Financial clarity for better business decisions.
I help owners and leadership teams improve profitability, forecasting, financial systems, and operational decisions, without the cost or commitment of a full-time CFO.
You can feel it. Your business has grown more complex than the systems and reports running it. That gap is where profit quietly slips away, and it is exactly where I work.
You have financial reports. What you need is financial clarity.
At some point your business outgrew simple accounting. It happened quietly, and it usually looks like this.
If several of these are true, the issue is not effort or talent. It is the gap between having an accountant and having financial leadership. It is common, and it is fixable.
Every role below has value. They solve different problems.
Most growing companies have the first three covered and feel the absence of the last two. That absence is the gap.
Bookkeeping
Captures transactions accurately and keeps the books current.
Accounting & Tax
Produces statements and files returns. Tells you what happened.
Controller
Runs the close, controls, and reporting with discipline.
CFO-Level
Turns numbers into forecasts, decisions, and profit improvement.
Strategic Advisory
Connects finance to operations so leadership can act with confidence.
My role is the last two. I help leadership understand what the numbers mean, what is likely to happen next, and what decisions to consider. I do not replace your accountant or bookkeeper. I give them direction and give you clarity.
Unclear numbers are not free.
When you cannot see where profit is made and lost, the cost shows up quietly and adds up month after month.
The point is not fear. The point is that clarity usually pays for itself, and confusion rarely stays cheap.
I connect the numbers to the business that creates them.
Most finance work stops at the report. Mine starts there. I tie the numbers to your operations, your people, your systems, your processes, and the decisions your leaders make every week. A financial statement is not the end of the work. It is the beginning of a better decision.
I have spent 35 years doing exactly this inside manufacturing, packaging, paper, consumer goods, and construction companies. I have found savings in trim and materials, rebuilt job costing so pricing reflected reality, turned an unprofitable plant around, and put in the controls and systems that kept the gains in place. That is the difference between numbers that describe your business and numbers that improve it.
How I turn financial confusion into confident decisions.
Every engagement follows the same disciplined path. It is not a gimmick. It is how an experienced CFO actually works through a business.
Clarify
Understand your financial position, reporting, margins, cash flow, systems, and decisions, so we start from numbers you can trust.
Diagnose
Find the blind spots: profit leaks, weak processes, operational disconnects, and unnecessary risk.
Prioritize
Decide which financial and operational improvements will move the business the most.
Implement
Improve reporting, forecasting, systems, accountability, and financial discipline.
Advise
Help ownership and leadership use the information to make stronger decisions, and stay in the room for the big ones.
Three ways to work together. One clear place to start.
Every engagement begins with the Assessment. From there we do only what fits your business.
Financial & Operational Clarity Assessment
Strategic Finance & Fractional CFO Advisory
Project-Based Financial & Operational Consulting
What clarity actually gives you.
The technical work is mine to worry about. Here is what you get from it.
I will not guarantee a result I cannot control. I will commit to clarity, focus, and disciplined follow-through, which is usually what unlocks the rest.
Thirty-five years where finance meets operations.
Not a chronological résumé. Here is the experience organized by the value it brings to your business.
Executive Financial Leadership
- CFO, VP of Finance, Corporate, Regional, and Multi-Plant Controller roles
- Reporting into ownership and private-equity sponsors
- Strategic leadership team member
Industries Served
- Manufacturing and paper
- Packaging and consumer goods
- Construction and general contracting
Operational Finance & Cost Accounting
- Job costing, product and plant margin analysis
- Trim, waste, and cost-of-quality improvement
- Pricing aligned to true cost
Systems & Implementation
- New ERP implementation across plants and distribution
- Construction and finance software rollouts
- JDE, SAP, BPCS, Timberline, ProCore, and more
Profitability & Turnaround
- Negative EBITDA to sustained profitability in six months
- Consistent EBITDA outperformance versus budget
- Margin and cash-flow recovery
Process, Controls & Teams
- Internal control effectiveness raised from 54% to 90%
- KPI-linked incentive and commission plans
- Multi-site teams led and developed; BRC certification
Reserved for two or three short quotes, added once Paula confirms permission to publish. Nothing here is invented.
