THE INSTRUMENT · FIXED SCOPE · FIXED FEE
The AI Operating Leverage Audit.
A fixed-scope, five-day engagement for finance and operations teams at $5M–$50M companies that know they're leaving time on the table — and want a specific, sequenced, priced plan to stop. Five deliverables. $7,500. No retainer required.
5
BUSINESS DAYS
5
DELIVERABLES
2h
SCHEDULED CALLS + PREPARATION
$7,500
FIXED — 50/50 TERMS
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
Five deliverables, each built to be executed against.
01
AI Tool Stack Audit
A map of the tools used by your five scoped workflows — reviewed for redundancy, gaps, and AI-readiness. Verdicts per tool: keep, augment, retire, replace. Potential savings are documented only where contracts and an actionable decision support them.
02
Process Leverage Map
Your top five workflows, ranked by dollar leverage in your context — not a generic use-case list. Each gets a friction score (how manual today), an effort score (how hard to automate), and a return estimate in dollars, with the rationale written down.
03
90-Day Implementation Roadmap
Sequenced: what to build first, who owns it, what it costs, what it returns. 30/60/90 milestones, build-vs-buy called per initiative, and an accountability structure so it survives contact with the calendar.
04
Two Agentic Workflow Designs
Two implementation specifications covering prompts, tools, triggers, review points, and failure handling. They describe what to build; production deployment, testing, and integrations are scoped separately.
05
Working ROI Model
An Excel model separating labor capacity, actual cash changes, implementation costs, and stated assumptions. Change any assumption and the case recomputes. The financial argument, ready for your CFO to attack.
HOW IT WORKS
Day 1 — Kickoff (60 min). Stack walkthrough, pain confirmation, scope freeze. The clock starts when access is granted — a term in the SOW, not a courtesy.
Days 2–4 — Async analysis. No meetings. One consolidated question batch, once.
Day 5 — Readout (60 min). Package delivered 24 hours before the call. The call is for the argument, not the reveal.
WHO IT'S FOR
Companies at $5M–$50M running FP&A in Excel at 15+ hours/month · reports hand-compiled from 3+ sources · bottlenecks in reconciliation, data entry, approval routing · a stalled ChatGPT experiment and no map.
WHO IT ISN'T FOR
Custom software projects · hourly-billing arrangements · enterprise procurement processes · anyone whose primary goal is headcount reduction. Saying so here saves us both a call.
QUESTIONS BUYERS ACTUALLY ASK
Answered the way we answer them live.
How is this different from typical AI consulting?
You receive a ranked, costed plan for five actual workflows in one business unit, two implementation designs, and a working model. Each recommendation identifies assumptions, dependencies, and an accountable owner.
Why fixed fee instead of hourly?
AI compresses delivery time. Hourly billing would punish efficiency and reward slow work. Fixed scope, fixed fee — the structure protects you as much as us.
What do you need from my team?
Two scheduled call hours: a 60-minute kickoff and a 60-minute readout. Your team also prepares the agreed inputs, provides access, and answers a consolidated question batch. The five-day delivery window starts once those inputs are ready.
What happens to our data?
Before access begins, the engagement defines confidentiality, approved systems, retention, and who may use the data. The default is read-only, revocable access and the least data needed. Client information is not put into consumer AI tools; any AI processing requires explicit agreement.
Do you only work with finance teams?
Finance-led businesses are the focus. I bring strategy and Data & Analytics practice leadership to the work. Other engagements are considered when the problem and delivery scope fit.
What if we’re not ready?
Then you’ll hear that on the discovery call, along with the one or two things to fix first. A candid no costs thirty minutes. A bad-fit engagement costs both of us far more.
OPTIONAL ADD-ON: AI POLICY & GOVERNANCE ASSESSMENT (+$2,000 · $9,500 BUNDLED) · 50% AUDIT CREDIT TOWARD A THREE-MONTH IMPLEMENTATION RETAINER AGREED WITHIN 30 DAYS; TERMS IN THE SOW
ACQUIRING SOMETHING? THE M&A EDITIONS
Two companies. Two GLs. One controller carrying it.
The same discipline, pointed at integration: Pre-Close Systems Diligence ($9,500–$12,500, 5–7 days — what you're actually buying, operationally) and the Integration Leverage Audit ($15,000–$18,500, 2 weeks — keep/kill/converge verdicts, the CoA crosswalk plan, and a first-consolidated-close date your board can hold).
The urgency isn't ours to manufacture: the TSA cliff and the first close you must report as one company are already on your calendar. We put them on one page, with the burn math attached.
2 of everything
GLS · PAYROLLS · CRMS · BANKS — THE CENSUS MOST CFOS HAVE NEVER LISTED
Tie-out
AGREED TOLERANCES, TRACED SAMPLES, AND EXPLICIT ACCEPTANCE BEFORE EACH WAVE CLOSES
Day 100
SYNERGY SCORECARD VS THE ORIGINAL DEAL MATH — THE BASELINE DOESN’T MOVE
One 30-minute call tells us both if this fits.
THE LETTER · FIELD NOTES BY PAUL MATTSON
One useful finding.
The assumptions included.
Reporting, data and the practical work of making a business run better. Signed, dated and written to be used.