Expert, flexible and surprisingly creative
We work with companies of all sizes, from plcs and SMEs, to early-stage ventures and investors. Like all of our clients, you want to improve business performance, make better decisions, reduce financial risk and predict financial results with greater confidence. We can help you use your business data to do so.
At blueboxthinking, we find intelligent and imaginative ways to capture the dynamics of your business in a versatile, tailored modelling tool that you and your managers can use on a day-to-day basis.
We don’t stop at developing a model. We can work with you to manage the planning process, ensuring stakeholders are fully engaged and projects are delivered on time. We also help you develop powerful ways to communicate the right messages to your stakeholders.
Working with blueboxthinking
We are a boutique consultancy that combines technical modelling expertise, operational flexibility and a uniquely creative approach.
Our technical expertise comes from working in the modelling groups of Big Four accounting firms and from extensive senior commercial finance experience across many industry sectors. We believe this combination gives us a valuable operational, strategic and financial perspective, enabling us to bridge the gap between detailed modelling and senior management. We only provide bright, skilled consultants who are able to adapt to the individual needs of each project and rapidly develop flexible models according to a strict development methodology and robust modelling techniques. This reduces the risk of error often associated with unsystematic spreadsheet development.
A business or financial model is often the focal point of a financial deal or planning process, as it becomes the repository for all relevant operational and financial information. Our modellers are strong project managers in their own right and will take the initiative to consult widely with different stakeholders throughout the model development lifecycle in order to pull together the relevant design components of the model and methodically source the right data to populate the model.
We have an appetite for information and a gift for communication. They help us provide reliable, prompt and comprehensible financial models and forecasts.
Our strong creative bias may be unusual in our field, but it’s a vital part of how we operate. We often work closely with clients to design new, effective ways to communicate business performance to audiences who may not be comfortable with detailed financial information, yet need to understand it.
We are happy to work on short-term, full-time projects or longer, piecemeal assignments, or even to direct financial planning and analysis activities on an interim basis. Whatever arrangement you prefer, you’ll find we are passionate about what we do. We pride ourselves on developing long-term relationships with our clients and find they often return to us to commission additional pieces of work.
It helps that we’re small, which means that our services are competitively priced compared with some of the larger players and we can respond quickly and precisely to your needs. We are a cost-effective, professional alternative to employing full time staff to fulfil specialist projects. But we thrive on big projects, making life easier for our clients by carrying out complex analysis and planning for them.
Naturally we are experts in Excel and qualified accountants. We’re not sure where the creativity comes from, but we know it helps us deliver real business benefits for our clients.
With our foreign language skills (currently French and Spanish) we relish working on UK and overseas projects where English is not the main business language.
Facilitation
In designing a tailored financial model we will often facilitate workshops with the key stakeholders in order to establish the requirements for the model and how these align with the current business imperatives. Once the model has been developed, we will work with you to design and project manage the planning or reporting process.
Modelling
We apply a structured development methodology to our assignments to ensure the model is developed rapidly with the minimal risk of error and in line with business requirements. This typically follows the following stages:
- Scope – establish the main purpose and outline requirements
- Specify – determine the detailed requirements for the model
- Design – set out the overall structure and operation of the model including any visual communications to articulate the key messages
- Develop & document – put the design into practice, create the model and any associated user or technical documentation
- Populate – ongoing process, in collaboration with client, to populate the model with data and assumptions
- Test – correct errors and test operation of the model
- Deliver – hand the model over and train users in model operation
Communication
We will work with you to develop a communications package that is appropriate for the target audience and which is largely driven automatically from your model. This usually uses dashboards and visuals to illustrate the performance and direction of the business. If the model has been developed to secure funding we can work with you to develop a powerful pitch to existing and prospective investors and other stakeholders on the future direction of the business.