Serena brings a wonderful combination of searing insight and utter honesty in her approach. It’s refreshing.

Working together with Serena you not only enjoy years of her commercial experience, strong in the knowledge that the numbers you are looking at are robust, you also enjoy knowing that no stone will be left unturned in the pursuit of clarity.

I’ve watched Serena call out the elephant in the room and help founders make brave decisions with confidence. She creates a competitive edge, right there.

Fall over yourself to work with her!

I am delighted to share my positive experience working with Serena Humphrey, of the Fword. Serena provides managed outsourced CFO services to businesses, and I can attest to the exceptional work she has done working alongside me within my clients.

Serena has a breadth of commercial skills and a deep understanding of finance with a developed specialism in the agency space, she also has a wealth of experience working with businesses of all sizes. This means that she can provide insightful advice on a wide range of issues, from strategic planning to day-to-day operations.

Serena is a straight-talking, highly experienced trusted advisor. She has a talent for cutting through complexity and getting straight to the heart of the matter. This makes her an invaluable asset to any business owner or manager who needs clear and actionable advice.

What I appreciate most about Serena is her passion and commitment to doing whatever it takes to get the job done. She is never satisfied with “good enough” and always goes the extra mile to ensure that her clients are happy with the work she delivers. This kind of dedication is rare and valuable, and it sets Serena apart from her competitors.

Serena also has strong financial planning skills. She can help businesses create and execute financial plans that support their strategic objectives. This is especially important for businesses that are looking to grow and expand, as it ensures that they have the financial resources they need to achieve their goals.

Finally, Serena is an expert at creating high-quality financial information and actionable controls. This is essential for businesses that need accurate and up-to-date financial data to make informed decisions. She has a talent for creating systems and processes that ensure that financial information is accurate and accessible, which helps her clients make better decisions and achieve better outcomes.

Overall, working with Serena has been a pleasure. Her expertise and commitment have been invaluable to my clients, and I highly recommend her to anyone who needs help managing their finances. Whether you are a small agency business owner or scaling a larger business, Serena has the skills and experience you need to succeed. I highly recommend her to anyone looking for a skilled financial advisor and partner.

We’ve worked with Serena since 2017 and I can honestly say in that time the guidance that Serena has given us has been absolutely priceless. She’s there by our side in our hardest times giving us practical advice, but she’s also there proactively in the best of times where she’s helped us take our financial understanding to a whole new level.

As the MD it’s absolutely vital to me that I have fast, accurate financial information, along with the financial system Serena has put in place. We’ve grown from 8 people to 55 people over the last few years and our financial systems, processes and information has had to scale with that, and I’m certain that wouldn’t have happened without Serena’s support.

The final thing I’d say, and I know this is felt by the whole leadership team at Hallam, is that Serena adds value well above and beyond the financials; she’s part of our senior leadership team and board where she adds executive level value across our operations, client experience, and our commercial modelling. She really acts in partnership with our business.

I couldn’t be happier with her support and I’d have absolutely no doubt in recommending Serena to other organisations looking for good financial advice.

Serena’s specialised knowledge of the design sector has been an asset to the business, enabling her to provide insightful and strategic guidance that has helped us to make informed decisions about where to invest our resources and how to optimise our operations for maximum profitability.

Her commercial acumen is impressiv; she has a keen eye for identifying opportunities to increase revenue and margins while minimising costs. This has been instrumental in helping us to achieve our financial goals and drive growth for the business.

Equally important has been Serena’s focus on nailing the basics of financial control and reporting. She has implemented rigorous processes and controls to ensure that our financial data is accurate and reliable, and provided clear and concise reporting that enables us to easily track our performance and make informed decisions about how to move forward.

As the MD of the business, this has made my life much easier. I have full confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial data, which allows me to focus on other important aspects of running the business. I also appreciate the way Serena is always available to answer questions and provide guidance, whether it’s a routine matter or a more complex issue that requires her expertise.

Overall, I can say without hesitation that Serena is an invaluable asset to our business. Her specialised knowledge, commercial focus, and commitment to nailing the basics of financial control and reporting have made a tangible difference to our bottom line, and I look forward to continuing to work with Serena as we grow and evolve as a business.

