Flight Financial

Flight Financial is an outsourced CFO firm that helps professional service providers have growing, profitable, and successful businesses. https://www.flight.financial/

Founder & Chief CFO

Cadilus

•  Cadilus is a managed service and consulting firm founded to bring Fortune 500 finance and analytics to the middle-markets. 
•  The Company's strategy is to merge finance, analytics, and best-practice management systems into innovative capability offers that enable customers to make better business decisions. 
•  The Company leverages technology and delivery process excellence and innovation to offer exceptional value at an unprecedented pace.
•  As a Manager, I was responsible for leading several client engagements and my key tasks centered on the following core service offerings – 
(1) Financial Modeling & Forecasting, 
(2) Performance Measuring & Reporting, 
(3) Business Planning & Budgeting, and 
(4) Business Analytics & Insights.

Manager, FP&A Services

AmeriLife

Summary:

• Provide direction, coordination, oversight and execution of all phases of acquisition analysis and due diligence to ensure consistency with company strategy, commitments and goals.

• Support the firm’s Corporate Development function through management of research, due diligence, financial analysis and development of presentations for initiatives across the company.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Support the CEO, CFO and other senior Corporate Development executives in strategic and financial analysis for acquisitions and key business initiatives. 

• Research and assess transaction opportunities. 

• Build valuation and financial models. 

• Communicating the business case for proposed acquisitions, particularly the strategic alignment, market context, business analysis and financial justification. 

• Manage the due diligence review of target acquisitions. 

• Identify risk issues that impact transaction value and engage the right resources to address. 

• Meet with stakeholders and provide status updates; clearly communicate issues, potential risks, and mitigation plans. 

• Serve as liaison with target acquisitions and internal subject matter experts to clarify due diligence requirements and ensure thorough follow through. 

• Consolidate due diligence reports from subject matter experts; Distill and summarize relevant information for Senior Executive team. 

• Identify due diligence issues and work with legal team to resolve issues in the transaction documents.

Manager, Corporate Development

Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP

• Participate in buy-side and sell-side financial due diligence engagements with both private equity and strategic corporate buyers 

• Perform (i) quality of earnings, (ii) working capital and (iii) debt and debt-like items analyses 

• Analyze the financial operations of the target companies and identify issues that may impact the purchase price 

• Understand and evaluate financial and operational trends of target companies 

• Lead diligence meetings with target company management team 

• Communicate due diligence findings in a formal report 

• Supervise senior associates and provide performance review feedback 

• Develop and maintain strong client relationships/project management 

• Manage multiple tasks/projects at a time

Manager, Transaction Advisory Services

MetLife

• Worked in MetLife's Corporate & Other Segment Controllers Group. 
•  Served as Controller for start-up businesses within MetLife, primarily the Expatriate Insurance Business (Life, Health, LTD).

Controller, Expatriate Business, C&O Controllers Group

Crosstree Capital Partners, Inc.

• Crosstree is a Healthcare-Focused Investment Bank Providing Mergers and Acquisitions
and Financing Advisory to the Diagnostics & Tools, Drug & Medical Device Outsourcing, and Healthcare Providers segments of the Healthcare industry.

Investment Banker

Silverwood Partners

• Provided financial and strategic advisory services to TMT and Healthcare companies in connection with M&A, divestiture, and private financing transactions.

About Silverwood Partners

Silverwood Partners is a specialized investment bank that provides merger & acquisition advisory services, private capital financing capabilities, and financial and strategic advisory services to public and private companies worldwide in the TMT, healthcare, and consumer sectors.

Vice President Investment Banking

Liberty Savings Bank

• Coordinated several client projects and internal initiatives across multiple offices in different states

Associate, Investment Services

Is your business booming💥but your bank balance barely pays your bills?😭I can help.😎I'm a fractional CFO for founder-owned, self-financed businesses seeking more money, more time, and more peace. | DM me for details 🚀

👋 Lawyers & Fellow Professional Services Firm Owners,

Are you buried in billable hours, but your bank balance barely budges?

Want to grow, but lack financial and strategic guidance?

Do you seek freedom over your time and income?

I started my own firm, Flight Financial, to gain autonomy over my time and earnings. 

🛫 Why 'Flight'? Because it symbolizes freedom, momentum, direction, and raising your firm to unprecedented heights.

Today, I’m committed to guiding you towards experiencing that same sense of liberation and clarity for your firm.

My clients work 40 hours or less per week and have profits in excess of $500,000 per year, without financial unknowns and stress.

At Flight Financial, we have a 6-step One Clear Path system for your firm that will give you the roadmap to that lifestyle.

Within the first 30 days you’ll have a bulletproof plan in hand to gain at least a 2x return on our service in the first year - the sky’s the limit!
 
✅ Here’s How I Elevate You:

➡️ Craft a Clear Profit Path: We’ll give you actionable next steps to achieve transformative results for your firm.

➡️ Seal Profit Leaks: We’ll stop your firm from being a leaky bucket of profits.

➡️ Amplify Marketing ROI: Waiting years for marketing to pay off is a thing of the past. Every $1 of marketing should be generating at least $3 of billable hours for your firm this quarter.

➡️ Optimize Staff ROI: Start earning at least 3x what the lawyers on your team cost you.

➡️ Simplified Financial Mastery: No convoluted jargon, just tailored insights. Each month, you’ll get an easy-to-understand 1-page scoreboard that will clearly show you what’s working and what needs improvement in your business. No need to look at boring or confusing financial accounting statements.   

