What a finance function in this sector actually needs.
Revenue recognition is loose enough that an auditor or an acquirer will restate it, usually over multi-year contracts and set-up fees. Runway is quoted from the current burn rather than the committed one. And the board pack reports bookings, ARR and revenue interchangeably.
We build cohorts properly — retention, expansion and contraction by signing period — so net revenue retention is a measured figure rather than an assertion. Acquisition cost is loaded with the sales cost that actually earns it, and payback is measured on gross margin, not revenue.
Revenue policy is fixed and documented before it is tested by anybody else: what is recognized when, how multi-year and usage contracts are treated, and how set-up and implementation are handled. This is the single most common restatement in a technology diligence.
Runway is modeled on committed cost including hiring already agreed, with the trigger points named — the month you must have raised by, and the month you must have decided by, which is earlier.
What you can do afterwards that you cannot do now.
State net revenue retention with the cohorts to support it.
Survive a revenue recognition review.
Know the date you have to decide by, not just the date you run out.
Matched to the sector, not the postcode.
With a named controller alongside them, a named backup on every seat, and the specialist bench behind both — all inside one fixed monthly fee.
Nobody needs all of it at once.
The diagnostic decides which two or three matter first in your business, and you keep that assessment either way.
Your sector is one conversation away from a written answer. Start with what is actually going on.
One hour on your business, with the CFO who would hold the seat rather than a salesperson. Nothing to prepare and nothing to sign. A written note back within two working days saying what we heard and what we would look at first.