You’ve really helped us to look at our business in a completely different way in such a short amount of time. It’s quite astonishing really – is it a Jedi mind trick? Ha!

Seriously, thank you, we’re very grateful and lucky that our paths crossed as they did.

Serena has a supportive, caring approach to financial strategy that is both tremendously helpful and very reassuring. In helping to get my initial business plan (and the financial plan to go with it), Serena offered me pragmatic advice borne out of her deep experience of helping other organisations get themselves in order. Serena has a sharp, commercial mind and knows exactly how to set your finances on the right track. If you’re looking for someone to help you with your financial management systems then I’d recommend Serena and The F Word in a heartbeat.

We’ve been working with Serena since 2018 on improving everything financial about our business

We realised the basic information we were getting from our accountants didn’t allow us to make quick commercial decisions, with a real time view on the health of our business. Serena has been absolutely instrumental in implementing robust controls, systems and reporting,

We now have automated end to end financial system. As a really ambitious business owners focussed on growth its imperative we have accurate commercial information at hand to make those big investment decisions that will impact the future of our business. Serena has and continues to help us on that growth journey – getting a better financial grip on your business is 100% possible and we thoroughly recommend working with Serena.

I founded the company in 1999 and we recently undertook a successful MBO.

We were advised by Serena who has been working with us since 2017, and she’s helped us in so many different ways. As the business grew she introduced financial processes and systems that allowed us to keep financial control, and that gave us a really robust financial understanding of our company. Serena then helped with our growth planning and work out what we wanted to achieve, and then most importantly she helped us with our succession planning so as we were looking for me as the founder to sell out of the company, preparing robust financial information that allowed us to get a sound valuation which helped us to get a successful MBO.

I would recommend Serena without hesitation; she has played a very important part in Hallam’s growth trajectory and if you’d like any more information please feel free to get in touch with me.

After years of reading her articles and following her work, we approached Serena for some tailored coaching to level-up our skills in finance and strategy. Working with her allowed us to unlock a level of clarity that we never imagined possible.
Serena has given us much more than financial coaching – she has changed the way we get out of bed in the morning, how we decide to spend our day and how we make decisions around our business. Our stress levels have gone down dramatically because we aren’t worrying about something just beyond the horizon that we didn’t know about. Here are some of the ways she’s changed Fat Free Media for the better:

Our financial skills have improved dramatically. We know what needs to be looked at and when, and understand when to bring in the expert accountants, or get external support

• We have a clear view of our financial goals, and have a practical strategy to get there
• We’ve also never had a better work life balance and job satisfaction. We’re hugely excited about the next financial year ahead and about what we’ll be able to achieve in the future

From the very beginning as a new business owner I didn’t have the first clue on management information or cashflow forecasting.  It was fantastic to have Serena supporting me with my finances to ensure my business grew alongside sound financial decisions. Without that support, the progress of the business would have been very different. Serena’s skills are alien to most businesses and have certainly helped Clumber Consultancy survive the first five years.
Serena has facilitated a lot of planning and forward thinking and through it I realised that I was going in the polar opposite direction with my business to what I needed to in order to have the life balance that would be good for my employees and my family.  Being in control of my finances, rather than at the mercy of them, has made a world of difference – and I have the Serena to thank for that!

Serena’s no-nonsense, practical approach to business finance is a breath of fresh air! In our work together Serena was able to apply her vast experience, whilst openly listening to our perspective to come up with unique solutions. She’s a genuinely nice person who really cares about her impact in the world and her mission to give clients freedom from worry through visibility and control of their own business finances.

I hired Serena to take our financial management from being a weakness to a business strength. And she’s certainly given me that.

After struggling to get the monthly management and reporting we needed from traditional accountants, Serena gave us a process and helped us organise how we keep a handle on the finances internally. She tops this off with her incisive brand of consultancy. She probes to the heart of the matter, exposing risks and opportunities to help us grow the business.

Serena does a superb job of steering our financial strategy, growth planning, recruitment and more. If we have a tricky issue to solve I give her a call.

