A growing business can look healthy on paper and still be hard to run.

Revenue is up. Reports are in place. Dashboards exist. But cash still feels tight, hiring decisions drag, and the numbers do not clearly show what to do next.

In this episode, I speak with Umar Manzar, founder and principal of UM Advisory, about why fractional CFO work is shifting from reporting to execution. Umar explains how finance can help business owners focus on the few drivers that actually affect cash, pricing, hiring, and capital decisions.

We also discuss where AI implementation and automation fit inside firm operations, including invoice reconciliation, financial models, dashboards, and monthly reporting packs.

The pattern is simple: more analysis does not always create more clarity. Better finance systems should make decisions easier, not just reporting faster.

Guest: Umar Manzar

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/umar-manzar/

Website: https://umarmanzar.com/

Host: Leonard De Beer

Helping fractional executive firms get more clients through strategic outreach

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonard-de-beer/

Most growing companies do not have a finance problem.

They have a decision-making problem.

As the business grows, owners spend more time inside operations and less time thinking about the financial decisions that determine what happens next. The challenge is not whether they need a full-time CFO. It is whether they have access to the right level of experience when growth creates new complexity.

In this conversation, Marco Villarreal from The CFO Centre explains why many businesses reach a point where operational success starts creating financial constraints, and why experienced financial leadership is often needed before a company is ready for a traditional executive hire.

The discussion also explores an emerging shift in AI implementation. Not as a tool for replacing work, but as a tool for improving thinking, decision quality, and strategic reasoning.

Growth becomes harder when leaders try to solve new problems with the same decision-making systems that created the previous stage of success.

Guest: Marco Villarreal
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcoavillarreal/
Website: https://www.cfocentre.com/us

Host: Leonard De Beer
Helping fractional executive firms get more clients through strategic outreach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonard-de-beer/

Most people optimize for the next promotion.

The best operators optimize for learning.

A higher salary, a bigger title, or a safer role can look like progress. But the decisions that shape a career often come from taking responsibility before you're ready, stepping into uncomfortable environments, and solving problems that aren't technically yours.

Marcelo Abeno built his career through large organizations including Royal Caribbean, Inter Miami, and the Miami Heat before moving into entrepreneurship through Rework Capital. One of the recurring themes throughout the conversation was that the biggest opportunities rarely look obvious in the moment.

The move that feels like a step backwards can become the foundation for everything that comes after.

The people who stand out inside large organizations are often the ones already thinking like owners long before they become one.

Guest: Marcelo Abeno
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mabinum/
Website: https://www.rework.capital

Host: Leonard De Beer
Helping fractional executive firms get more clients through strategic outreach
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonard-de-beer/

Most firms assume growth problems are execution problems.

Often they're customer problems.

A business can have a strong team, solid delivery, and a growing reputation, yet still become vulnerable if too much revenue depends on a single type of client.

That was one of the key lessons behind the growth of Roundtable Strategy Advisors. After COVID wiped out most of the startup market they served, Greg Cucino and his team were forced to rethink who they worked with, how they generated recurring revenue, and what kind of business they were actually building.

The result wasn't a better sales process.

It was a different business model.

This conversation explores why resilience often comes from customer mix, recurring revenue, and operational discipline rather than growth alone.

Guest: Greg Cucino

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregcucino

Website: https://roundtablesa.com/

Host: Leonard De Beer

Helping fractional executive firms get more clients through strategic outreach

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonard-de-beer/

For years, growing a company meant hiring senior executives.

If you needed leadership, you hired a full-time COO, CFO, or CMO and hoped the business was large enough to justify the cost.

That assumption is starting to change.

In this episode, Corina Ludwig from Wolf's Edge Integrators discusses how businesses are increasingly accessing experienced leadership without making full-time executive hires.

The shift is bigger than cost savings.

It gives companies access to expertise they may not otherwise be able to afford, while creating flexibility as priorities change.

For many growing businesses, the question is no longer whether they need executive-level guidance.

It is whether they need it forty hours a week.

The firms adapting fastest are often the ones rethinking how leadership itself is delivered.

Guest: Corina Ludwig

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinaludwig

Website: https://www.wolfsedgeintegrators.com/

Host: Leonard De Beer

Business automation and transformation through AI and systems

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonard-de-beer/

Leonard De Beer and Brandon Kordower talk about the need to continuously refine what works and stay ahead of the competition to maintain a competitive edge.

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In this episode, Pat Odom explains why fewer hours can lead to better work and faster accounting firm growth.

Pat is a Partner at Apple & Odom, a full-service CPA firm in Charleston, South Carolina. He breaks down how they built a 36-hour work week (even in tax season), grew to around 950 clients in about two years, and stayed focused on a high-service client experience.

Key Takeaways:
• Why a 36-hour week can improve quality and retention in public accounting
• How planning work two weeks ahead keeps busy seasons under control
• What drove their growth (mostly referrals) without paid advertising
• The real challenge of fast growth: onboarding and communication systems
• How they’re using AI (Microsoft Copilot) to save time on meeting notes

The big lesson: don’t build the firm you want “right now.” Build the firm you want five years from now — with clear expectations and the right clients.

Guest: Patrick Odom, Partner, Apple & Odom
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-odom-cpa-abv-cfe-53072516/
Website: www.appleodom.com

Connect with me, Leonard De Beer:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonard-de-beer/

Subscribe to the Business Growth Podcast and learn how top finance leaders are scaling smarter, serving better, and building firms that last.

In this clip Leonard and David talk about chasing high paying careers when they were younger, ruling out doctors and lawyers, and landing on accounting because of a love for numbers.

They also touch on a reality most people miss. Accountants often do very well financially but rarely talk about it.