The business is growing. You’ve raised, hired, or are close. But finance is becoming a bottleneck. You’re flying blind between board meetings, cash surprises keep hitting, and you’re spending too much time in the finance weeds instead of leading the business.
For growing businesses hitting £1m–£5m+ revenue
Scaling fast? Your finance function needs to keep up.
“At this stage, the biggest risk isn’t running out of cash — it’s making decisions without knowing the real numbers. That’s where founders lose time, money, and sleep. We fix that.”
— David, Founder & Ignition CFO
Growing fast but flying blind? That’s not a scaling problem. It’s a finance problem.
When a business scales, finance gets messier before it gets clearer. Reports arrive late, cash surprises become normal, and founders end up buried in the operational weeds instead of leading. Ignition steps in as your fractional CFO, building the reporting rhythm, installing financial discipline, and giving your leadership team the clarity to make faster, more confident decisions.
Common Finance Challenges
- Fragmented systems and no consistent reporting
- Founders stuck doing finance instead of leading
- No budget discipline or variance tracking
- Missed investor updates or board deadlines
- Cash flow surprises and runway uncertainty
- Hard to justify a full-time CFO hire
At this stage, you don’t need a full finance department. You need a senior CFO who can cut through the noise, set up the right foundations, and give you a clear picture of where you stand — financially and strategically.
What changes when Ignition steps in?
This is where most founders hit the wall.
The business has outgrown its financial foundations, but a full-time CFO is either too expensive or too early. You need someone who takes ownership of the finance function, not just someone who sends reports.
Ignition steps in as your fractional CFO. We build the reporting rhythm, install financial discipline, and give your leadership team the clarity to make faster, more confident decisions. We work alongside your existing team, or we can be the team.
What we typically deliver at this stage
Finance function diagnostic and improvement plan. We assess what you have, identify the gaps, and put a structure in place that grows with you — so finance never becomes the bottleneck.
- Monthly management and board reporting
- Budget build, tracking, and variance analysis
- Cash flow management and forecasting
- Investor update preparation and support
- Finance team oversight and coordination
- Systems review and process improvement
Relevant Packages & Pricing
Support that matches your pace, not the other way around.
At this stage, you need someone who takes ownership of finance, not someone who sends you a report once a month. Most scaling businesses start with Fuel and add Blaze when the volume demands a full team.
Engine
The Right Structure for Sustainable Growth
At this stage, finance must move from reactive to disciplined.
As hiring increases and investor expectations rise, consistent reporting, forward cash visibility and budget control become essential.
Engine introduces structured monthly oversight.
Function delivers full finance ownership where complexity demands it.
From
£2,250 – £3,250
/month
Subscription Includes:
- Weekly or fortnightly bookkeeping
- Monthly payroll (RTI + pensions)
- Quarterly or monthly VAT returns
- Annual statutory accounts + Corporation Tax
- Structured month-end reconciliations
- Basic financial controls
- Email support + ad hoc calls
- Defined monthly close timetable
- Monthly management pack (P&L, BS, Cashflow + KPI dashboard)
- Rolling 6–12 month cashflow forecast (updated monthly)
- Annual budget + quarterly variance review
- Strengthened controls & process improvements
- Dedicated Slack / Teams channel
- Scheduled monthly CFO finance review (60 mins)
- Investment decision support (within defined scope)
Strategic Extensions for Scaling Businesses
As complexity increases, we provide specialist support in modelling, incentives, reporting and controls — integrated into your structured finance function.
Board / investor reporting
Investment decision support
Equity & Incentive Schemes (EMI & EIS)
R&D Tax & Innovation Reliefs
Personal Tax for Founders
Cashflow, Forecasting & Capital Planning
Controls & systems optimisation
At scale, instinct isn’t enough. You need numbers you trust.
Finance shouldn’t slow you down.
Let’s talk about how Ignition can take ownership of your finance function, so you can focus on leading the business.