Financial Analysis Services

Our consulting service is backed by our years of experience, and follows a bespoke, fact based analysis of where you are and what you can achieve.

When you can’t see your business performance or have difficulty in deciding the path forward.

At Ark we know that it is equally important that you analyse and measure the key influences on your business, in a meaningful and cost efficient way and avoid death by analysis.

Some of our most common activities in this area are as follows.

Advise how to develop a structured chart of accounts, that show data in a meaningful way that can be analysed. So you can assess your companies performance.
Provision of data analysis tools to join disparate data sources to see the whole picture. For complex environments that need information in a clear usable format.
Conduct a one off profitability analysis to see what’s really going on in the business,
Develope forecast models based on fact, with sensitivity and scenario modeling, to help you confirm your route forward and support acquisition of funds.

If the service you require is not here, please feel free to reach out. We have probably done it, and if not we might suggest a resource that we know specialises in it.

Charts of Accounts

The first step in taking control of your business

Often charts of accounts are structured around compliance reporting. We can assist in developing a correctly structured chart of accounts helps the business monitor and manage its operations, identifying profitable enterprises and areas that need focus and turn around activities. This support informed decision-making, giving management clear visibility of profitability, cost drivers, and operational performance.

A well-structured Chart of Accounts begins by separating revenue by product or service line, allowing the business to clearly identify which offerings generate the strongest performance.
Where possible, costs should also be grouped by product or service, ensuring gross margin reporting is accurate and meaningful across every revenue stream.
Cost of Goods or cost of sales expenses should reflect the true cost of goods, including materials, freight, subcontractors, and any other direct inputs required to deliver the product or service.
Wages should be grouped into simple, logical categories such as Direct Labour and Indirect Labour, Direct Labour could be broken down by area, think front of house, kitchen, or geographic and functional roles. Indirect labour if appropriate can be further broken down across activities like sales, administration, or production support.
Overheads should be captured in clear expense groups such as rent, utilities, insurance, technology, and general operating costs, ensuring transparency in fixed versus variable cost behaviour.
Where possible, the CoA should avoid unnecessary detail or duplication. Fewer, well-defined accounts result in cleaner data and far more accurate management reporting.

Data Dashboards

When you are overwhelmed with information or need answers quicker

Data dashboards—particularly those built in Power BI—deliver a powerful, consolidated view of a company’s performance, even when information is scattered across multiple, disconnected systems. By automatically pulling data from finance platforms, CRM tools, operational software, and spreadsheets into a single, visual interface, they give leaders a clear, real-time picture of what is actually happening across the business. This eliminates the guesswork and blind spots that come from working in siloed systems.

Once implemented, dashboards dramatically reduce the manual administrative workload involved in preparing management reports, removing the need for repeated data exports, spreadsheet manipulation, and cross-checking. The result is faster reporting, more accurate insights, and more time available for meaningful analysis rather than data wrangling.

Profitability analysis

That deep dive to understand you business drivers

A detailed financial data analysis allows a company to step back and gain a true snapshot of its overall performance by examining the information already stored across its internal systems.

This one-off deep dive uncovers which parts of the business are genuinely profitable, which areas are underperforming, and where activities may need improvement, restructuring, or exiting altogether.

By analysing revenue streams, cost drivers, customer behaviour, and operational efficiency, the business can form a clear, evidence-based picture of its strengths and weaknesses. This forms a solid foundation for strategic decision-making and future planning.

Identifies the most profitable products, services, customers, or divisions using real, transaction-level data.
Highlights areas of the business that consistently lose money or deliver low margins.
Reveals hidden cost drivers that affect performance but aren’t visible in high-level accounts.
Detects inefficiencies in processes, pricing, labour utilisation, and resource allocation.
Provides clarity on whether certain offerings should be improved, restructured, or discontinued.
Improves accuracy of budgeting and forecasting by understanding historical performance patterns.
Creates a fact-based foundation for strategic decisions such as investment, expansion, or downsizing.
Reduces reliance on high-level summaries by providing insight drawn directly from operational data.
Strengthens management reporting and KPIs by defining which metrics truly matter.
Gives leadership a concise, visually clear output summarising both opportunities and risks.

Forecasting and Projections

When you are unsure of the way forward

Ark can provide effective forecasting and projections to give a business a clear view of its future financial position by combining historical performance data with realistic assumptions about upcoming activity.

Depending on the clients needs, these can be simple or detailed models.

These provide the business with a tool it can use as it grows, we predominantly recommend excel and avoid purpose built platforms that require external assistance to modify. With these, businesses can model different scenarios, test the impact of changes, and plan ahead with far greater confidence. By working with your accountant the client can produce detailed three-way forecasts—which integrates profit and loss, balance sheet, and cashflow—you gain a complete forward-looking picture of the company’s financial health.

This one-off or ongoing exercise helps identify risks early, supports decision-making, and ensures the business is prepared for growth or financial pressure.

Creates a clear, data-driven view of expected revenue, expenses, profitability, and cashflow.
Model scenarios, including best case, worst case, and likely outcomes.
Supports strategic decision-making by showing the financial impact of pricing changes, staffing decisions, or investment plans.
Helps identify cashflow gaps before they occur, allowing proactive planning or finance arrangements.
Integrates with historical data to strengthen budgeting accuracy and long-term planning.
Provides essential information for lenders, investors, and stakeholders reviewing the business.
Ensures compliance and clarity through three-way forecasting developed in collaboration with your accountant.
Includes sensitivity analysis, which tests how changes in key assumptions—such as sales volume, costs, or interest rates—affect financial outcomes, helping the business understand risk exposure and plan for volatility.
Highlights funding needs, capital requirements, and potential financial risks early.
Builds confidence in decision-making through structured, well-documented projections.
Forms a foundation for improved monthly management reporting and KPI tracking.

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