How this looks in practice.
Built from verified career outcomes. Full, client-approved case studies will replace these once permission is confirmed.
A plant that was losing money
- Situation
- A multi-plant packaging business with one plant running at a loss.
- Hidden problem
- Margin was leaking through product mix, sequencing, and waste, with no single obvious cause.
- Analysis & action
- Reworked product margins and production sequencing, reduced waste, and tightened sourcing and cost discipline.
Growth without job-cost clarity
- Situation
- A fast-growing contractor pricing work without reliable job costs.
- Hidden problem
- Estimates were not aligned to true labor, material, and overhead cost.
- Analysis & action
- Implemented companywide construction software, rebuilt job costing, and tightened billing discipline.
Case-study template for future stories: Situation, Hidden problem, Paula's analysis, Action taken, Result, and Leadership lesson. Provide the client situations you can share and each one becomes a full study.
- Experience 35 years
- Credentials CPA, MBA
- Certification Lean Six Sigma
- Sectors Mfg · Packaging · Construction
- Education Lakeland College
- Board Treasurer, CBT
I believe numbers should help you lead, not just look back.
For most of my career I have sat where finance meets the factory floor and the job site. I started in cost and pricing, and I have been a plant controller, a corporate controller, a regional controller, a vice president of finance, and a CFO across manufacturing, packaging, paper, consumer goods, and construction.
What I learned in those rooms is that a report is only useful if it changes a decision. The companies that thrive are not the ones with the prettiest financials. They are the ones whose leaders can see clearly where they make money and act on it with confidence.
I am moving into advisory work on purpose. After years of leading finance inside companies, I want to bring that same experience to a small number of businesses at a time, as an advisor rather than a full-time hire. I am not stepping back from the business world. I am bringing what I know to owners who need senior financial and operational insight without carrying the cost of a full-time executive. I enjoy working with leaders who want to understand their business more deeply and are willing to act on what we find.
Who I help
- Privately held and family-owned companies
- Manufacturing, packaging, and construction businesses
- Multi-location and distribution operations
- Roughly $3M to $100M in revenue
- Companies that have outgrown basic bookkeeping
- Businesses with margin pressure or weak forecasting
- Companies preparing for growth, succession, acquisition, or sale
Who this is not for
- Companies that only need bookkeeping or a tax return
- Owners unwilling to share accurate information
- Owners who want advice but will not implement it
- Businesses shopping only for the cheapest provider
- Anyone expecting guaranteed outcomes
- Situations needing services I do not offer, such as audit or tax filing
The big question: are we a match?
I do not provide bookkeeping, audit, or tax-filing services. I work alongside the people who do.
A simple, low-pressure path.
Financial Clarity Conversation
A focused call about your business, current problems, goals, and financial leadership needs.
Assessment
I review the information, identify gaps, and determine the priorities that matter most.
Recommendations
I present findings, priorities, and a clear recommended path forward.
Engagement
We begin a project, advisory relationship, or fractional CFO engagement only if there is a strong fit.
The Financial Clarity Scorecard
Find out whether your reporting, forecasting, cash management, and operating measurements are giving leadership what it needs to make confident decisions.
Frequently asked.
What is a fractional CFO?
How are you different from an accountant or bookkeeper?
Do you replace my current accounting team?
What size company is the best fit?
Do you work remotely or on-site?
Can you help with one specific project?
What industries do you serve?
How long does an engagement last?
How are engagements priced?
Do you provide tax or audit services?
Can you work with my CPA, banker, attorney, and leadership team?
Better decisions begin with better financial clarity.
This is a focused conversation to understand where your business is today, where financial visibility may be breaking down, and whether my experience is relevant to your situation. There is no assumption of an engagement, and no pressure. I work with a small number of companies at a time.
Schedule a Financial Clarity Conversation