When to call
Most clients bring us in at one of four moments.
You just closed an acquisition
The deal is signed and the sponsor wants sponsor-grade reporting by the first board meeting.
- Opening balance sheet and ASC 805 purchase accounting
- Working capital true-up and closing statement review
- 100-day plan, KPI package and lender reporting
Cash is tighter than the P&L says
Margins look fine on paper, but the bank account and the covenants tell a different story.
- 13-week cash flow forecast and weekly cash cadence
- Inventory, receivables and payables release
- Lender and sponsor communication through the plan
You are preparing to sell
Buyers will test every number. The story and the support need to hold up in diligence.
- Exit readiness and quality-of-earnings preparation
- Metrics and reporting that support the valuation
- Data room, diligence responses and closing mechanics
The numbers can't be trusted yet
The close takes weeks, the ERP fights the business, and the team has outgrown its tools.
- Close rebuild, account reconciliations and policies
- ERP/MRP selection, conversion and inventory costing
- Finance team assessment, hiring and development
Services
A senior CFO, for as long as the mandate requires.
Engagements are scoped to the situation. Some run a few weeks; sponsor-placed operating roles have run through a full hold period to exit.
Full-time leadership through a transition
Steps in when a CFO departs, a deal closes, or a turnaround starts. Owns the function until a permanent hire is in place and up to speed.
Part-time leadership on a fixed cadence
For companies that need CFO judgment, board reporting and lender relationships without a full-time executive salary.
Buy-side, sell-side and refinancing
Acquisitions, carve-outs, integrations, refinancings and sale processes, from diligence through the closing statement.
The standards that move the numbers
ASC 805 business combinations, ASC 606 and percent-complete revenue, ASC 842 leases and ASC 718 equity compensation, with policies and schedules your auditors can follow.
Track record
Selected engagements
Client names are withheld. Revenue reflects company size at the time of the engagement.
| Company | Sector | Revenue | Mandate | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General aviation manufacturer | Manufacturing | $300M | Turnaround CFO | Improved cash $9M, cut inventory $30M and payables $10M, and raised profit per aircraft delivered by more than $100K. |
| Plumbing fixture manufacturers | Manufacturing | $1.5B | VP Finance / CFO | Led the financial integration of three manufacturing entities. |
| Technology management company | Business Services | $2.4B | Regional VP / Controller | Lead finance director on a $500M services carve-out and a $1.3B hardware sale; supported a $750M refinancing. |
| Design-build contractor | Construction | $100M | Bank-initiated turnaround | Corrected percent-complete revenue recognition, doubled plant productivity, and divested a subsidiary to recapitalize the parent. |
| Precision industrial manufacturer | Manufacturing | PE-owned | Sponsor-placed CFO | Converted third-party debt to preferred equity, added $6M of profit through pricing, and cut the close from 25 days to 5. |
| Digital display manufacturer | Manufacturing | $130M | CFO, PE-owned | Rebuilt the finance team to a 5-day close, converted to a full ERP, and integrated an acquisition with Mexico operations. |
| SaaS company | Business Services | $10M | Sale preparation | Restructured reporting and metrics, increasing value 2.5× and closing the sale within six months. |
| Marketing execution & distribution | Business Services | $200M | Post-acquisition VP Finance | Built the opening balance sheet for the PE acquisition, KPI reporting and a 13-week cash flow. |
| Clean-coal tax credit program | Business Services | Multi-entity | Accounting stand-up | Built a multi-entity accounting structure to an institutional investor's requirements in one week; the deal moved forward. |
| Professional employer organization | Business Services | $20M | CFO | Managed $100M in client payroll and insurance cash flow and improved free cash flow 22%. |
Approach
The first ninety days
Every situation is different, but the sequence holds: protect cash, make the numbers reliable, then build what lasts.
Stabilize
- Diagnostic of close, controls, systems and team
- 13-week cash flow and a weekly cash meeting
- Early read-out to the CEO and sponsor
Make it reliable
- Tightened close calendar and reconciliations
- Accounting policies and technical positions documented
- Board and lender reporting package
Build what lasts
- Budget, forecast and KPI cadence owned by the team
- Systems roadmap and staffing plan
- Handoff plan for a permanent CFO or the next phase
Sectors
Equal depth across three kinds of business
Manufacturing
Aerospace, industrial, precision machining, die casting, plumbing fixtures, furniture and digital displays. Standard costing, inventory, ERP/MRP and Theory of Constraints on the shop floor.
Construction
Design-build, specialty contracting and building products. Percent-complete revenue, job costing, WIP schedules, bonding and lender relationships.
Business Services
Payroll and PEO, marketing execution, technology services, inspection and testing, retail and e-commerce. Recurring revenue, cash cycles and margin by customer.
About
John Hanssler, Founder & Managing Partner
John has spent more than three decades as a CFO and finance executive, most of it inside companies going through a transaction, a turnaround or a change of ownership. He works directly alongside CEOs, founders and private equity sponsors, and stays close enough to operations to know why the numbers moved.
He was a Partner at Tatum, the national executive services firm, from 2006 to 2008, serving as CFO for sponsor-backed companies from $20M to $1.5B. When Tatum's Denver office wound down, he founded Praxis Partners to continue that work independently.
His work pairs technical accounting depth with practical operating judgment: purchase accounting and revenue recognition on one side, shop-floor throughput and 13-week cash on the other.
MBA and BBA, Pace University · Executive education, The Wharton School
- 2008 – PresentPraxis Partners, LLCFounder; sponsor-placed and interim CFO roles
- 2006 – 2008Tatum, LLCPartner, consulting services and private equity support
- EarlierCorporate finance leadershipRegional VP and Controller at a $2.4B technology services company; CFO and VP Finance roles in retail and payroll services