One person accountable for financial health.
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A financially explicit goal, and a path to get there.
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Accurate. Timely. Simple. Predictive.
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A meeting that produces decisions.
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Jay explores financial leadership from every angle.
“Jay has appeared on my stages multiple times, and he's delivered everything from keynotes to fireside chats.”
Driver
One person accountable for financial health.
What's the difference between a controller and a CFO?
A controller owns financial administration. A CFO owns financial health. Most growing businesses have the first and assume they have the second.
“As a former CFO, I have found his process to be better than anything I've seen before.”
“As a former CFO, I have found his process to be better than anything I've seen before.”
Why do owners end up carrying every money decision?
Plenty of accounting help, no financial leadership, and every big money decision resting on the owner alone.
Who should own the financial health of a business?
One person, by name, accountable for the financial health of the business. Jay calls them the driver.
What is the chasm in a finance team?
The gap between looking back (accounting and the close) and looking forward (leadership, analysis and the future).
What seats does a finance team need?
Who sits in each seat: AP, AR, payroll, GL, controller, FP&A and CFO. A functional chart, not a people chart.
How does an owner get out of the financial weeds?
The owner should carry the vision and make better bets, instead of pulling numbers into spreadsheets.
Direction
A financially explicit goal, and a path to get there.
What is a financially explicit goal?
A goal with a number and a date: revenue, profit margin and what has to be true operationally.
How do you turn a five-year goal into this quarter's plan?
Work back from five years to three, one and this quarter, so the quarter becomes the first measurable move.
Should a business chase revenue or profit?
Elite leaders hold the line on profit, then chase cash flow, the oxygen of the business.
Where is margin won or lost?
Where profit is won or lost: price, cost of goods and the operating expenses underneath.
Who should own a department budget?
Department leaders own their number and think like CEOs.
Why does break-even matter?
The revenue line the business has to clear before it makes a dollar. One of the plays on Jay's FIT Calendar.
Data
Accurate. Timely. Simple. Predictive.
What makes financial data trustworthy?
Accurate, timely, simple and predictive. Bad data is worse than no data.
What's the difference between profit and cash flow?
Profit is what the P&L says you earned. Cash flow is what moved through the bank. You need to watch both.
How fast should a business close its books?
Pre-close from the 23rd, close in the first week, then review. The number one cause of a slow close is manual work.
What slows down the monthly close?
Physical checks, manual approvals and rebuilt spreadsheets slow everything down. Systems first, AI second.
What are balance sheet skeletons?
Five warning signs in the balance sheet an owner can spot without an accounting degree.
What is the 5×5×10 P&L?
Five revenue lines by type of work, five cost of goods lines and ten operating expense lines. A P&L an owner can read.
How many ways can you increase cash without a loan?
Seven ways to increase cash without a loan, new capital or selling assets.
Why is price the best lever for profit?
Price is pure margin. All of it falls to the bottom line, and it's the lever most owners avoid.
What is working capital, and how does it free up cash?
Collect sooner, pay on terms, hold less inventory. Money already earned, sitting in the wrong place.
How do AR and AP terms affect cash?
Collect ten days faster and pay five days slower, and cash shows up without a single new sale.
What is a 13-week cash forecast?
Every dollar in and out for the next quarter, so cash never hits the floor.
What is a 12-month rolling forecast for?
A 12-month view that lets you model decisions before you make them.
What is the Financial Clarity Stack?
Four layers: Seven Sources, a 13-week forecast, a 12-month rolling forecast and an annual budget.
Discipline
A meeting that produces decisions.
How should a monthly finance meeting run?
Ten minutes on the past, fifty on the future.
“Jay's presentation helps business owners turn financial information into meaningful action.”
“Jay's presentation helps business owners turn financial information into meaningful action.”
What is the FIT Meeting?
Financial Impact Tracking: a win, goals, projects and a BLUF Review, then the forecast, the calendar and closing the gap.
What is a BLUF Review?
Bottom line up front: revenue, gross profit, net profit and cash against target, with a why for each.
What is a FIT Calendar?
A year of finance reviews and plays, so finance stays proactive instead of reactive.
How do you build accountability into finance?
Commitments at the end of every meeting, reviewed at the start of the next.
Pick a topic.
Bring Jay to your room.
Last updated October 2026