Management Control for SMEs.
Financial control, key indicators and monthly follow-up to make better decisions, with recurring external financial support.
We act as external financial support for companies that need more control, follow-up and financial visibility through a recurring external service. We work on margins, costs, cash flow, key indicators, deviations, management information and action follow-up.
What is management control, and why does an SME need it?
Management control is the set of tools and routines that let management understand, every month, what is happening in the business and why: where money is being made, which costs are off track, how cash flow will develop and which decisions need to be made in time.
Accounting explains what has already happened and helps meet tax obligations. Management control looks ahead: it compares actual performance with forecasts, analyses margins by business line, customer or project, and turns the numbers into an action plan.
In large companies, a full-time finance director or controller does this work. An SME with turnover of between €1 million and €10 million needs the same insight, but is usually not large enough to hire someone in that role. This is where an outsourced finance director comes in: an experienced professional who dedicates the hours your company needs each month, without adding to your headcount.
Many SMEs have accounting, but not real control.
Accounting helps you meet obligations and know what happened. But it often doesn’t answer the questions management needs answered every month:
- Where the money is made
- Which costs are drifting
- Which projects are losing margin
- How cash flow will evolve
- Which decisions must be made in time
Accounting and management control: they are not the same
| Accounting / accounting firm | Management control (IntoAction) | |
|---|---|---|
| Objective | Meet accounting and tax obligations | Make better business decisions |
| Perspective | Looking back: what has happened | Looking ahead: what will happen and what to do |
| Frequency | Quarterly or annually (tax returns, year-end close) | Monthly, with a management meeting |
| Information | Statutory balance sheet and income statement | Margins by business line, customer or project, KPIs, cash flow forecast |
| Outcome | Tax returns filed and accounts up to date | An action plan and follow-up |
Objective
- Accounting / accounting firm
- Meet accounting and tax obligations
- Management control (IntoAction)
- Make better business decisions
Perspective
- Accounting / accounting firm
- Looking back: what has happened
- Management control (IntoAction)
- Looking ahead: what will happen and what to do
Frequency
- Accounting / accounting firm
- Quarterly or annually (tax returns, year-end close)
- Management control (IntoAction)
- Monthly, with a management meeting
Information
- Accounting / accounting firm
- Statutory balance sheet and income statement
- Management control (IntoAction)
- Margins by business line, customer or project, KPIs, cash flow forecast
Outcome
- Accounting / accounting firm
- Tax returns filed and accounts up to date
- Management control (IntoAction)
- An action plan and follow-up
We do not replace your accounting firm: we work with the information it already produces and add the analysis and follow-up that management needs. If you prefer, we can also handle your accounting through our Accounting Management service.
External financial support for SMEs
For companies that need recurring financial control, monthly information and external support for management without expanding their internal structure. We turn accounting and financial information into useful data for decisions every month.
We don’t replace management or the accounting team: we add a layer of analysis, follow-up and control so the company better understands its margins, costs, cash flow and results.
Signs your company needs management control
- Your turnover is higher than last year, but you are not sure whether you are earning more.
- You only find out the year’s results when your accounting firm closes the accounts, months later.
- You do not know which customers, products or projects are genuinely profitable.
- Cash flow catches you off guard: some months, paying suppliers or salaries is a struggle.
- Costs are rising and no one knows exactly where or why.
- You make major decisions (pricing, hiring, investments) based on intuition.
- Your bank or a business partner asks for financial information and you struggle to prepare it.
A service designed for management.
We don’t produce more documents. We provide context to decide.
Monthly close
Accounting close and structured monthly review.
Management indicators
KPIs that help management, not ones that get filed away.
Margin analysis
By line, client, product, project or cost centre.
Cost control
Deviations and items growing without reason.
Cash flow
Short and medium-term cash forecast.
Executive information
A clear scorecard for the monthly meeting.
Monthly meeting
We sit down with management with the numbers on the table.
Action plan
Follow-up of critical decisions month by month.
How it works: KPIs, traffic lights and alerts
We design a dashboard for each company with the key KPIs for every area, using traffic-light indicators to show at a glance what is going well and what needs attention, alongside cash flow, margin and productivity alerts. We also work with a live budget and a rolling 12-month forecast, updated every month, to anticipate problems before they arise.
Some of the indicators we typically track:
Sales
Revenue and margins by business line, customer or product
Operations
Profitability and efficiency · Manufacturing costs · Cost per hour
Finance
Gross margin · EBITDA · Value added · Cash flow and cash flow forecast
People (HR)
Productivity (€ per employee) · Absenteeism
Our monthly method and service commitments
Close and consolidation. We close the month and consolidate the company’s information.
Variance report. We analyse sales, costs and efficiency against forecasts.
Monthly management committee. We review the results and agree on decisions, each with a named owner.
Fortnightly follow-up on the critical tasks agreed by the committee.
Automation. Wherever possible, we automate data collection (ETL) to reduce manual Excel work and errors.
What you receive each month
- Management financial statements: an income statement structured for managing the business, not just for compliance.
- An executive report covering the month’s key developments and variances.
- An action record setting out the decisions, their owners and follow-up.
Our commitments
- Delivery of the monthly close on the tenth working day (D+10) of the following month.
- Responses to questions within 24–48 hours.
- Quarterly review of objectives with management.
The same working rhythm, adapted to each company’s reality.
Outsourced finance director or an in-house CFO: which is the better fit?
Hiring an experienced full-time finance director involves a high salary, a lengthy recruitment process and another fixed overhead. For many SMEs, that full-time commitment is not necessary.
With an outsourced finance director, you gain the experience of someone who has held that role for over 30 years, with time dedicated to your business according to its needs at each stage, without fixed staffing costs and with the flexibility to increase or reduce the service as the business grows.
Built for SMEs that want control.
- 01Companies with a turnover of roughly €1M to €10M.
- 02Companies with a significant team and cost base.
- 03Companies working by projects, business lines or cost centres.
- 04Companies with stock, purchasing, production or several services.
- 05Companies that want to professionalise their management.
- 06Companies that need more monthly control with external financial support.
Frequently asked questions
Your next step: take control.
Request an initial diagnosis. In one meeting we’ll explain how we would apply the service to your company.