Revenue up 36% and contractor cost down 38% at a video agency
A B2B video agency, engaged April 2026
Fractional CFO, monthly close
- Revenue +36%
- Contractor cost -38%
- In progress
Margins the owner called razor thin, three modelled scenarios, and a 38% month-over-month cut in contractor cost. Honest caveat: the turn is not finished yet.
+36%
Revenue year over year, first half of 2026
-38%
Contractor cost month over month, a 12-month low
3
Scenarios modelled before a path was chosen
5
Revenue buckets the reporting was rebuilt into
Percentages, multiples, counts and timeframes only. Client revenue, profit and cash figures stay private.
The short version
- Growing fast on margins the owner called "razor thin if not non-existent."
- We modelled three paths to his margin target. Only one got there, and that's the one the business ran.
- Revenue up 36%, contractor cost down 38% in a single month.
- Honest caveat: this turnaround is not finished. The page says so in his words.
Growing fast on margins that feel thin?
Bring last month's P&L. We'll tell you which lever actually moves it.
The situation
The business installs video production systems for B2B marketing teams. When we first talked, in February 2026, it was growing and the growth was the problem.
our margins are razor thin if not non-existent.
He had a tax accountant and a bookkeeper, both in what he called siloed operations. The bookkeeper was doing "the bare minimum," and reporting that was technically in scope arrived inconsistently "despite prodding."
What he wanted wasn't more bookkeeping: "we want it to be even more ruthless and dialed in so we can make more informed decisions." And the constraint behind it, said plainly: "We're not financial people."
Why it had become urgent
"It's been a huge pain point these last few months," he said, "and not good for longevity, honestly."
What we did
Modelled three scenarios against a margin target
The owner had a target operating margin he wanted by year end. We built three paths to test whether it was reachable.
- 1
Baseline
Change nothing, roll Q1 forward through the year.
- 2
Growth only
Hold the cost structure, grow revenue at the historical 15% to 20%.
- 3
Blended
Modest revenue growth plus real cost reduction. The only one that got there, and the one the business ran.
A forecast with a single number can't make that argument.
Rebuilt revenue reporting into five buckets
Revenue was arriving as one line, which made it impossible to see which offering carried margin. It reports in five now: legacy video production, event rentals, video install, video operator, and the historical course business.
The QuickBooks income categories were realigned to match how the owner already thought about his offers, including transactions invoiced through Stripe.
Handed over a pricing calculator and a list of clients to fix
The calculator is a Google Sheet he uses himself to model pricing on his hero offers, so the next price change is his call rather than ours.
Then the uncomfortable half: a list of recurring clients locked into older, low-margin offers. Knowing which accounts are underpriced is the prerequisite for repricing them.
Set an order of operations for every spare dollar
The sequence, written down
Cash reserve first, to two or three months of operating expenses. Owner pay after that. So the question "can I take money out yet" has an answer that doesn't change with mood.
Modelled the hiring gate and a cash target
Hiring gate thresholds, plus a goal of six or more months of operating cash on hand. And a maternity leave payroll structure at a reduced rate, because forecasting the real calendar beats forecasting a clean one.
Separated the building from the agency
A building with event rental income was mixed into the operating picture, which made both harder to read. It gets tracked as its own unit now, against its own break-even, and it's been running slightly above that line.
Two businesses with different economics, reported separately, so a soft month in one stops disguising a good month in the other.
Moved to async monthly, live quarterly
A Loom walkthrough of the numbers each month, with a live review call each quarter. Less meeting, same information.
Want your own three scenarios?
We model them against your real cost structure, not a growth rate.
Where it landed
First half of 2026
Revenue up 36% year over year. Contractor cost down 38% in a single month to its lowest level in twelve. Reporting now separates five revenue lines, so which offering carries the business is visible rather than inferred.
What hasn't landed yet
This is a turnaround in progress, and the owner is clearer about that than we would be on his behalf: "it's not a light switch that happens over a day," he said, "it's going to take weeks and months to really turn the tides."
What changed immediately was knowing which lever to pull. "I felt definitely a great deal of optimism seeing that like what is possible," he said, "and knowing like what are the exact action items."
It feels like such a tailored approach to every decision we're making.
On what the engagement is, in his words: "kind of like a fractional CFO ... or some kind of financial controller who's stepping in without having to add headcount."
What this maps to
- Service: fractional CFO for agencies
- OS module: Agency Profit Engine, for the margin target the scenarios were built against
- OS module: Hiring Gate, for the thresholds that have to clear first
Questions
The ones people actually ask on the first call
Why model three scenarios instead of one forecast?
Because the useful output was a decision, not a number. Two of the three paths did not reach the margin target, which made the case for the third on arithmetic rather than on opinion.
What does splitting revenue into five buckets change?
It shows which offering carries margin. With revenue arriving as a single line you can watch the business get bigger and still have no idea which work is worth doing more of.
Is this engagement a success story yet?
Yes, and it is not finished. Revenue growth and the contractor cost reduction are both real and measurable, and the owner knows which lever to pull next. Turning a margin around takes months rather than weeks, and we would rather say so.
Why separate the building from the agency in the reporting?
Different businesses, different economics. Blended, a soft month in one hides a good month in the other and neither number means much. Separated, the building tracks against its own break-even and the agency month reads clean.
What replaced the previous bookkeeper arrangement?
One engagement covering the monthly close, the dashboard, an annual budget and twice-yearly forecasts, with quarterly calls. The previous setup had a tax accountant and a bookkeeper working separately.
Next step
Thirty minutes, and you'll know where you stand
Bring last month's P&L. We'll tell you what it's actually saying about your margin, your owner pay and your next hire. If we're not the right people to fix it, we'll say so on the call.
You bring
Last month's P&L. That's it. No prep, no forms.
We do
Read it live and tell you what it says about margin, owner pay and your next hire.
You leave with
The two or three things worth fixing first, whether or not you hire us.
No deck, no pitch. If we're not the right people for it, we'll say so on the call.