Manufacturers · Food, beverage, fabrication and products
Fractional CFO for manufacturers
A manufacturer pays for materials, energy and wages long before a customer pays for the finished goods. We help you see what each line earns and how much cash the business needs to carry it.
What manufacturers are deciding
Rules and rates are stated in general terms. Your legal adviser or tax adviser can confirm how they apply to your business.
What each product line really earns
Energy, wages and machine time sit in overheads until they are costed into each line, and a busy factory can hide a line that loses money.
How much cash the stock and debtors hold
Raw materials, work in progress and finished goods are paid for well before customers pay, so growth can drain the bank account.
When to sign the next energy contract
For sites using under 100 MWh a year in south east Queensland, default electricity offers reset each 1 July, and last year the regulator published its draft in March, so the timing of a new contract matters.
Whether to buy the next machine
Depreciation, the $20,000 instant asset write off for smaller items and, for a machine used in eligible research, the R&D Tax Incentive change what it costs after tax. Your tax adviser can confirm how they apply to you.
Illustrative example · Manufacturer · Queensland
Eighteen days off the cash cycle, worked through for one manufacturer
A food manufacturer turns over $6,000,000 a year, and its materials, packaging and production labour cost $3,720,000. It holds 55 days of stock, its customers pay in 48 days and it pays its suppliers in 35, so $992,877 is tied up in stock and debtors after what it owes suppliers. That is a cash conversion cycle of 68 days.
Bring stock down to 45 days and debtors to 40, with suppliers still paid in 35, and the same business carries $759,452. The difference is cash the owner can use.
68 days
Cash conversion cycle today
$992,877
Tied up in stock and debtors
50 days
Cycle after 10 days off stock and 8 off debtors
$233,425
Cash released
Stock days and creditor days are measured on the cost of goods and debtor days on revenue, as most benchmarks do. Creditor days use the full cost of goods for simplicity, so on purchases alone the supplier credit would be smaller. Your own figures come from your stock report and aged debtors and creditors.
Illustrative, modelled on a food manufacturer of this size. Not a client engagement.
Method: the cash conversion cycle as stock days plus debtor days less creditor days, with each balance worked from annual cost of goods or revenue over 365 days. Worked in code on 22 October 2026.
How an engagement runs
Every engagement starts with discovery and a diagnostic in the first two weeks. We get under your numbers, from stock by line and the cost of each production run to payroll and aged debtors, and surface the issues and opportunities that matter most to a manufacturing business.
In weeks three and four we set up clean reporting, a cash flow forecast and the rhythm of reviews. The first decisions land in the second month, in pricing, cash or cost, and from the third month we are part of how the business runs, alongside your accountant and bookkeeper. The fractional CFO service page sets out the full scope.
Tools to start with
Free tools on the ProfitPulse tools site for the questions manufacturers ask most, each with its result on screen straight away.
Reading for manufacturers
Common questions
Do you replace our accountant?
No. Your accountant keeps the tax returns, BAS and year end accounts, and your bookkeeper keeps the books. We add the forward looking work: cash forecasts, margins by product line, and the numbers behind decisions on pricing, stock and investment. We share what we find with your accountant, so everyone works from the same figures.
What does it cost?
The fractional CFO partnership starts from $3,750 a month, billed month to month with no long term lock in. When you need a figure for the business, before a sale or a handover, an indicative valuation starts from $4,500 and a comprehensive valuation from $13,500. Each of these is a starting price.
How is the fee sized?
Engagements usually stay at the starting price. Some need closer oversight or a deeper assessment, and the scope and fee rise to match. Find your fit confirms your price based on the characteristics of your business, and the pricing page explains how everything is sized.
Do you work with manufacturers outside Brisbane?
Yes. We work with manufacturers across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, and further afield across Australia. Most of the monthly work happens over video calls and shared reports, with visits to your site as each engagement needs, so distance changes little. The locations we serve page has the detail.
What do you need from us to start?
Read only access to your accounting software, the last two years of financial statements, your stock report by line, aged debtors and creditors, your energy bills and your payroll summary. A first meeting with you covers how orders are won, made and paid. Nothing needs to change in your systems before we start.
Talk it through with us
A 45 minute discovery call is complimentary. Bring your stock report and your aged debtors.