The work we have done together over the last 2 years essentially prepared Blueprint to cope with the effects of Covid, and that potentially without it and the solid foundations on which the business is now based,  Blueprint may not have survived. The planning, forecasting and systems we now have in our business have been transformational and give us the confidence to plan confidently for a bright future.

Since bringing Serena into the business this year I’ve learnt the importance of financial control and visibility. I used to be complacent about the numbers I produced each month because I didn’t really understand how to look at them and read the vital signs.

I can now look at our management accounts in an analytical way to make sure I’m giving the most accurate information to our directors, supporting them to make the decisions needed to be a successful business. We’re able to be think and act quicker which is paramount in business and this means we can be fully prepared for any eventually. Everything I’ve learned so far has enabled me to step up and support the business at a whole new level.

Serena has given me the confidence to present our management accounts which seemed very daunting at first but I’m now confident in our numbers and able to explain how we’ve reached them. It’s starting to become second nature now!

The last 6 months have given me the drive to continue my financial studies into CIMA so I can become more knowledgeable and grow even further. My role has grown so much since the start of the year and I am excited to see where this takes me going forward and how much more I can learn and put into practice within our business.

Since we have worked with Serena and The F Word we have moved up the curve in terms of the quality of our accounting information and the way it is presented.
We’ve introduced financial forecasting, proper budgeting and established allocated funds for specific requirements and set boundaries on spending. Our cash flow is monitored and our working capital is well controlled so we can plan for future growth.
Our finance manager has taken ‘ownership’ of our financial management and reporting and now has much more control and confidence

We’ve recently revived our monthly management meetings and as a result we’ve put in place a rigorous process of checks and balances.

Personally, I too have a much clearer understanding of what I want my financial position to look like and we now have the right plans in the business to achieve this.
In what feels to me a relatively short space of time your support has provided us with a leap forwards and I am very appreciative of your advice and the progress we’ve made.

For many years I’ve been asking my accountant for better financial information.

But they didn’t understand why I wanted and needed more, and for years I felt frustrated, patronised and out of control.

Then my bank manager introduced me to Serena. She knew exactly what I was talking about. She understood where I was coming from…. and more

She came into the business and after a look at what we do, how we do it and the skill set of my team, she came up with an action plan. The rest, as they say, is history.

I now have week by week, month by month, year on year visibility on what is happening in real time in the business. The business levers are identified which shows me where to pull and push in the business to get the financial effects that I want to achieve.

The finance team have had extensive training and mentoring, putting systems and processes into place; they now report to me on key issues such as income, cash flow, debtors. They understand how the quality of their information helps me to make the decisions that affect the company. They are all proud as peacocks and quite right too.

Business credibility with our external financers has taken a boost and they are impressed by our level of understanding and control of our finances. No shocks, no surprises, factual and controlled – just the way that banks like to see things.

Thank you, Serena

We are most certainly NOT experts in finance – I’ve been confused and frustrated for way too long!

Over the years, I’ve have asked accountants to help with financial understanding, and have consistently drawn a blank. I still couldn’t make sense of my business finances. I was devoting more time to finance and less to serving my clients. Which was very frustrating.

Serena helped us translate our figures into something meaningful that we can use to steer our business forward. She TRULY cares about helping people to reach clarity and clearing the confusion surrounding their business finance. She speaks without jargon and holds your hand throughout the process. She is diligent, client focused and sets the bar very high for business integrity.
If you want to know how your business is performing and move your business forward, financial intelligence is a must. Serena can help you develop an intimate understanding of your business finance and move your business forward.

Firstly many thanks for a very productive day yesterday

Quite honestly it is the best day I have ever spent with an external consultant.

I was totally staggered by the sheer scale of your drive, energy and commitment during our day yesterday. I have worked with many professional people previously, the vast majority of them (in particular accountants) will go through the motions, I am frequently sat at the other end of the table feeling I have to wind them up to get a response. This was categorically not the case with you.

I would like to thank you for the passion you showed in trying to help me and our business, considering this was the first time you have visited the progress already made is very encouraging.

