Budget & Forecast
A practical annual planning discipline.
A CFO turns monthly history into targets through a focused working session, while Kevin Cahill reviews assumptions. The result: 12 monthly targets load into the ledger before January.
Best for: owners needing a usable annual planning baseline.
Missing 12 monthly targets costs leaders a decision window.
Without targets, each close reports what happened, not what changed. Payroll, spending, and hiring decisions rest on an untested baseline. Leaders adjust too late.
The Continuous Close Method, applied to annual planning.
Aaron Ressel, Senior Controller, maps the ledger. Kevin Cahill, CFO, reviews assumptions with the owner in a working session before the plan is tested.
01
Foundation: monthly history
Review monthly statements, identify seasonality, and establish a baseline from history.
02
Cadence: monthly targets
Set revenue, payroll, and spending targets with the owner to create a usable annual plan.
03
Intelligence: variance
Load account budgets, map the ledger, and compare targets with actuals after each close.
Ready before January actuals begin posting.
What Debit & Co. includes.
Plan: monthly targets
- Income statement targets across 12 monthly periods
- Monthly revenue, payroll, and spending targets for 2027
- Quarterly roll-ups and a full-year planning view
- Account budgets loaded to the ledger before January
Assumptions: owner review
- Revenue drivers grounded in monthly 2026 actuals
- Headcount by role and expected 2027 start month
- One CFO working session to test assumptions
- Assumptions agreed before January actuals post
Ledger: target tracking
- Account budgets loaded in QuickBooks Online ledger
- Chart of accounts mapped for budget tracking
- January actuals compared with plan in QuickBooks
- Documented planning file for each 2027 monthly close
A fit when…
- 2026 closed without a formal annual budget.
- A lender, board, or investor requests a plan.
- Monthly books are current enough to support planning.
- Directional targets beat a detailed financial model.
Not a fit when…
- Books run more than three months behind.
- Pre-revenue with limited operating history.
- A private-equity-grade model is required.
- Rolling forecasts through the full year are needed.
Need year-round CFO support? See Outsourced CFO Services →
Books more than 30 days behind? See Catch-Up & Reconciliation →
Case studies
Recovering $300K in unbilled revenue at a digital marketing firm. →
Truvolv reconciled billing for 200+ customer accounts back to 2024 and issued every missing invoice. Monthly billing more than doubled in six months.
From cash to accrual: a surgery center regains financial visibility. →
Debit & Co. reconciled Gayoso Plastic Surgery’s historical books, converted them to accrual, and cut the close to under seven business days.
Comparing Debit & Co. to owner spreadsheets across 5 dimensions.
| Buyer evaluates | Owner spreadsheet | Debit & Co. |
|---|---|---|
| Planning basis | Annual total and estimates | Monthly historical results |
| Review | No CFO review | CFO session with owner |
| Time cost | Owner evenings in December | Structured planning process |
| Tracking | Often unused after January | Monthly targets in QuickBooks Online |
| Readiness | When time allows | Before January actuals post |
Two senior reviewers oversee every annual plan.
Senior Controller
Aaron Ressel
Reviews plan-to-ledger mapping for actuals. Leads quality assurance and GAAP review.
CFO
Kevin Cahill
Sets monthly targets with owners and tests planning assumptions. Brings CFO experience from KPMG, PwC, and B2B finance.
Combined 50+ years of CFO and Controller experience.
Pricing starts at $2,500.
Planning complexity sets scope. The fixed fee is quoted before work begins. Eight drivers shape the price:
- Legal entities: 1 to 10 planned and consolidated
- Locations: 2+ planned separately by department
- Statements: income statement or full three-statement set
- Headcount: role and expected 2027 start month
- Scenarios: base case or base plus downside
- Revenue streams: 1 to 5+ product lines modeled
- Book status: more than 30 days behind at kickoff
- Ledger: QuickBooks Online, Puzzle, or NetSuite
Related thinking from the Playbook.
CFO strategy
What year-round CFO support covers
Ongoing forecast and variance review for leaders.
13-week cash
How cash forecasts support startups
A weekly view of cash needs and operating choices.
Bookkeeping
How catch-up makes history usable
Restoring monthly records for reliable planning.
Four questions before you book.
When should a 2027 budget process begin?
Start in October or November. A fourth-quarter start leaves time to agree assumptions before January actuals post and the first variance report begins.
What inputs does Debit & Co. need to begin?
Provide read access to the accounting system, monthly historical statements, and one hour with the owner to begin.
Can non-clients use this service?
Fit is confirmed on a discovery call. Existing clients may start sooner because Debit & Co. already maintains their monthly history.
How does Budget & Forecast differ from our CFO service?
It is a fixed-fee engagement that sets 12 monthly targets for 2027. Ongoing CFO support provides year-round forecast and variance review after the plan is loaded into the ledger. See Outsourced CFO Services →
A CFO-reviewed plan before January actuals post.
Monthly history, tested assumptions, and ledger-loaded targets. Each close compares plan and actual. Leaders see what changed before decisions move.