The honest starting line.
A profitability baseline the whole leadership team can agree on and defend. Every later gain measures against it. MIV Partners brings CFO advisory to this work.
You cannot argue improvement without agreeing on the start.
Half the arguments in a founder-led business come from disagreeing about the current number. Profitability Baseline is the one-page truth the whole team signs off on: current gross margin by product or service, current operating margin, current true owner economics after normalizations. From that point on, improvement is a delta, not a debate.
- Gross margin by revenue line, normalized
- Operating margin with add-backs called out honestly
- Owner economics separated from business economics
Three outputs from the baseline.
One-page baseline
A single view of current profitability the leadership team, board, or lender can read at a glance.
Normalization schedule
The add-backs, one-offs, and owner items called out plainly. No creative accounting.
Target framing
A first-pass view of where the number could realistically move over the next twelve months and what it would take.
The related diagnostics.
Set the baseline first.
Book the complimentary diagnostic and start the engagement on an honest number.