Model Audit · $2,500
Your model.
Audited before it's questioned.
A five-business-day, fixed-scope review of the model already driving your business — read by a senior practitioner with the rigor it'll face when the next person who matters opens the file. Whether that's an investor, a board member, an acquirer, or the version of you about to make a real decision. Diagnosis, not rebuild. No discovery call required.
Five business days. Fixed scope. $2,500. No discovery call required.
The Pattern
The model says yes — or no, or it depends.
But you've watched margins swing month over month in ways you've stopped trying to explain. You know there's hard-coding in places you'd rather there weren't. The forecast jumps between periods in ways the underlying drivers don't explain. The version that drives the business and what you'd send to an outside reader are not the same — and you can feel the gap.
It usually shows up at one of three moments.
A real strategic decision is on the table.
You're hiring two more engineers, raising prices, or committing to a new lease. The model is the only artifact in the room that shows the cash and margin impact. If the model is wrong — or right for the wrong reasons — the decision goes with it. You don't want to find that out after you've already hired, raised, or signed.
Inbound came earlier than expected.
The raise was supposed to start in Q4. The cold email came last week. A real investor wants current financials and a three-year forecast. The model exists. But the version that runs the business may not be the version ready for outside eyes — and the question isn't whether to build something new in five days, it's whether what you have is ready to send, what to lead with, what to leave off, and where the soft spots actually are.
A board meeting where the model leads.
You built it with your team. You've used it for three quarters. It works. But you have a board member who reads models for a living, and the meeting is in two weeks. The questions are coming, and you need to know which ones the model is equipped to answer before you walk in.
The audit is your peace of mind. Someone who's been in those rooms reads your model the way a sophisticated outsider would — surfacing potential issues proactively, providing assurance where the model holds and direction where it doesn't. A model that's appropriate for daily internal use isn't always ready for what comes next. The audit makes sure the model is delivering what the moment demands — for the stage you're in and the situation you're walking into.
A diagnosis, not a rebuild. The fix happens with your team, on your timeline.
What the Audit Covers
Six dimensions. One senior read.
Does your model hold up to a senior practitioner's eye? Does the forecast logic drive itself, or is it propped up by hard-coding? Does the model actually surface what matters for your business at the stage you're in? Does the cash flow tie across all three statements — or does it just look like it does?
Those are the questions a sophisticated reader will ask. The audit answers them across six dimensions.
Model Structure
Institutional-grade build conventions, sheet organization, and flow — read against the standards expected by investment banks, sophisticated investors, and the M&A diligence process.
Forecast Logic
Driver-based vs. hard-coded forecasting, assumption traceability, and sensitivity behavior — does the forecast respond when the drivers change, or does it just hold the shape you put it in?
KPI Coverage
Whether the model surfaces what actually matters for your business at this stage — and whether the metrics you’d want to walk a board member through are the ones the model is built to produce.
Cash Flow Integrity
Three-statement linkage, working capital mechanics, and cash conversion — the part of the model most likely to embarrass you in front of the next reader, and the part most likely to drift over time.
Classification Flags
The accounting classifications underneath the line items — SAFE treatment, deferred revenue, working capital line items, related-party balances — where a single misclassification can materially change how your apparent solvency reads to an outside reader.
Investor Question Rehearsal
The five to seven questions a sophisticated reader would ask of your model, surfaced proactively — so nothing comes up later that hasn’t already come up in the review.
The Deliverables
What you walk away with.
Three artifacts. One for the decision-maker, one for whoever's editing the model, and one you can hand to your co-founder, your finance lead, or a board member who wants to see the work without sitting through a meeting.
Diagnostic Memo (4–6 pages, PDF)
Executive summary up front. Findings organized by Financial Health Matrix dimension — Cash Health, Profitability, Operational Efficiency, Growth & Scalability. A severity-rated risk register that separates Critical from Material from Minor. The five to seven questions a sophisticated reader would ask, laid out before they're asked. And prioritized recommendations — the top three to five things to act on, in order. Written for a decision-maker. Forwardable as a standalone artifact.
Standalone
$2,500
Annotated Model File (Excel, returned to you)
Your model back, with an “Audit Notes” tab inserted at the front of the workbook. The tab opens with a structural overview — what's working, what's structurally concerning, where the cross-cutting issues live. Then a tab-by-tab table with 2–4 findings per tab, severity-rated. Each major tab in the workbook gets a top-of-tab callout block summarizing what's flagged there. And on the most material issues, surgical cell-level comments at the exact cells that need attention. Not comprehensive cell-by-cell annotation — targeted to where it matters.
You'll receive your model back with an Audit Notes tab containing a structural overview and tab-by-tab findings, plus inline callouts on the most material issues. We mark what needs attention — we don't rebuild. (For the rebuild, see the Financial Operating System.)
Standalone
$2,000
Recorded Walkthrough (Loom, 20–30 minutes)
A walkthrough of the memo findings while live in the model — so the rationale behind each finding is on the record, not just the finding itself. Re-watchable. Shareable with a co-founder, a finance lead, or a board member who wants to see the work without scheduling a meeting.
