Serena Humphrey FCMA
Fractional CFO to ambitious SME agencies
30 years of experience in helping
business owners build financial success
Serena Humphrey FCMA
Fractional CFO to ambitious SME agencies
30 years of experience in helping
business owners build financial success
I’m a fractional CFO to some of the smartest and fastest growing award-winning SME marketing agencies in the UK.
I’m a straight talker, cutting through accounting jargon, bold and experienced enough to challenge you and hold you to account.
My work is all about helping business owners get what they want from their business, building strength and resilience in as standard, and making sure every part of their business is performing at its peak.
I’ve got a passion for B Corp and triple bottom line reporting, making sure that people and planet get just as much focus as profit.
I love working with agencies and since 2000 I’ve worked with some amazing ones. I’ve developed a passion and specialism for working with agencies and all their very particular issues
How it Works
I have a process. One I’ve been honing for many years to keep my clients safe and their businesses on track, leaving nothing to chance:
Financial Health Check
We start with our signature 130-point financial health check which reports on your financial strategy, accounting data, systems processes and controls, financial skills, financial information and reporting, business protection, and of course your financial strength.
Training, financial controls & systems
Accurate and reconciled book keeping, with robust financial processes and controls sits at the heart of great management information and strong financial performance, so backed up by my Finance Director team of coaches and trainers, together we’ll create your bespoke training and implementation plan, fixing anything we find in the health check, focussing on your priorities and goals.
We’ll work with your accountant, book keeper or finance team to quickly put in place what’s needed to start building financial strength and value.
A clear financial strategy
We have to know exactly where we’re headed, so we’ll make sure you’ve got a clear vision for your business with a solid financial strategy to get there.
Putting the right tools and reporting in place
Having the right information at your fingertips is critical to financial control and success, so we’ll set up your automated cloud management reporting system, create your weekly flash report, build your business dashboard with just the right monthly and quarterly KPI metrics, put the right level of cash flow forecasting in place, a risk register to manage business threats, capacity planning for your billable team, and project & client profitability reporting.
And the routine reporting of the things that create and drive the value of your business – always having one eye on the exit strategy.
The ongoing retainer
Once we’ve nailed the building blocks and routine reporting we get into the regular routine which includes the review and sign-off of your management accounts and balance sheet, analysis and interpretation of the key issues presented at the monthly board meeting, regular reforecasting of the financial plan during the year to keep the profit forecast live, maintaining the risk register, supporting all strategic planning, including annual budgets and 3 year strategy, support and training to your finance team
And of course being there to challenge – being a sounding board and coach with commercial and strategic input to decision making; holding you accountable for what you want to achieve.
This is typically between 1 and 2 days a month.
Who I work with
It’s important to me to love what I do and have time and headspace to dedicate to my clients, so I only work with a few clients at a time.
And I only work with people and businesses that I feel a connection with, and who are committed to the greater good – for people, planet and profit.
If you’re just in it for the money then I’m not for you!
Typically my clients will have a team of 15 – 60 people and turnover of £1.5m to £6m
My Passion Help You Run Your Business And Life On Your Terms
I’m Serena Humphrey FCMA, a leading finance coach and CFO in the UK.
I’ve got over 30 years of experience working in and with hundreds of small companies – I know what it takes to get amazing financial stability and the level of success you want
But this isn’t just a business for me. For over 30 years I’ve been on a deeply personal mission.
In the recession of the early 90s I had a trio of financial disasters; my parents lost their business and home, I lost the house I’d proudly bought when I was 18, and the fast-growing £10m business I worked for as accounts manager went dramatically bust.
I personally had to tell hundreds of people they’d lost their jobs and oversee the heart-breaking dismantling of the most tremendous business I’ve ever worked in. My parents and my bosses lost everything they’d worked all their lives for.
This fuels my life-long passion to help small business owners be the creator of the life, security and success they deserve, and protect them from the results of poor financial management.
I’ve been running my own business since 2000; I’ve employed teams of people and had the sleepless nights worrying about clients, staff and marketing. I get it!
Hear from some of our clients