A fractional CFO to steer
your company's defining moments.
From building reliable reporting to steering a fundraise, a turnaround or a finance transformation, DRL Conseil acts as your fractional CFO — the finance right hand to the business leader.
When the finance function needs to step up.
DRL Conseil steps in when the numbers no longer give a reliable read on the business, on cash or on the decisions ahead. The point isn't to add yet another report, but to build financial steering that genuinely serves the business leader.
The numbers arrive too late
The accounting exists, but the leader lacks a clear, fast, actionable read: margin, cash, profitability, budget variances, year-end trajectory.
Cash becomes a point of tension
Supplier payments, working capital, tax or social debt, bank deadlines and short-term forecasts call for tight management.
The company is preparing a structuring transaction
Fundraising, bank debt, acquisition, disposal, turnaround or transformation: the numbers must be made reliable, explained and defensible.
Growth is outpacing the finance organisation
Spreadsheets multiply, responsibilities blur, closings fall behind, tools can't keep up and the leader loses visibility.
Decisions become personal-wealth decisions
Compensation, dividends, holding structure, succession, business real estate or distribution capacity: some financial decisions must be aligned with the leader's personal situation and their usual advisors.
The leader needs a reliable sounding board
A fractional CFO isn't there to produce reassuring slides. The role is to make trade-offs objective, surface blind spots and say what the numbers actually show.
Steer, structure, fund, turn around, decide.
DRL Conseil covers the full CFO spectrum, from recurring steering to exceptional situations. Every engagement is framed around a concrete objective: making the numbers reliable, the decisions clear and the trade-offs defensible.
Steer
Reporting, KPIs, budget, forecast, cash‑flow, margins, variances, management reviews.
Structure
Finance processes, closings, tools, data reliability, automation, team organisation.
Fund
Business plan, fundraising, bank debt, non-dilutive financing, data room, investor relations.
Turn around
Cash pressure, working capital, supplier / tax / social debt, turnaround, short-term trajectory.
Decide
Profitability, pricing, investments, compensation, dividends, holding structure, personal-wealth alignment.
Concrete interventions, in moments where the numbers have to hold up.
DRL Conseil steps in when the leader needs to make a financial read reliable, prepare a structuring decision or regain control of a situation that has become too murky.
- Management reporting
- Move from scattered spreadsheets to a clear monthly read: revenue, margin, EBITDA, cash, variances, KPIs and commentary.
- Budget & forecast
- Build a financial trajectory tied to operational assumptions, cash and the decisions to be made.
- 13-week cash flow plan
- Build a 13-week rolling plan: detailed cash in and out, tension points identified, scenarios and trade-offs to work through.
- Business plan
- Produce a robust three-statement model, sensitised scenarios, the written business plan and a structured data room — the defensible arsenal for an investor or a lender.
- Finance mapping
- Map finance processes, tools and responsibilities; identify priority fixes; formalise the target and the upgrade roadmap, in single- or multi-entity setups.
- Leadership trade-offs
- Investment, hiring, distribution, debt, holding structure, succession or business real estate: bringing clarity to structuring decisions.
From raw data to decision.
A useful CFO engagement doesn't start with a dashboard. It starts with understanding the flows, the risks, the responsibilities and the decisions to be made.
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Diagnose
Understand the business model, the flows, the tools, the pain points, the cash constraints and the decisions ahead.
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Make reliable
Reconcile the numbers, identify variances, secure the sources and separate what's accounting, operational or genuinely cash.
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Model
Build the right tools: reporting, forecast, budget, cash flow plan, cash bridge, business plan or trade-off scenarios.
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Steer
Install management rituals: monthly review, cash check-in, budget vs. actual tracking, commentary, action plans and decisions.
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Hand over
Document the methods, stabilise the processes, train the teams and prepare the handover to a more autonomous finance organisation.
A few concrete proof points
A CFO, entrepreneurial and operational track record, across contexts of growth, financing, cash pressure, transformation, amicable proceedings and multi-entity steering.
