For CFOs, COOs and plant finance leaders

Value Audit

Four weeks. Fixed price. We model where cash, time and margin are tied up in your finance and operations data, and give you a ranked list of interventions in dollars, with a source trail behind every number.

Fixed price: $25,000. Delivered in: Process industry, manufacturing, FMCG and pharma.

What you get

  • ✓A ranked list of interventions, each with an estimated dollar impact, an owner, and effort.
  • ✓The models behind the estimates, so your team can rerun them with its own assumptions.
  • ✓A source trail for every number, so your team and auditors can check it.
  • ✓A 30-day quick-intervention plan for changes that need no new platform.
  • ✓A short list of items that need a project, with a rough scope.

The four weeks

Week 1

Scope and access

Agree the numbers you want to move and the data we need. Set success criteria. Set up read-only access to the ERP, planning and plant or sales data we agree.

Week 2

Measure

Baseline the cash cycle (receivables, payables, inventory), plan adherence, and the drivers of cost and margin. Trace each figure to its source system, field and date.

Week 3

Model and rank

Model the policy and planning changes, size each in dollars, and rank by value, effort and how much change your team can absorb at once. Separate what can move in 30 days from what needs a project.

Week 4

Readout

A working session with you and your team: findings, the ranked list, an owner and next step for each quick intervention, the models, and what a larger project would involve.

What this is not

  • —Not an implementation. We recommend and size; you choose who builds.
  • —Not a software pitch. The audit works with the systems you run today.
  • —Not an ERP project. We read your ERP, planning and plant data; we do not re-implement them.

Who does the work

Led by Sridhar Ravula, who has spent two decades applying statistics, machine learning and AI to operations and finance, from plant analytics and production-planning optimization to quantitative finance and language-model research. He teaches graduate data infrastructure and management as adjunct faculty at Columbia University. Supported by a team of specialists in finance and operations systems.

More about us · Quick interventions if you already know the question

Every number in the readout traces to a source, and every assumption is written down so your team can challenge it.

Questions

Who is this for?
CFOs, COOs and finance and operations leaders at medium to large process and manufacturing companies who suspect cash, inventory or margin is tied up in ways the numbers do not show, in receivables, payables, inventory, planning or cost.
What do you need from us?
A sponsor, a point person for data access, and read-only extracts from the systems that hold the numbers (ERP, planning, and plant or sales data). We agree exactly what in week 1.
What does fixed price mean here?
$25,000, agreed before we start, for the four-week scope above. If you want something outside it, we quote that separately and you decide.
How is this different from a consulting or implementation partner audit?
It finishes in four weeks and ends with dollar-sized, ranked interventions and the models behind them instead of a long findings report. The audit does not depend on selling you an implementation, and the findings are yours to act on with any partner.
Which systems do you work with?
Most ERPs, including JD Edwards and SAP, plus planning and close tools. Tell us what you run; if we are not the right fit we will say so in the first conversation.
What happens after the audit?
You keep the findings and the models and can act on them with your own team or any partner. If you want help with the larger items, we can scope a follow-on project, but it is not required.

Start with a conversation

A 30-minute conversation to see whether the audit fits. If it does not, I will say so.

Book a 30-minute conversation

Send a note

Tell us which number you want to move and what data you have. We reply within one business day.