We have worked with Serena for many years. We have no hesitation in continuing to work with her now and in the future with our clients. She is first class in helping our clients fix, understand and improve their financial functions.

Serena’s advice has truly changed my life as a business owner. After 10 years running my own firm, I can now say with confidence that I know exactly what’s happening with my cashflow and plan properly for growth. Her advice is invaluable. She is fiercely passionate about helping small businesses get a handle on their finances – and is your critical friend if there is something that you need to stop doing for the good of your business!

As a small business, but with big ambitions it was important for us to understand the underlying financials of what we do and how that reflects on our whole management reporting structure. We engaged with the f word just over a year ago and during this time with their help and expertise we have been able to integrate our business pipeline into our forecasting and also have been able to identify where we need to focus our attention to improve our bottom line. For any company that feels that they need to be setting up this approach, then I would recommend they get in touch with the f word to find out how they can tailor a system that works for you.

Words cannot to describe what you have achieved today. I have loved going through this with you and been blown away how you connect the dots and create a financial plan from my ideas and dreams!
You are truly amazing!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I will keep you posted!!!

Serena was brought into our business to get to grips with our financial reporting, and in particular the long standing issue of WIP that had clouded our financial reporting for years.

She quickly got behind the numbers, implemented a stock and wip control system, and was able to relate the figures to our business in a way that previous accountants had been unable to. We did not believe our accounts before, and that really created doubt and uncertainty as the business grew.

The other benefits of having Serena in the business were that we had someone from the outside, with a breadth of knowledge and experience from other industries, who brought enthusiasm and a fresh perspective, who could be the catalyst for the changes we wanted to make. I found it incredibly valuable having someone independent to confide in about business issues, especially someone who would tell it straight and not necessarily agree with me!

Serena at The F word has been invaluable to our business acting as the interim between finance controllers.
She gets stuck into the business adding value via her extensive knowledge and experience.
Her attention to detail is second to none with the capability to source solutions to most problems.

Although I’m a director and equal shareholder in my business I always felt like “the book keeper in the corner”

Now I feel like the Finance Director and know how important my role is. I know that what I do drives the company forward and keeps it on track.

During my coaching I’ve introduced really comprehensive management reporting and weekly flash reporting which means we can forecast ahead and always know where we are financially. I’ve massively stepped up how I contribute at board meetings and in the day to day running of the business. I feel confident to present my ideas for helping the business to grow and to tackle things that need sorting. I definitely think more strategically now and that’s a big win for my business.

We used to outsource our management accounts and only used to get very basic information. Since I trained with Serena and Chris we’ve developed much better, automated financial information and brought it in-house so I do this myself.

Not only does this save money but we’ve got much more control over our information and better financial visibility. We now have a budget and can reforecast throughout the year so we always know where we’re going, and we use the information to plan different scenarios and make better informed business decisions.

Before I felt like I was just processing the numbers but now I feel have full control and a lot more confidence. I can look at the accounts in depth to understand what’s really going on, and having graphs and KPIs means we can see everything right across the business and can plan for the future in a way we never could before.

Working with The F Word has helped me develop within my role and I have learnt a lot from Serena and Sharon. They’ve extended my financial knowledge to help me see the bigger picture, but also to understand the “why” with key areas in the accounts. This has helped give the business insight needed to push the Company in the right direction and make necessary decisions.

The F Word and SFC have also encouraged me to continue my studies and I am working towards the CIMA Professional Qualification. Serena gave me great advice on how to approach the course which has been very beneficial to my progress. I’m keen to develop my career and progress within my role as Finance Manager to give the best life to my little girl and family, and also to bring more knowledge and understanding to the Company I work for. I’m very grateful to my employer for giving me this opportunity.

Serena Humphrey worked with us at Caprice Holdings to develop a Finance for Non-Finance Manager workshop for managers across our business. The course she developed was exactly what we were looking for to provide no-nonsense explanations of finance to our employees

Serena has a really engaging training style that keeps employees focuses for the whole day. Her passion is what makes her so engaging as a trainer. She was able to explain key finance terms to our staff including P&L and balance sheets in order for our staff to understand the story of what happens in their sites from a different perspective and remove the fear of figures that many have.

