Business Planning — A Practical Operating Plan You Can Run

CFO Advisory & Business Planning — Numbers That Drive Decisions

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CFO Advisory & Business Planning — Numbers That Drive Decisions

If your numbers aren’t helping you choose your next move, they’re not done yet. At Take Flight Business Solutions, our CFO advisory and decision support turns bookkeeping into a working playbook for growth. Led by Brian Dela Cruz, CPA (MA), we help owners operate on facts—pricing, cash, hiring, capacity—so every quarter feels planned, not improvised.


What we do (in plain English)

You’ll get a simple rhythm where accounting and planning meet. We keep your books current, then translate results into actions you can actually take.

  • Pricing & margins: Clarify your target margins and the mix that gets you there.
  • Break-even & capacity: Know how many jobs, visits, patients, or retainers you need to hit your goals.
  • Budget vs. actuals: A living budget checked monthly so course-corrections happen in time.
  • Cash planning: Short, clear forecasts for payroll, inventory, tax estimates, and owner distributions.
  • Scenario modeling: “What if we add a crew? Launch a new service? Open a second location?” We show the numbers before you commit.
  • Bank-ready financials: Statements that support lending, insurance, and diligence without last-minute scrambles.


Who we serve (local + nationwide)

We advise owners across the U.S. from our Florida base with extra attention to the Florida Panhandle—Pensacola, Cantonment, Pace, Gulf Breeze, Milton, Navarre, Perdido, Fort Walton Beach, Niceville—and nearby Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, AL. Typical fits include:

  • Contractors & trades: job-cost visibility, WIP awareness, and progress-billing control that protects margins.
  • Real-estate investors (BRRRR, rentals, flips): basis tracking, depreciation timing, and cash-on-cash clarity.
  • Healthcare & med spas: capacity planning (providers/rooms), retail sales-tax awareness, and RCM visibility.
  • E-commerce & online services: clean fee mapping, revenue recognition, and multistate sales-tax planning.
  • Professional services & agencies: utilization targets, average ticket, and collections discipline.


Our advisory cadence (how it actually works)

1) Baseline & targets
We start with a short diagnostic: current financials, pricing, capacity, backlog/pipeline, and cash needs. Together we define 3–5 practical targets (e.g., gross margin %, weekly breakeven, days cash on hand, AR days).

2) Cleanup & setup (if needed)
If the books need help, we time-box a cleanup and tune QuickBooks so reports match how you operate (chart, bank rules, classes/locations). You move into planning with a clean baseline.

3) Monthly operating review
On a set calendar, we close the month and meet (live or virtual) for a plain-English review: what changed, what’s on track/off track, and the 1–3 actions for the next four weeks (price, staffing, pipeline, spend).

4) Quarterly planning
We zoom out to confirm pricing, budget vs. actuals, cash forecasts, tax estimates, and capex. If you’re considering a new offering or location, we model scenarios before you commit.


What “good” looks like

  • Timely books that line up with reality—useful by the 10th–15th of the month (or your chosen date).
  • A short summary you can share with partners or lenders: results, risks, and next steps.
  • Cash clarity so payroll and vendor payments feel routine, not stressful.
  • Decisions documented so your team knows the “why,” not just the task.


Common pains we solve (and our fix)

  • “Busy but not profitable.” → Margin targets and service mix that produce cash, not just revenue.
  • “Always short on cash.” → Forecasts tied to reality and simple rules for draws, debt, and inventory.
  • “I can’t tell if this new service is working.” → Segment reporting with concrete keep/kill thresholds.
  • “Bank conversations are stressful.” → Organized statements and a clear narrative that builds lender confidence.


Local access. National consistency.

Prefer in-person milestone meetings around Pensacola/Cantonment (entity or pricing changes, annual plan, year-end)? We’re nearby. Prefer fully virtual? You get the same cadence through a secure portal and short screen-recorded walkthroughs you can replay or share.


What you get from Take Flight Business Solutions

  • CPA (MA) oversight integrated with bookkeeping, payroll, and tax planning
  • Actionable recommendations—no jargon, just the next smart move
  • A shared calendar so reviews and filings stay on schedule
  • Transparent pricing—monthly advisory with separately scoped one-off projects when needed


What's Next

Book a 30-minute Strategy Session. We’ll review your goals, run a quick baseline, and give you a written scope with fixed monthly pricing. If cleanup is required first, we’ll quote it as a stand-alone project with a defined outcome and timeline. Then we put your planning on a cadence that supports profit, cash, and growth—without the scramble.

Business Planning and Budgeting

Whether you're considering launching a new business, expanding an existing venture, acquiring a new enterprise, or revitalizing a declining one, having a Strategic Business Plan, forecasts, and budgets is crucial. If you're seeking a business plan professional or assistance with business plan writing, you're in the right place. Contact us to discover how we can provide clarity to your business through services such as small business financial planning, strategic planning for small business, and integrating financial plans into your business plan.


In addition to it being a tool to get financing, a Strategic Business Plan provides a platform through which you can communicate plans that up until now have been nothing but loosely formulated ideas.  Having a Strategic Business Plan that is thorough, accurate and well-articulated allows you to ensure that all of your business partners and thought leaders have a clear sense of where you want your company to go, and keeps everybody on the same page and focused on the same vision.


A Strategic Business Plan provides a snapshot of your company and where it is going. It spells out what your company is, what product or service it provides, what the competitive environment consists of and how you plan to thrive. It identifies the company’s management team, outlines the known risks and details the company’s financial health.

With This Information at Hand You Are Able to:

  • Define your target customer and identify the ways in which your product or service will fulfill their needs.
  • Provide documentation of the research you’ve done into the need for your service or product, thus creating a justification for your plans.
  • Create a strategic marketing plan with detailed descriptions of your planned campaigns, promotions and timelines. You will also be able to utilize the competitive environment information to assess what the sales potential is, analyze the market conditions and how best to target your demographic, and to establish predictions and goals for your efforts.
  • Draw up a staffing plan that includes details regarding the level of expertise needed to support the organization, as well as the number of employees needed and their needed skill sets.
  • Create a management plan complete with descriptions of an individual's responsibilities and timelines.
  • Project start-up costs, operating costs, projected revenue and profits for an extended period of time, and other financial planning information.
  • Create a list of your business’ needs, from building and equipment to vendors and supplies.

Get a Strategic Business Plan

A Strategic Business Plan is one of the most important and effective tools you can provide yourself for projecting your business’ financial needs. This can also be the basis for budgeting for your small business. It will provide you with a clearer perspective of what is needed to ensure your business’ success, as well as provide lending institutions and investors with the information that they need to make prudent investment decisions.