- 25+ years in treasury, FP&A, corporate finance and finance transformation.
- €13M raised supported on the finance side, in equity and non-dilutive financing, for company leaders and shareholders.
- 10+ people managed across finance, treasury, control and support teams.
- SMEs to groups from single-entity standalone to multi-entity holding, listed, LBO or privately held.
- Holding + 7 subsidiaries steered as finance director in a group / LBO context.
- ~€60M revenue multi-entity group of ~150 employees, steered as finance director in a transformation context.
Financing & fundraising
Business plan, financial model, dilutive and non-dilutive financing, relations with investors, banks and financial partners.
Cash pressure & turnaround
Cash flow plans, working capital, payment prioritisation, supplier, tax, social or bank debt, short-term trajectory and stakeholder dialogue.
Amicable proceedings & continuation
Ad hoc mandate, conciliation, continuation plan: preparing financial data, cash trajectories, documenting assumptions and coordinating with advisors.
Finance transformation & automation
Automating flows between business tools, accounting, invoicing and reporting to reduce manual rework and speed up the production of reliable metrics.
References, engagements and representative experience
DRL Conseil draws on more than 25 years of CFO experience across services, software, music, audiovisual production, luxury, jewellery, creative industries and multi-entity groups.
Fractional CFO / finance director engagements, external financial advisory, cash steering, reporting, budget, finance structuring, fundraising, turnaround and support to business leaders.
Roles as CFO, group treasurer, entrepreneur and finance manager across listed, multi-entity, LBO, software, music and services environments.
Aligning company, holding and personal wealth.
A business leader's financial decisions don't stop at the company's accounts. Compensation, dividends, holding structure, debt, succession, business real estate or distribution capacity must be analysed coherently, taking into account the company, the cash available and the leader's personal-wealth objectives.
On these topics DRL Conseil acts as the leader's financial advisor, in coordination with regulated professionals: chartered accountant, tax lawyer, notary or wealth-management advisor.
- Compensation, dividends and distribution capacity
- Assess what the company can genuinely distribute without weakening its cash, its investments or its growth trajectory.
- Holding structure and flow organisation
- Clarify the flows between operating company, holding and private wealth: dividend upstreaming, intra-group debt, investments and governance.
- Bringing key employees into the capital
- Model the scenarios for entering the capital, valuation, liquidity, governance and alignment of interests.
- Succession and long-term structuring
- Prepare the leader's wealth trade-offs in connection with the company's value, available liquidity, family succession and legal and tax advisors.
- Business real estate and property holding companies (SCI)
- Analyse the interplay between business activity, real estate, rents, debt, repayment capacity and ownership structuring.
- The leader's personal trade-offs
- Make objective the choices between immediate compensation, capitalisation, investment, debt reduction, succession or securing personal wealth.
About David Ohanessian
A hands-on CFO, directly involved in every engagement.
DRL Conseil is the consulting practice of David Ohanessian, fractional CFO. Depending on the context, the engagement takes the form of a part-time CFO, an outsourced CFO or an interim CFO assignment.
For more than 25 years, David has supported business leaders, groups, SMEs and entrepreneurs on their financial challenges: reporting, cash steering, fundraising, M&A, LBO, finance transformation, multi-entity steering, team structuring and high-pressure situations.
His career spans roles as group CFO, treasurer, entrepreneur, finance manager and external consultant, across services, software, music, audiovisual production, luxury, jewellery and creative industries.
DRL Conseil is deliberately lean: engagements are led directly by David Ohanessian, with no dilution between selling, diagnosing and executing.
CFO, group treasury, FP&A, fundraising, M&A and finance transformation.
Founder of MilesBooster, David has also built, financed and run a tech company.
Work across listed, multi-entity, LBO, services, software, music and creative-industry environments.
Engagements are led by the senior who frames them, with no junior team in between.
A first conversation to clarify the situation.
This conversation helps clarify the context, the level of urgency, the data available and the right type of intervention: recurring steering, finance structuring, fundraising, cash pressure, turnaround or leadership trade-offs.