The Owner's Desk
Somewhere to take the decision before you commit to it.
Most owners only find out what their numbers support when they ask a lender, and by then the decision is usually already made. The Owner's Desk keeps the capital side of your business current between engagements: what you can borrow, how much covenant room is left, and whether the move you are considering is fundable. Annual, quarterly or monthly, with no lock-in.
What it is for
The calls owners make on their own, and probably should not.
None of these are emergencies. They are the ordinary decisions of ownership, and each one moves your capital position for years.
“The landlord has offered to sell us the building.”
Owning the premises changes your balance sheet, your borrowing capacity and your rent line all at once. Usually the rent stops being an expense and starts being debt service, and whether that helps depends entirely on the numbers.
“A competitor is quietly for sale.”
The question is not whether you want it. It is whether your existing business carries the debt that buying it creates, and what happens to your covenant headroom the day it settles.
“The bank has offered to extend our facility.”
An offer to lend is not evidence you should borrow. What matters is the position you are left in if the next year is worse than this one.
“We are thinking about a second site.”
A second site is a multi-year cash flow decision dressed up as a lease decision. The downside case is the one worth modelling before you sign.
Cadence and fees
Annual
A yearly read on what the numbers now support.
$1,850
a year
- One full capacity review a year, rebuilt from your current financials
- Covenant headroom brought up to date
- A written read on what the numbers now support
- Email access between reviews
Quarterly
Close enough to catch a move before it is committed to.
$850
a quarter
- Four reviews a year, each against the latest actuals
- Covenant headroom tracked quarter to quarter
- The next move costed before you commit to it
- Ad-hoc calls whenever a decision comes up
- Priority turnaround on any fixed-fee work you order
Monthly
For owners moving fast enough that a quarter is too long.
$1,450
a month
- A monthly review against the latest actuals
- Rolling capacity and covenant position
- Every planned move modelled before it is committed to
- Ad-hoc calls whenever a decision comes up
- Priority turnaround on any fixed-fee work you order
All fees exclude GST.
- No lock-in. Cancel with 30 days' notice at any tier.
- Ad-hoc calls are included, not metered. If you are calling constantly, we will tell you a different tier fits better.
- Fixed-fee work ordered alongside the programme is quoted separately and in writing, as always.
- The programme is analysis and advice on your own numbers. We do not arrange credit and we are not a credit representative.
What we cover
- What the business can borrow today, rebuilt as the numbers move
- Covenant headroom, and how much room is left before it bites
- Whether the next move is fundable, before you commit to it
- Buying the premises versus continuing to rent
- Expanding, and what the downside case actually costs
- What a credit team will make of your file if you go asking
What we do not, ever
- Management reporting packs and monthly accounts
- Tax advice, BAS agent services and bookkeeping
- Financial statement preparation
- Audit or any assurance opinion
- Arranging credit, or recommending any particular facility
That list is the product, not a disclaimer. Your accountant keeps the compliance work and the reporting, and most of what we do sends more of it their way rather than less. How we work with accountants.
Deliberately narrow
One side of the job, done properly.
A virtual CFO runs your whole finance function, and the going rate reflects it. This covers one part of that job, the part almost nobody covers: what your numbers support, what a credit team would make of them, and whether the move you are weighing up survives a bad year.
It is the same analysis that sits behind the Debt Capacity Assessment and the Growth Scenario Model, kept current instead of rebuilt cold each time you need it.
Is the problem the numbers, or having nobody to think with?
This works on the business's numbers and hands you a workbook. If what you actually want is a standing conversation about running the place, with someone in your corner between sessions, that is The Sounding Board.
Want a straight read on your deal?
Book a free call with Nicholas. Bring the numbers you have, and we will tell you the right service level and the fixed fee. No obligation.
Common questions
No, and it is deliberately narrower. A virtual CFO runs your finance function: reporting, month end, often the accounting itself. The Owner's Desk covers one side of the job, the capital side, which is the side almost nobody else covers. What can the business borrow, how much covenant room is left, is the next move fundable, and what would a credit team make of the file. Your accountant keeps everything else.
No. We do not prepare management reports, monthly accounts or financial statements, we do not do tax, BAS or bookkeeping, and we never will. Those stay exactly where they are. Most of what we do generates work for your accountant rather than taking it, because a client planning a purchase or an expansion needs their structure and tax position looked at.
Annual suits an owner whose position changes slowly and who wants a yearly read on what the numbers now support. Quarterly is the common choice: close enough that a move gets checked before it is committed to, without a standing meeting every month. Monthly is for owners moving fast enough that a quarter is too long, usually mid-acquisition or mid-expansion.
The call you want to make before you commit to something. A landlord has offered to sell you the building. A competitor is quietly for sale. Your bank has offered to extend and you are not sure whether to take it. Those are the calls this exists for, and they are included rather than metered. If you are calling constantly, we will tell you a different tier fits better.
No. Thirty days' notice at any tier, and no minimum term. Fees are payable for the period you are in and nothing beyond it. We would rather you stayed because the reviews are useful than because a contract said so.
Yes, and they are quoted separately in writing as always. What the programme changes is that the base work is already done and current, so a piece of fixed-fee work usually starts from a warm file rather than a cold one, and it gets priority turnaround at the quarterly and monthly tiers.
No. It is analysis of your own numbers and a view on what they support. We do not provide financial product advice, tax advice or legal advice, and we do not arrange credit or recommend particular facilities. Where a decision needs your accountant or your solicitor, we say so and flag exactly what to ask them.
The Owner's Desk provides commercial analysis and advice on your own figures. It is not tax advice, legal advice or financial product advice, and it is not credit advice. Andorra Advisory Group does not arrange credit and is not a credit representative.