Profit and cash are different numbers for good reasons: timing, inventory, loans, owner draws, equipment and tax. Where the gap comes from, how to read a cash flow statement, and the monthly check that keeps the two reconciled.

How to build and run a weekly cash forecast: the structure, where each line comes from, how to handle uncertain receipts, the Friday update routine, and the decisions it lets you make months before the bank balance does.

What investors and acquirers expect to find in the financial section of a data room, how far back, in what format, and the gaps that stall diligence: reconciled statements, revenue schedules, cap table, tax compliance, contracts and the model that ties them together.

Why cash received is not yet revenue, how annual prepayments are recognised month by month, what deferred revenue does to the balance sheet, the tax side, and what it means for SaaS metrics and for a sale of the company.

The margin is the number that decides whether growth helps or hurts. The seven ways small businesses get it wrong: payment fees, shipping, contractor cost, discounts, refunds, inventory and blended averages, with the fix for each.

What a virtual CFO does, the signs your business needs one, and how virtual CFO services compare in cost to a full-time hire — a practical guide.