People Behind the Numbers
We're a small group of finance professionals who got tired of watching businesses struggle with inflexible budgets. Every person here has spent years working with organisations across Australia, and we've all seen the same problem: traditional budgeting doesn't match how work actually happens.
Our Team
We're based in Lismore, but our clients are scattered across NSW and Queensland. Most of us came from larger consultancies or corporate finance roles. What brought us together was a shared frustration with cookie-cutter approaches that ignored what businesses actually needed.
Kirra Pemberton
Lead Financial Strategist
Spent twelve years at mid-sized manufacturing firms before joining us in 2023. She's the one who'll ask the uncomfortable questions about whether your budget actually reflects your priorities. Her clients either love her directness or need time to warm up to it.
Dougal Strachan
Operations & Process Design
Former operations manager who switched to finance consulting because he couldn't stand seeing good operational decisions killed by bad budget structures. He's particularly good at helping businesses map their actual workflows before building budgets around them.
Freya Linström
Data Analysis & Modelling
Came to Australia from Sweden in 2019 and worked in university research before moving into business consulting. She builds the models that help clients understand what their numbers are actually telling them, not just what they want to hear.
What We Actually Do
Activity-based budgeting sounds complicated, but it's really just matching your budget to how you actually work. Instead of dividing money by department or category, we help you allocate resources based on the activities that drive your business outcomes.
This matters because most businesses discover they're funding things that don't contribute much while starving the activities that actually matter. We spend most of our time helping clients see where their money is really going.
- Mapping actual business activities and resource consumption patterns
- Building budget models that reflect operational reality rather than accounting categories
- Training teams to maintain and adjust activity-based systems independently
- Identifying cost drivers that traditional budgets typically miss or misallocate
- Creating reporting frameworks that connect spending to business outcomes
How We Work With Clients
We've learned that every business has unique patterns of activity and resource use. Our process adapts to what you're actually dealing with, not a predetermined timeline or methodology.
Understanding Your Operations
We start by observing and documenting how work flows through your organisation. This means talking to people doing the actual work, not just reviewing financial statements. Usually takes a few weeks depending on complexity.
Activity Mapping & Analysis
We identify the key activities that consume resources and create value. Then we map how costs actually flow to these activities, which often looks quite different from your current budget categories.
Model Development
We build a budget model that reflects your actual operations. This isn't about fancy software – it's about creating a framework that matches how you work and helps you make better resource decisions.
Implementation & Training
We train your team to use and maintain the new system. The goal is for you to run this independently – we're consultants, not permanent fixtures. Most clients need occasional check-ins rather than ongoing support.
Want to Talk About Your Budget?
We're happy to have a conversation about whether activity-based budgeting makes sense for your situation. No pressure, no sales pitch – just an honest discussion about what you're dealing with.
Get In Touch