Run your firm on real numbers.
RIAs, wealth managers, independent advisors, and financial planning firms. You manage your clients' money with discipline. Your own firm's finances deserve the same.
We work with advisory firms where AUM is real, the client work is great, and the firm-level financials still feel like an afterthought. We bring the same rigor you bring to client portfolios.
AUM is up. Profitability isn't.
Most advisory firms we meet have grown the practice but haven't grown the financial infrastructure. The AUM number looks great. The profit and the cash position tell a different story.
AUM keeps climbing, but profitability is flat or shrinking year over year.
Excess cash is sitting idle in checking, generating zero yield.
You're using a line of credit to cover routine operating expenses.
Owner compensation isn't structured tax-efficiently or benchmarked to industry norms.
Succession, sale, or advisor buy-in conversations stall because the books aren't ready.
You don't know your true revenue per advisor, cost per client, or margin by book.
Financial leadership built for advisory firms.
Advisory firms have predictable revenue but unpredictable operations. Here's where we focus.
Liquidity & cash architecture
Three-month operating reserve protected, excess cash routed to high-yield, and lines of credit paid down without sacrificing access. Your money should earn its keep.
Margin & expense governance
Line-by-line expense audit, hard spending ceilings, and monthly budget-to-actuals with narrative. Margin discipline without losing the culture that grew the firm.
AUM-linked forecasting
Revenue models that tie to AUM flows, fee tier changes, market movement, and client acquisition. So you know what you'll make, not just what you made.
Advisor-level profitability
Revenue, direct cost, and contribution margin by advisor and by book. Compensation and incentive structures that reward the outcomes you actually want.
Valuation & sale readiness
Financials that hold up to buyer scrutiny, adjusted EBITDA with defensible add-backs, and the metrics that move valuation multiples. For sale, succession, or advisor buy-in.
Owner compensation strategy
Salary-vs-distribution mix optimized for taxes, bonus policies that make sense, and benchmarks so you're paid in line with what the firm can actually support.
Three pillars. One financial engine.
For advisory firms with real revenue but a fragile financial structure, we deploy a three-pillar architecture: restore liquidity, optimize profitability, then build forward visibility — in that order.
Cash Flow Management
Liquidity restructuring
- Pay down lines of credit (keep available)
- 2.0 current ratio + 3-month cash reserve
- Excess cash routed to high-yield
- Weekly cash visibility across all accounts
Expense Management
Profitability optimization
- Line-by-line expense audit
- Hard spending limits + austerity plan
- Monthly budget-to-actuals review
- Expenditure governance
Managerial Insight
Forward visibility
- Bottom-up budgeting
- Headcount & employee planning
- Rolling 12-month cash forecasts
- Stress-tested hiring models
It works.
Most established example: a faith-based wealth management firm with $300M AUM that came to us in 2023 leveraged on lines of credit, with idle cash, and operating at margin compression despite strong client relationships.
Liquidity restored. Margins doubled. Owners paid.
We deployed the three-pillar architecture in 2023. Within 24 months, the firm had eliminated its operating debt, built a protected three-month cash reserve, doubled its EBITDA margins, and grew owner compensation by 2.1×. The financial engine that should have come with $300M AUM was finally built.
Curious about the underlying services?
See how our fractional CFO and financial operations services work across every industry we serve.
Simpler finances. A stronger firm.
Start with a Drake Check. We'll show you exactly where your firm's finances are leaking margin, cash, or valuation — and what we'd do about it.
Schedule your Drake Check