An early-stage food and beverage company preparing for major retail distribution engaged Scale Suite to build their finance foundation. We established cash flow forecasting aligned to retail payment terms, production cycles, and investor inflows, built marketing ROI tracking with customer acquisition cost analysis by channel benchmarked against industry standards, reconstructed two years of transaction history, connected fintech platforms and established proper banking infrastructure, restructured the chart of accounts for the industry, and recoded all R&D spend to support rebate claims. The founders now have clear margin visibility and working capital management capability needed to scale into national retail.
Industry: Food and Beverage – Ready-to-Drink Products
Location: Sydney, Australia
Team Size: Small founding team with fractional consultants
This early-stage food and beverage company had developed a differentiated ready-to-drink product and secured distribution with a major supermarket chain. The founders had deep expertise in product development and retail relationships, but recognised that the financial complexity of their business required specialist support.
The business faced tight cash flow with significant timing lags between paying for production and R&D versus receiving revenue from retail customers. Major retailer payment terms of 60+ days would intensify this pressure during the launch. Investor funding was coming in at various stages, adding another layer of cash timing complexity.
Additional challenges included:
We designed an engagement for the specific needs of a consumer goods business preparing for retail scale-up.
The most critical need was forward visibility on working capital. Production and R&D costs must be paid upfront, often months before products reach shelves. Major retailers operate on 60+ day payment terms. Investor inflows arrive on their own schedule.
We implemented detailed cash flow forecasting mapping production runs, supplier payments, investor timing, and expected retail settlements. The founders can now plan inventory investment around retailer payment cycles and investor tranches, seeing cash pinches coming weeks in advance.
We established tracking for customer acquisition cost by channel, enabling ROI analysis across paid social, influencer partnerships, and content marketing. Key metrics are compared against industry benchmarks, giving the founders context on how their marketing efficiency compares to similar consumer goods businesses.
High-ROI channels scaled up. Underperforming channels scaled back. Marketing dollars now go to highest-performing activities.
We connected fintech platforms and established proper banking infrastructure integrated with the accounting system. This eliminated blind spots that had made cash management difficult and created a solid foundation for financial operations going forward.
Reconstructed two years of transaction history across all accounts, providing an accurate baseline for planning and performance measurement.
We recoded all historical R&D expenditure to support potential R&D rebate claims. This involved reviewing transactions, identifying qualifying spend, and categorising correctly for rebate purposes.
The existing chart of accounts was generic and did not provide the visibility a consumer goods business needs. We restructured it to be relevant to the industry, enabling clear tracking of cost of goods sold components, marketing spend by channel, and contribution margins by product.
Built reporting tracking contribution margin by product and channel, benchmarked against industry standards. The founders can now see which products deliver the best margins and understand how their profitability compares to comparable businesses.
Consumer goods businesses have fundamentally different financial dynamics than service businesses or software companies. Physical inventory, production lead times, retail payment terms, and investor timing create working capital complexity requiring active management. Getting financial infrastructure right before a major launch pays dividends.
This engagement suits: Early-stage consumer goods companies preparing for retail distribution who need cash flow visibility, margin tracking, and marketing ROI analysis. Particularly suited to fractional team structures needing sophisticated finance capability without full-time overhead.
Scale Suite provides outsourced finance and HR services for Australian SMEs, combining Chartered Accountant oversight with daily embedded support and Big 4-trained team members.
All engagements include a 30-day money-back guarantee with no lock-in contracts.
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Scale Suite delivers embedded finance and human resource services for ambitious Australian businesses.Our Sydney-based team integrates with your daily operations through a shared platform, working like part of your internal staff but with senior-level expertise. From complete bookkeeping to strategic CFO insights, we deliver better outcomes than a single hire - without the recruitment risk, training time, or full-time salary commitment.
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