Payne Operating Advisory, LLC Strategic Financial Leadership

Finance that holds up to a lender, a buyer, and the plant floor.

Fractional CFO work, quality of earnings, and acquisition diligence for lower-middle-market companies, their owners, and their sponsors. Delivered by an operator who runs finance inside a private equity-backed manufacturer today.

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Services

Engagements are scoped to the decision in front of you: closing a deal, satisfying a lender, or getting reliable monthly numbers into the hands of the people running the business.

Fractional CFO and controller

For companies that need senior finance without a full-time hire

A recurring monthly engagement that brings the close, reporting, and cash management up to the standard an owner or board should expect.

  • Month-end close and reporting package
  • 13-week cash flow and budgeting
  • Banking relationships and covenant tracking

Quality of earnings and diligence

For searchers, independent sponsors, and acquirers

A clear view of what a target actually earns and what it takes to run, built from the general ledger up rather than the seller's summary.

  • EBITDA adjustments and normalization
  • Net working capital analysis and peg
  • Revenue, margin, and customer concentration review

PE portfolio operating support

For sponsor-backed companies and their deal teams

The reporting rhythm private equity owners and lenders expect, set up so the management team can sustain it.

  • Lender and board reporting packages
  • KPI design tied to plant and operations data
  • Post-close integration of finance systems

Acquisition advisory

For first-time buyers and search funds

Practical help screening, modeling, and structuring a deal, from someone who has sat on the operating side after close.

  • Deal screening and LOI-stage modeling
  • Debt sizing and SBA or senior lender packages
  • First-100-days finance plan

How an engagement works

Fixed scopes where possible, monthly retainers where the work is ongoing. No surprises on the invoice.

  1. Scoping call

    A 30-minute conversation about the business, the decision you are facing, and the timeline.

  2. Written proposal

    A short proposal with deliverables, data needed, timing, and a fixed or monthly fee.

  3. Delivery and handoff

    Work product built in your systems, with documentation so your team can keep it running.

Jordan Payne

Managing Partner, Fractional CFO

Jordan leads finance and accounting as VP of Finance at a private equity-backed domestic manufacturer, where he owns the close, lender reporting, board materials, and the systems behind them.

He came to finance by way of operations and engineering, so the numbers he builds are tied to how product actually moves through a building. That background is the point of the practice: finance work that an operator, a lender, and a buyer can all rely on.

  • Manufacturing financeVP of Finance at a PE-backed manufacturer, from staff accountant to finance lead
  • AmazonOperations and finance
  • Third-party logisticsOperations management
  • EngineeringElectrical engineering study at the University of Cincinnati; internships with automotive and aerospace suppliers
  • EducationB.S. in Accounting, Franklin University

Contact

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