One Conversation Could Change Your FY27
Every new financial year begins with optimism.
The budget is complete, the targets have been agreed, and everyone is eager to get moving.
But here’s the question I often ask agency leaders:
How confident are you that your budget will actually deliver the profit you’re expecting?
Not whether you’ve built a budget ….
Whether you’ve built the right budget.
Many agencies spend weeks preparing their annual budget, only to file it away once the financial year begins. From that point on, the leadership team works incredibly hard to achieve numbers that may have been based on assumptions that were never properly tested.
The challenge isn’t the spreadsheet.
It’s the thinking behind it.
Every Budget Is Built on Assumptions
A budget is only as strong as the commercial assumptions sitting underneath it.
Questions such as:
- Will utilisation stay at current levels?
- Are your charge-out rates still appropriate?
- Can your current team deliver the projected workload?
- Is your pipeline conversion realistic?
- Have you allowed for salary increases, recruitment or contractor costs?
- What happens if revenue falls by 10%?
- Will cash flow comfortably support your plans?
These are the questions that determine whether a budget becomes a reliable leadership tool or simply an optimistic forecast.
Small Changes Can Create Significant Results
One of the advantages of reviewing your budget early in the financial year is that small adjustments have time to compound.
- A modest improvement in utilisation
- A slight increase in average billable rate
- Better scope management
- Earlier hiring decisions
- Improved pricing discipline
Individually, none of these changes may seem dramatic. Together, they can materially improve profitability over the course of the year.
By November, recovering lost ground often requires much larger decisions.
In July or August, you’re still in a position to shape the outcome.
Commercial Clarity Creates Better Decisions
Over the past two decades working with creative, marketing and media agencies, I’ve found that most businesses are only a handful of commercial insights away from significantly improving their financial performance.
The issue is rarely a lack of effort.
It’s a lack of visibility.
When leadership teams clearly understand how pipeline, revenue, utilisation, gross profit and cash flow connect:
- Decision-making becomes more confident
- Hiring becomes more strategic
- Pricing becomes more disciplined
- Forecasting becomes more accurate
- Growth feels intentional rather than reactive
Sometimes You Simply Need a Second Set of Eyes
One of the most valuable things an experienced CFO can provide isn’t another spreadsheet.
It’s perspective.
An independent review often uncovers assumptions the leadership team has become too close to see.
Sometimes we confirm you’re already on the right path.
Sometimes we identify one or two adjustments that could materially improve your financial outcome before the year gathers momentum.
Either way, you leave with greater confidence in the decisions you’re making.
If you’re looking for a structured way to review your commercial assumptions, the KMint 4-Week Mini CFO Program provides an intensive commercial review designed specifically for growing agencies. It’s an opportunity to challenge your budget, strengthen your forecasting and build greater confidence in the year ahead.
Don’t Wait Until November
By the time most agencies realise their budget isn’t performing as expected, valuable months have already passed.
Today, you still have time to make meaningful adjustments while the year is young.
One conversation could be the difference between hoping your budget works and knowing it has been commercially challenged, tested and strengthened.
If you’re not completely confident in your FY27 budget, I’d be delighted to help.
A fresh perspective today could change the outcome of your entire financial year.
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