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Savastute

Approach

Costing. Close. Reporting. Cash.

An engagement is finished when those four agree, and the close still runs if the principal is not in the building. We get there one file at a time.

The four agreements

If any one of these is a story, the rest are theatre. We stop and find which is lying.

  1. 01

    Costing

    Bills of materials, routing, hours and scrap, walked against the job — not copied from go-live.

  2. 02

    Close

    A month-end a controller can run. Work in progress is a job position, not a balancing figure.

  3. 03

    Reporting

    The board pack is the ledger, written so a non-accountant can use it.

  4. 04

    Cash

    Facilities, covenants and the current account. The same numbers as the pack. If they diverge, we stop.

  • Every published figure that is not from a completed mandate is sourced, or it does not appear.
  • A statutory number has a human signatory. Models may draft. They may not be the sole author.
  • Files are built one at a time — calendar, BOM, cash, pack — and checked against operations before the next.
  • The test of the work: the close still runs if the principal is not in the building.

How a brief runs

  1. 01

    Diagnostic

    Two to three weeks. Close, costing, cash and reporting. A written note of what agrees and what does not.

  2. 02

    Design

    A 90-day plan with owners, files and a stop-doing list. Seat, project, FTC or day-rate — written before a chargeable day.

  3. 03

    Build

    Calendar, costing, cash, pack, integrations. One file at a time, checked against operations.

  4. 04

    Handover

    Trained, documented and runnable. Remain as the seat, or step back to a quarterly review.

Engagement models

No fee

Finance score

A two-minute fit reading. Costing questions if you want them. Nothing captured unless you send yourself a copy.

No fee

Discovery call

Thirty minutes, confidential. Fit, scope and whether a diagnostic, a retainer, a day-rate or an FTC is next.

Fixed fee

Diagnostic

Two to three weeks. Written pack. Credited against a retainer if you proceed.

From £550 / day

Day-rate / FTC

Call-off days, cover, a deal window, or a bridge while you hire. Three to twelve months if the seat needs a full week.

Monthly retainer

Fractional FC / FD / CFO

SME or corporate contract. Two to eight days a month. Board work, the operating close, or both.

Questions that usually arrive

Do I get Paul, or a bench?
Paul. If a specialist is required they are named and priced in the letter before they appear. There is no junior bench and no account manager.
Retainer, day-rate or FTC?
A retainer is two to eight days a month. Day-rate is call-off against a letter, minimum half day. FTC is typically three to five days a week for three to twelve months — cover, a deal window, or a bridge while you hire. Same principal. Same rates. The letter sets the shape.
Are you inside IR35?
SAVASTUTE LIMITED supplies the work. IR35 status is determined with your advisors against the facts of the engagement. It is not assumed on this site.
Will you work on-site?
Yes, where the work needs it. Mixed months are normal. Travel at cost, no mark-up.
What if it is not a fit?
You will be told on the discovery call, before anything is chargeable. The diagnostic is the written version of the same test.