Sector Specialism
Fractional CFO Services for Service Businesses.
Strategic financial leadership for creative agencies, media businesses and professional services firms — navigating the shift from billable hours to value-based pricing.
The Common Thread
Project-driven revenue. Margin under pressure.
Creative agencies, production companies, accountancy firms, consultancies, recruitment businesses — on the surface these look like different sectors. But they share the same financial pressures. Project-based income that doesn’t always arrive when you need it. Margin that depends on getting the price right and the delivery efficient. Cashflow that rises and falls with milestones. Balance sheets dominated by work-in-progress and unbilled receivables.
And a deeper challenge: many of these businesses are moving away from billable hours toward value-based pricing — accelerated by AI, which is breaking the link between effort and output. The old measurement systems no longer work. How do you forecast revenue when it isn’t tied to hours? How do you measure team productivity when output isn’t time? How do you price work whose true cost is invisible?
Generic finance leadership doesn’t translate. Modern service businesses need a finance practice that understands the rules have changed — and can build the systems to navigate what’s coming next.
Who We Work With
Three sectors, one set of disciplines.
Creative Agencies
Advertising, design, branding, digital, PR. Founders who started as creatives and now run businesses where the financial mechanics matter more each year — especially as AI changes what creative output costs to produce. We’ve worked inside WPP and Ogilvy. We know what good looks like, and where the sector is heading.
Media Businesses
Production, broadcast, publishing, content. Project-driven revenue, complex rights and royalties, talent payments, multi-territory operations. Our team includes former BBC commercial leadership and CFOs who’ve taken media businesses through stock exchange listings.
Professional Services
Accountancy, legal, consulting, recruitment. Partnership structures, complex revenue recognition, lock-up management, partner remuneration. The financial machinery of a professional firm is unlike anything else in the economy.
What We Do
Where service-business founders engage us.
I. Project & client profitability.
The core discipline that works whether you bill by time, by value, or by outcome. Real-time profitability reporting at the project, client and team level. Knowing which work to take, which to repeat, and which to walk away from.
II. Pricing & productivity reporting.
For businesses still billing by the hour: the reporting that shows where margin leaks. For businesses moving to value-based pricing: new metrics that replace utilisation — throughput, project velocity, team output, AI-augmented productivity.
III. WIP & lock-up management.
Reducing the cash trapped in work-in-progress and unbilled receivables. Turning your balance sheet from a constraint into a source of working capital.
IV. M&A and exit preparation.
Buy-side and sell-side. Acquisition integration, vendor due diligence, normalised earnings analysis. Our team has led VC-backed M&A and stock exchange listings in the sector.
V. International expansion.
Opening offices in new territories, multi-currency operations, transfer pricing, talent payments across borders. The financial architecture for service businesses going global.
VI. Revenue recognition.
Long-term contracts, retainers, milestone billing, royalty structures, partnership profit shares — getting revenue recognition right when the rules are genuinely complex.
Your Team
Service-business specialists in the practice.
The practice members most likely to lead a service business engagement. Each brings deep sector experience — and through The Hive Mind, the rest of the practice contributes to every engagement.
Sophie
CIMA · Service Industries & Media
Founder & Managing Director. A decade leading financial strategy for high-growth service businesses, from seed to international expansion.
Tony
ICAS · Creative & Media
Former WPP/Ogilvy veteran. Certified business coach specialising in VC-backed M&A and fundraising for creative agencies and media businesses.
Paul
CIMA, MBA · Media & Creative
Former BBC. Commercial and strategic leadership for owner-managed businesses. M&A, exits and financial modelling experience.
Olivia
CIMA · Media & Creative
20+ years building finance functions from scratch in media and creative agencies. Post-acquisition integration and stock exchange listing experience, with multi-currency UK/US operations.
Chris
ACCA · Professional Services & Not-for-Profit
Group CFO with 15+ years transforming finance functions in professional services. Expert in utilisation reporting, WIP management and complex revenue recognition.
Manny
CIMA, MBA · Creative & Travel
Founding member of Virgin Nigeria Airways. Growth accelerator mentor for creative startups, with deep international media and travel experience.
In Their Words
“WrightCFO provided project support with flexibility and quality that greatly helped the transaction journey. I would happily recommend them to companies looking for similar support.”
Colin Fleming
Revolt Communications
Next Step
Ready to talk?
A 30-minute discovery call with our founder is the fastest route to understanding whether we’re the right fit for your business.