As a result of her workshops, our employees that attended have a clear understanding of how the work that they do affects the top and bottom line. All employees left with greater knowledge and understanding than before they attended and are actively involved in initiatives to help both the top and bottom lines.

I recommend Serena for any finance training that you require for your business

Serena at The F word has been invaluable to our business acting as the interim between finance controllers.
She gets stuck into the business adding value via her extensive knowledge and experience.
Her attention to detail is second to none with the capability to source solutions to most problems.

I have known Serena Humphrey for several years and I have recently introduced her to my colleagues and several of our clients. Her unique and pragmatic approach to financial management, coupled with her professional manner and inherent coaching skills, allows Serena to deliver outstanding value in just a few sessions.  Helping the owners of  growing businesses to pro-actively manage their finances and to get the best from their  professional services suppliers. I can happily recommend her services to any business owner who wishes to have more control and insight into their cash, accounts and financial processes. I certainly sleep at night better now that I have adopted some of the simple tools she provided.

Serena always manages to make finance so exciting and interesting, which is brilliant for us and our clients.  Many business owners don’t get to grips with their finance and find it confusing.  Serena has a style that makes it easy to understand and relevant, using clear language and practical examples. She really knows her stuff!

I just wanted to say a HUGE and MAHOOOOSIVE thank you for all your help today. You were practical, professional and inspirational in every way.

With every good wish,
Cathy

Thank you for your expertise yesterday. I think we could have asked you to come sooner! As a growing SME, Serena’s expertise is invaluable in helping us manage our financial growth safely and effectively. We now have the management accounting tools to help us to develop a detailed financial plan that will allow us to assess our risks and forecast more accurately – so we’ll be able to plan when we need to and can afford to take on our next recruit. We’ll be able to feedback to Serena as we adapt the tools to meet our own requirements and become more confident with our forecasting skills’

Serena, thank you for sending me your weekly blog – I don’t think I have ever said that to another blogger before! Your content consistently addresses the financial challenges I am helping growing businesses to overcome on a weekly basis. You then add even more value by helping me to maintain and enhance my knowledge of these matters and by providing practical solutions that I can use with my clients. Keep up the good work and thank you for taking the time and the effort to share your knowledge and experience.

Working with the F word and in particular Serena has certainly increased my financial IQ. As a busy MD together with an important legal caseload that I run personally finances for me has always come down in my list of priorities. As long as everyone was being paid used to be my priority, it still is, but Serena has set up reporting structures for me which allows me to look at all the KPI’s at a glance and be able to make business decisions from a position of being much more informed. As a consequence costs have been reduced, business planning is  a lot more meaningful, banking relationships have improved because of the reports that they receive and as a business in high growth mode we can move ahead more confidentially.o.

“Our general understanding of our business and the process of making decisions on instinct was only going to take us so far. Working with Serena and Wendy has changed the way we work, the way we think and how we view our future. We now have clarity with our financials and can budget, forecast and control the cash flow. Our monthly management meetings allow us to focus and plan all areas of the business whilst keeping a close eye on our overheads and margins. We have been around for nearly 45 years, now I can safely say we will be around for a few more to come.

Thanks again. You and Wendy have made the world of difference here and it couldn’t have come at a better time

I’ve had the privilege to know Serena for a number of years, and I’ve seen first hand the way she really takes care of her clients. She has that rare blend of financial expertise, strategic insight and formidable empathy with people which make her the perfect business partner

In the course of running a business it is not unusual to experience all types of advisors and specialists, of the many, few people create real value and deliver a lasting legacy as a result of their actions and involvement, Serena is one of that rare breed.

Mixing a broad range of understanding with specialist proficiencies, she is able to see the end game and still apply empathy and discretion to the myriad of details that have to be addressed in order to attain sustainable success.

It has been a pleasure and privilege working with Serena and I would recommend her services to those with a serious ambition to succeed.

We first engaged Serena as our business was growing rapidly and we did not have the financial knowledge we needed to keep up with the banks requirements, and we knew the monthly information we got from our accountant was not accurate and didn’t in any way help us run the business.

