The Engagement

After the Sprint: the model, cadence, and decisions kept current.

The Engagement is the monthly continuation for owners who completed a Control Sprint and want the model maintained, the cadence run, and the decision layer kept alive instead of rebuilt every quarter. Same operator. Same method. Same calculation engine. Kept current.

Fee $2,500 monthly
Notice 30 days’ either side
The Engagement begins after a Control Sprint. Direct-to-Engagement enquiries handled separately.
Sequence

The Sprint stands alone. The Engagement is for owners who want it to stay alive.

Some Sprint clients take the model, run it themselves, and never return. That is the Sprint working as designed. The model is theirs, the calculation engine is visible, and the decision pack is enough to operate against for the next twelve months. Nothing about the firm depends on those clients converting into a retainer.

Other Sprint clients want the model maintained on a monthly cadence, the cash forecast refreshed weekly, and an operator on call when a hire, contract, or capex decision lands. That is the Engagement.

Both outcomes are normal and counted as success. The Engagement is never a precondition for the Sprint. The Sprint is never a sales funnel for the Engagement. The continuation decision happens after the Sprint, with the working model already in your hands, which is the only way the choice is honest.

DAY 0–10
OPTIONAL
MONTHLY
30-DAY EXIT
01
Control Sprint
Ten business days. Fixed fee. Model and decision pack handed over.
02
Continuation decision
After delivery. Some clients stop here. Some continue. Both healthy.
03
Ongoing Engagement
Monthly cycle. Weekly cash refresh. Decision support between cycles.
04
Exit
30 days’ notice from either side. Model stays with you. Portal access ends.
DAY 0–10
01

Control Sprint

Ten business days. Fixed fee. Model and decision pack handed over.

OPTIONAL
02

Continuation decision

After delivery. Some clients stop here. Some continue. Both healthy.

MONTHLY
03

Ongoing Engagement

Monthly cycle. Weekly cash refresh. Decision support between cycles.

30-DAY EXIT
04

Exit

30 days’ notice from either side. Model stays with you. Portal access ends.

What the Engagement maintains

What the Engagement keeps current.

The Sprint built it. The Engagement keeps it running on a fixed cadence. Each capability has a named cadence and a named output.

#
Capability
Cadence
Output
01
Monthly management reporting
P&L by department, service line, or location, with consolidated view, balance sheet, cash position, and variance against prior period and budget.
Monthlyeach cycle
Portalreviewed pack
02
13-week cash forecast
Refreshed weekly, with trough-week alerting against a configured minimum-cash threshold.
Weeklyeach Monday
Portalcash alert
03
Margin and profit map
By the dimension that matters: client, project, service line, department, location, job, or unit.
Monthlyrefreshed
Modelworkbook view
04
Calculation engine maintained
Inside the Excel model the client owns, version controlled in their environment.
Monthlyversioned
Workbookclient-owned
05
Scenario layer kept current
Hire impact, capex, pricing, expansion, hold-spend, downside.
Monthlyupdated
Modelscenarios
06
KPI cadence
Definitions held stable across periods, sparkline view per tile, on / watch / off status.
Monthlyupdated
PortalKPI tiles
07
Portal refreshed
Monthly, displaying reviewed outputs from the maintained model.
Monthlypublished
Portalfull surface
08
Decision support between cycles
Hires, pricing, capex, cash events, customer concentration, contract exposure, pre-commitment readiness.
Betweenas needed
Asyncor scheduled
08 capabilities · one operator · one method
Comparison

Sprint and Engagement, axis by axis.

The Engagement is not a different product. It is the Sprint method, kept running. Each axis below shows what carries forward, what extends, and what gets added once the cadence starts.

Axis
Sprint
Delta
Engagement
AShape
Fixed-scope diagnostic
Change
Ongoing operating finance function
BDuration
10 business days, then ends
Extend
Monthly, 30 days’ notice from either side
CFee
Fixed fee, $5,000
Change
Monthly retainer, scoped per engagement
DOutput
Owner pack and model handed over
Extend
Reviewed monthly pack, model maintained, portal refreshed
ECadence
One delivery call
Add
Monthly review, weekly cash refresh, between-cycle decision support
FModel state
Handed over, client runs it
Maintain
Maintained, client still owns the workbook
Reversibility Sprint clients can take the Engagement at any point after delivery. Engagement clients can return to a Sprint-only relationship at any point on 30 days’ notice. The model belongs to the client throughout.
Cadence

How the month runs.

One monthly cycle. One weekly cycle. Between-cycle decision support when it is needed. The score below maps the rhythm across one month.

Pricing

Monthly retainer. Scoped to the business.

$2,500 monthly. Single entity, one to two named users, monthly model refresh, weekly cash refresh, monthly review, ad-hoc decision support inside reasonable limits. Multi-entity, deeper margin work, expanded portal access, or heavier decision tempo can push the fee. Final monthly fee is fixed in writing before the first invoice runs. No annual lock-in.

Monthly retainer
$2,500 monthly
Final fee in writing before month one. No annual lock-in. 30 days’ notice from either side.
Light touch Single entity, monthly model refresh, weekly cash refresh, monthly review, one to two named users. SCOPE
Standard Multiple departments or locations, full margin map, several named users, between-cycle decision support. MOST LAND HERE
Multi-entity Multiple entities, deeper consolidation work, additional scenario modelling, expanded portal access. SCOPE
BILLED MONTHLY IN ADVANCE 30 DAYS’ WRITTEN NOTICE NO ANNUAL LOCK-IN
Fee axes · what moves the floor up 04 dimensions
Axis 01
Entities & locations
Floor: single entity. Up: consolidation work.
Axis 02
Margin depth
Floor: headline GM. Up: full client / project / line cuts.
Axis 03
Decision tempo
Floor: no between-cycle support. Up: active decision support.
Axis 04
Portal users
Floor: one to two named users. Up: wider portal access.
Boundaries

What the Engagement is not.

Naming the work is half the discipline. Naming what is excluded is the other half. Each row is a category the Engagement does not cover and a pointer to where it belongs.

The Engagement supports owner-level decisions. It does not run daily finance operations and is not designed to.

Out of Scope · Engagement Boundary 06 lines · refer elsewhere
01
Operations
Not Operations · Not bookkeeping, accounts payable, accounts receivable, or payroll operations.
02
Compliance
Not Compliance · Not tax compliance, audit, or assurance.
03
Advisory
Not Advisory · Not legal, deal, or transaction advisory.
04
Software
Not Software · Not a dashboard subscription separate from a maintained model.
05
Operations
Not Operations · Not day-to-day in-house finance admin.
06
Substitution
Not Substitution · Not a substitute for your accountant, tax adviser, lender, or auditor.
Refer out accountant · tax · lender · auditor · counsel
Next step

Start with the Sprint.

The Engagement begins after a Control Sprint. If you want to discuss the retainer directly without a diagnostic first, that conversation runs on a separate call. Less common path, still real.