Financial strategy for agencies and creative firms — by someone who's built and run one.
The financial infrastructure most independent agencies and creative firms are missing — and the advisory to build it, maintain it, and use it to run a better business.
Kathleen Riessen — CPA and former agency founder
Most founders of agencies and creative firms built their business on instinct, talent, and hustle. Those have a ceiling. At some point, it's not enough. Your business gets stuck. You need an expert who can not only guide you and your team, but also help you install the systems to make change stick.
Some symptoms include...
Relying on the bank account and tax filings — not current data — to judge whether the business is performing.
Compensation or hiring decisions made on gut feel rather than data, followed by months of anxiety about whether the business can support them.
A record revenue year with a bank account that doesn't match and no clear explanation that makes sense.
A key client leaves and there's a sudden, terrifying realization of how concentrated the revenue is and a mad dash to land more business.
An acquisition inquiry that surfaces the gap between what the business earns and what the financials show.
A senior team member asks a financial question in front of others that you can't answer with confidence.
Your financial reports tell you what's happened. Your CPA minimizes tax exposure. Your bookkeeper closes the month. Your controller makes sure your cash flow is sufficient. But unless you have a highly trained and strategic CFO on your team, nobody builds the operating layer that connects the numbers to the decisions to drive the future of the company. That's what I do.
There's a difference between keeping the books clean and running the business with financial intelligence and foresight.
Most founder-led agencies and creative firms don't have the people or the tools in place to use their numbers beyond closing the month. And if you're doing less than $25M in revenue per year, it doesn't make sense to hire this level of talent full-time. Your tax CPA, bookkeeper, controller, or wealth advisor simply don't have the industry expertise to build what you need.
The answer for most founders under $25M isn't a full-time hire — and it shouldn't be. It's a financial partner who's already worked inside this industry, built this infrastructure before, and can step in at exactly the level the business requires. Someone who's been on both sides of the P&L, who understands why utilization matters, and who knows the difference between revenue growth and actual financial progress.
"Your numbers should tell you where the business is going, not just where it has been. Most founders don't have that."
Most engagements start with the Financial Assessment. From there, the work moves into ongoing advisory — and for founders thinking about a sale or succession, continues through the Exit Readiness Program and into the full transaction.
A structured diagnostic that identifies the gap between the current financial infrastructure and what the business needs. Delivers a live operating dashboard and a prioritized action plan — not a report that gets filed and forgotten.
Ongoing retainer engagement. Monthly dashboard reviews, compensation and hiring decisions backed by real numbers, margin management. This is where the value compounds.
A dedicated session focused on the next 1–5 years: growth targets, enterprise value, and what has to happen operationally to get there.
For founders with a defined exit or succession horizon. Clean financials, a transferable operating model, and a financial narrative built to hold up under scrutiny.
Full sell-side and buy-side process for creative agencies. Most clients start the M&A work through the Exit Readiness Program — before going to market — so they enter a transaction with financials that hold up and a story that earns a better multiple.
We only knew how the business was performing by what was in the bank account. Kathleen rebuilt our financial infrastructure so we had the information we needed at our fingertips. That allowed us to focus on growing the business, not worrying about cashflow.
— Founder, $5M Creative Production and Technology Firm
From financial chaos to a successful sale
A founder-led creative firm with significant revenue but no financial clarity. Reports existed but nothing connected to decisions. Kathleen rebuilt the infrastructure, aligned the team around real numbers, and positioned the business for a sale that reflected what it was worth.
Read the full story →Let's figure it out together.
A 30-minute conversation about where your numbers are and where they need to be. No pitch. No package. No pressure.
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