sense.

The model works because it gives you access to senior financial expertise on a flexible basis, tailored to what your business actually needs right now. No full-time salary, no lengthy recruitment process, no overhead. Just the insight and the accountability that help you make better decisions.

If you are wondering whether this might be the right time to explore it, I have put together a guide that might help you work that out.

Download: 15 Signs You Need a Fractional CFO →

Damian Connolly FCCA is the Founder and Managing Director of Sakura Business Solutions, with over 15 years of commercial finance experience. He works with SME owners across Ireland and the UK to improve financial clarity, support business growth, and prepare businesses for exit.

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