As a fellow professional services firm owner with 15+ years in finance, accounting, and diverse business collaborations, I deeply understand your aspirations and your challenges. 

I've aided professionals, from lawyers to marketing agencies, in nurturing businesses that thrive, boost profits, amplify cash flow, and resonate with their unique definitions of success.

Ready to soar higher in your firm? 

Let’s get on a quick call to see if we’re the right fit for each other.

Book your free “Right Fit” call here: https://calendly.com/flightfinancial/right-fit 🚀

Brian Zapf, CPA

CFO | Interim | Fractional | M&A | Mentor | SME Strategic Partner | Board Member | EMBA | FCCA

Are you a financial executive ready to step into the CFO role but unsure of the roadmap?

Do you have over 10 years of progressive experience?
Are you are a qualified CPA or similar?
Have you have managed a team? 
Do you want to to be a CFO?

And if you are a recently promoted to or has been a CFO for less then 5 years then I can help you with
1) Strategic Financial Leadership
2) Leadership & Team Development
3) Communication and Stakeholder Engagement

With over 34 years of experience as a CFO across 14 industries and 10 countries, with PE, VC backed companies as well as privately and publicly held organizations-  I’ve led financial transformations, operational overhauls, and developed & executed M&A strategies for both SMEs and multi-billion-dollar companies. From manufacturing to logistics and food production, I’ve developed a deep understanding of diverse business landscapes.

In addition to corporate finance, I’ve successfully started three companies in different industries, exiting two. 

I’ve also navigated the complexities of a management buyout (MBO), giving me firsthand knowledge of the pressures and challenges that come with entrepreneurship, growth, and ownership transitions.

Since 2012, I’ve mentored financial leaders, helping them break through to the C-suite. Many executives feel stuck, unsure of how to progress into a CFO role. I offer tailored mentorship that focuses on building the strategic, operational, and leadership skills needed to thrive as a CFO.

My mission is to help financial executives reach their full potential and achieve the CFO role.

My results to date:

→ Mentored over 30 executives at companies ranging from $8M to $500M in revenue.
→ Guided $225m in successful M&A deals with integration and sustainable results.
→ Founded & exited two companies, bringing practical insight to my mentorship.
→ Built centralized finance departments, optimizing reporting and resource .
→ Led turnarounds that increased EBITDA margins by 20%+ for SMEs
→ Completed a successful $25m MBO for a British company.
→ Managed large international teams across countries.
→ Implemented large ERP systems across countries.

My mission is to help financial executives become successful CFOs, combining personalized coaching with real-world operational expertise.

If you’re ready to take the next step in your career, let’s connect. 
* Send me a message or visit my services page to see how I can support your transition to the C-suite.

Syed Irfan

What a CFO SHOULD NOT do!

I have had a couple of conversation with CEO in the last two weeks who are looking to hire their first CFO. This position, prestigious as it sounds, comes with an expensive bill attached to it! The question I asked to those CEOs was- “what do you need him to do?”

I would not bore you with all the details of what they thought a CFO should do but let me explain, from my personal experience what a CFO SHOULD NOT do. A different approach perhaps but I think its important to clear a lot of misunderstanding about a CFO's role.

Here are 10 things a CFO should NOT do (with quick context from my own journey):

1️⃣ Be the chief bookkeeper
 I’ve done the detail work early in my career—so I respect it. But CFO time shouldn’t be spent posting entries; it should be spent ensuring the right process, controls, and team are in place.
2️⃣ Run on “trust me” numbers
 Across industries and countries, I learned one rule: if data isn’t clean and timely, leadership decisions become guesswork.
3️⃣ Hide in the finance office
 Some of my best decisions came from being on the ground in operations—because spreadsheets don’t tell you where time, waste, and margin leakage really live.
4️⃣ Act like the company’s police
 A CFO shouldn’t be the department of “No.” The role is to protect the business and help the CEO make better trade-offs.
5️⃣ Only cut costs
 Yes, cost matters. But the real CFO value is improving the system: pricing, product mix, working capital, productivity, and decision discipline.
6️⃣ Confuse reporting with insight
 I’ve seen teams spend days producing packs nobody reads. A CFO should not be a reporting factory—focus on the few metrics that change decisions.
7️⃣ Rubber-stamp the CEO
 The best CFO–CEO relationships I’ve had were candid. A CFO is there to challenge assumptions respectfully, not validate everything.
8️⃣ Treat sales and customers as “not my job”
 If finance never engages with customers, you miss what’s driving discounts, churn, and margin erosion.
9️⃣ Over-engineer controls that slow growth
 In SMEs, “perfect” processes can become a tax on speed. Good governance should be practical, not bureaucratic.
🔟 Avoid hard conversations
 Risk, governance, and ethics don’t get smaller by being ignored. CFOs must surface issues early—even when it’s uncomfortable.

If you’re hiring your first CFO, a simple test is this:
are you buying leadership and decision support, or paying executive rates for tasks that should sit in controllership/bookkeeping?

What else would you add to the “CFO should NOT do” list?

CFO Strategist | Mentor & Coach to CFO and CEO | M&A

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The Battle

Brian Zapf, CPA

Syed Irfan

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The Battle

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Syed Irfan

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Syed Irfan's LinkedIn Performance

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