Standalone
$1,000
Total standalone value
$5,500
Your investment:
$2,500
Less than half the standalone value. Three artifacts — the memo, the marked-up model, the Loom — that no hourly engagement comes with. A fraction of what a custom modeling firm charges to rebuild from scratch. And that's not what's needed here. A senior read is.
Five business days. Fixed scope. $2,500.
The Process
Three steps. Five business days.
Day 1
Pay & Submit
Secure checkout. Then you upload your model — Excel preferred, secure upload — and fill out a short context form: what the model is for, what decision is coming, who the next reader is. That’s it. No discovery call. Fixed scope means we don’t need to scope on a call.
Days 2–4
We Audit
The model gets read the way a sophisticated outside reader would. The memo gets drafted. The model file gets marked up. The Loom gets recorded. Senior practitioner attention from start to finish — not handed off to a junior.
Day 5
You Receive Everything
The memo, the annotated file, and the Loom — delivered via email and a private web link. You read the memo, watch the Loom, and have a clear view of what the model says, what needs attention, and what doesn’t.
Real Talk
Why $2,500.
Senior financial consultants run $400–$600 an hour at standard rates — and the audit comes packaged with deliverables (the memo, the marked-up model, the Loom) that no hourly engagement includes. A custom modeling firm hired to rebuild your model from scratch starts at $15,000 and goes up from there. The audit isn't a rebuild. It's a senior read of the model you've already built — so you know whether the rebuild is what you actually need.
What if I want the fixes built?
The audit identifies what needs attention. The fix happens separately, on your timeline. If you want the model rebuilt for you, the Financial Operating System is a structured 30-day build. If you want ongoing senior advisory, the Quarterly Strategic Advisory engagement at The Lighthouse Group is the next shape. If your situation calls for something more custom — fundraising prep, M&A readiness, a specialized build — Strategic Packages start at $15,000. Whatever you need, the audit makes it clear which is the right fit.
Most “free consultations” with financial advisors are 30 minutes of soft qualifying so the firm can pitch you a retainer. You leave without anything you didn't have when you got on the call. The audit is the opposite of that. You pay $2,500. You get a senior read, three deliverables, and a clear-eyed view of what needs attention. Whether you ever hire me for anything else is a separate conversation.
Five business days. Fixed scope. $2,500.
Credibility
Who's reading your model.
The person who reads your model and shows up in the Loom:
- Built and walked through models for $2B+ in M&A and capital-raise transactions at Jefferies in New York — Media & Telecom, where models get torn apart by both sides of every deal
- Senior instructor at Training The Street since 2015 — teaches financial modeling, valuation, and accounting to incoming classes at investment banks, private equity firms, and Fortune 500 finance teams globally
- 15+ years across investment banking, Fortune 500 finance (Raytheon FLDP), and operating CFO roles in CPG, EdTech, senior living, and the creator economy — model-building as a daily practice, not a credential
- Currently advising founders across the same $2M–$25M revenue range you’re operating in — the model conventions and KPI sets that work at your stage, not the ones that work at a Fortune 500
- Dual degrees in Physics and Finance from Boston College — analytical rigor as the foundation, finance as the application
Quick Fit Check
This is built for one specific buyer.
The Model Audit is a senior read of an existing model. It's not a rebuild, it's not ongoing advisory, and it's not a starting point if there's no model yet.
This is for you if:
- You already have a financial model that runs the business — or is supposed to
- You’re $2M–$25M revenue and a real decision is on the horizon (raise, hire, price change, exit conversation, board meeting)
- You want a senior eye on the model before the next reader sees it
- You’re tired of wondering whether the model holds up — and would rather know than guess
- You’re a finance lead who inherited the model and wants outside assurance on what’s actually under it
- You can decide on $2,500 without a discovery call
This isn't for you if:
- You don't have a model yet — start with the Financial Operating System, which builds one
- You want the model rebuilt for you — that’s the FOS or a Strategic Package, not the audit
- You want ongoing advisory — the Quarterly Strategic Advisory at The Lighthouse Group is the right shape
- The model is months out of date or barely held together — fix the foundation first
- You’re pre-revenue or shopping for free, and not yet making decisions a model would inform
The Guarantee
Here's the deal.
If the audit doesn't surface at least three findings you didn't already know about your model, I'll refund the $2,500. No form to fill out, no follow-up call to defend the work. The audit either earns its keep or it doesn't.
In practice, this almost never gets invoked — the audit usually surfaces something the founder or finance lead already suspected but couldn't quite name, plus a few they hadn't. But the offer stands.
Ready for a senior read?
Five business days from upload to delivery. Three deliverables. Fixed price. Fixed scope. If the audit doesn't earn its keep, you don't pay.
Five business days. Fixed scope. $2,500. No discovery call required.
Questions before you buy? Email info@founderfinance.ai
Not sure if the audit is the right step? Start with the free scorecard → or the $97 Financial Health Assessment →
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