Serena has identified the problem areas, streamlined all our accounting processes, trained my accounts team to delivery accurate work to a monthly timetable so that we get our group accounts out by week 2, and trained me to manage the accounts team and how to understand the accounts better.

She has torn our stock and margin position apart and put in place systems and controls to make sure the gross margin is always accurate. We now are able to raise finance easily from the bank to fund our continued expansion, as the bank know we have a firm grasp on our financials, and the monthly information means we can spot problems quickly and fix them.

Serena also constantly keeps us focussed on the projected full year result and on increasing the net return.

I feel safe now that Serena is part of the business, she keeps me focussed and is my safety net.

Serena’s advice has been invaluable and her positive attitude is a breath of fresh air, after every meeting with her I always leave feeling incredibly positive and raring to go. I always recommend Serena to business colleagues and will continue to do so.

We have worked with Serena for two years and I can categorically say that we wouldn’t be where we are now if it weren’t for the sound advice we receive from Serena.

Our monthly finance meeting gives us the dedicated time we need to monitor the progress of our business, whilst analysing threats and opportunities. We can then get on with the day to day running of our business, working to deliver our plan, secure in the knowledge that our finances are in safe hands. If you don’t have a ‘Serena’ in your business, it’s about time you did.

Serena has worked with New Art Exchange since 2005, providing strategic, professional and operational advice and support. As an organisation going through significant organisational change and facing a particularly challenging financial environment, Serena has played an active role in guiding the organisation and is contributable to New Art Exchange becoming financially viable and sustainable.

A highly professional, outcome focused and personable individual; the Board and Senior Management Team have enjoyed working with her and will continue to call on her services in the future.

I can without hesitation recommend Serena to provide both strategic and operational policy support whether it be in the private, public or third sectors.

Absolutely brilliant Serena!

Thanks for your help with getting my KPIs and financial structure in place – it makes total sense.  I can’t thank you enough as this really helps!

In the world of small business, there is an army of advisors offering pretty much the same tired solutions as everyone else.

Then there is the F-Word.

Serena Humphrey has realised the emperor is naked, and identified that in many boardrooms up and down the country, directors simply do not have a sufficiently robust handle on their numbers.

For those confident enough to admit they are not omniscient, Serena uses her considerable expertise to bring not just clarity, but revelation.  Uniquely, she does this with empathy and encouragement.

Serena has been pivotal in helping us claw our way out of a loss-making position, through break-even, and into profit; all this in a highly volatile market with very lumpy cashflow.  We are now able to identify meaningful targets and robust measures to identify where we are on the journey to meet them.

I would not hesitate to recommend the F-Word for ANY company – even as a financial health check for those who think they know better

Serena is a breath of fresh air when it comes to talking about and understanding your accounts and your business. She understands that there is far more to a set of accounts than the profit made and tax due. She also knows what you can do now to make sure that you’re running a better, more profitable business.

Running a service business is very time consuming and often the owner (me) can neglect to attend to every single facet of the business.”

Be that down to time or in my case with finance, an admitted lack of knowledge. I met Serena at a networking event and appreciated her no nonsense approach and we arranged to have a one-to-one session to go over the key principles. Within half an hour I was dangerously close to actually enjoying looking at the numbers (a very odd experience) and crucially, understanding how best to use them to forecast and plan for optimum profit and performance.

Hi Serena
Just wanted to say, I love your blog: it’s interesting, informative, accessible and I always look forward to reading it.
Keep them coming!

Serena has been integral to the management of our charity over the last 10 years.

She combines expertise in all things financial alongside an ability to understand how a business operates.

Serena has acted in a consultancy role for several projects during the course of the last three years, including assistance in preparing for the introduction and integration of Microsoft Dynamics (Navision) as the Company’s accounting facility, selection of the Company’s new Deputy Managing Director and the reorganisation of the Company’s accounting function, including selection, assessment and recruiting of a qualified Accountant to head the Administrative function of the Business.

In all aspects Serena has performed to levels above expectations, and always with a very satisfactory outcome. We have no hesitation in recommending her for any finance or senior personnel project that may be presented to her.