How to Build a Rolling 13-Week Cash Flow
…and Why It Matters More Than You Think
A real-world inside look at how a Dual-CFO partnership brings clarity to fast-growing CPG companies
If you spend enough time inside high-growth companies, you start to notice a pattern:
Revenue takes off. Operational complexity follows. And somewhere along the way, cash flow— the very engine of scale— becomes the thing no one has a clean grip on.
That’s exactly where one fast-scaling CPG company found themselves when they came to AVL.
They weren’t a small brand. They were operating in the mid-eight figures, selling across multiple channels —Amazon, brick and mortar retail, wholesale, and direct-to-consumer. Their revenue was exploding, including six-figure single days during peak demand. But their systems, reporting, and financial infrastructure were still built for a company doing a fraction of that volume.
Their books were maintained on cash basis. Their accounting, inventory, and Shopify/Amazon integrations weren’t giving them true visibility. They were hitting credit limits because payments and fees were mismatched with timing. Tariffs and manufacturing costs added uncertainty. And their internal CFO, though smart and capable— was stepping into the role for the first time without the benefit of a mature finance function behind him.
This is where AVL stepped in.
Not to replace the internal CFO, but to build a Dual-CFO partnership that would give the company the maturity, systems, and visibility required to scale with control.
WAIT A MINUTE… | What Is a Dual-CFO Partnership?
A Dual-CFO model is built for companies that already have the right internal leader— but not the full financial infrastructure to support rapid scale.
It pairs:
The internal CFO who owns vision, continuity, and day-to-day leadership
withA seasoned AVL CFO who brings industry experience, deeper system expertise, operational frameworks, and hands-on partnership
The goal isn’t to create redundancy.
It’s to accelerate maturity.
In this engagement, the internal CFO drove cash forecasting and daily operations, while AVL coached him, guided system design, and created scalable frameworks across accounting, reporting, and planning.
If you want a deeper dive into how this approach works in practice, check out our previous piece:
👉 “Inside a High-Growth CPG Transformation | A CFO’s Perspective on Turning Chaos Into Clarity”
(This story expands on the same type of transformation from the CFO’s point of view.)
A Dual-CFO partnership is simple at its core:
Your internal financial lead + a seasoned and experienced AVL fractional CFO = a unified system that sees further, moves faster, and strengthens the entire strategy.
It’s a model designed for founders facing scale, complexity, or upcoming transactions—and it delivers real leverage where it matters most.
In our newest blog, we unpack this approach through the lens of a real client journey with AVL CFO, Elza Fernandes, and show how this partnership model transformed the company’s planning, reporting, and decision-making almost immediately.
Want to see how the Dual-CFO model actually works—and why it’s becoming the new standard?
Dive into the story.
WHY THE ROLLING 13-WEEK CASH FLOW BECAME THE TURNING POINT
The first step was professionalizing the finance function:
Converting from cash-basis thinking to true financial visibility
Cleaning up accounting, reconciliations, and reporting cadence
Building SOPs across returns, exchanges, and order flows
Aligning systems that weren’t communicating
Supporting lender requirements with clean financials
Creating a clear forecast that tied to real operational inputs
But the rolling 13-week cash flow became the centerpiece.
It gave the leadership team visibility into:
How revenue timing hit cash
How Amazon fees and payout cycles impacted liquidity
What tariffs and inventory cycles meant for margins
When credit limits would hit before they happened
How much they could safely invest in marketing
How to forecast demand across channels sustainably
When the company had record-breaking sales days, they were no longer surprised by the cash effects — they were prepared.
As their AVL CFO put it:
“Once the company saw true profitability week to week, everything changed.”
THE FIRST 60-90 DAYS | Where the Real Work Happened
AVL began with a tailored Business Evaluation, which surfaced the core issues:
Accounting gaps
Reconciliation challenges
Inventory and order flow misalignment
A chart of accounts that wasn’t serving the business
Confusion between systems and reality
Reporting that didn’t support strategic decisions
From there, AVL:
Established weekly finance meetings
Implemented new SOPs
Built a cadence for reconciliations and reporting
Designed cash and operational forecasts tied to real inputs
Helped support lender credit lines with clean financials
Guided system upgrades (including payroll and inventory tech)
Coached the internal CFO on modeling, forecasting, and scenario planning
Partnered directly with operations, inventory providers, and tax partners
This wasn’t bookkeeping cleanup.
This was building an internal financial engine from the ground up.
THE RELATIONSHIP | Why It Worked So Well
The engagement worked because the company treated AVL as a true extension of their leadership team.
They trusted the process.
They made time for weekly meetings.
They were transparent, proactive, and engaged — which allowed AVL to be proactive, creative, and effective.
As trust built, the role shifted from “support on numbers” to guiding strategic decisions:
What needs to change?
Where is the business most at risk?
What can be automated or restructured?
How can the team operate with more predictability?
This is the real power of a Dual-CFO model — expertise plus shared ownership.
WHERE THEY ARE TODAY | Capabilities They Didn’t Have Before
Because of the work across visibility, forecasting, and infrastructure, the company can now:
Make inventory decisions with confidence
Forecast cash months in advance
Secure lender support for peak seasons
Plan marketing around true financial runway
Operate weekly with clarity, not surprises
Scale systems and processes in line with revenue
Understand profitability by channel and product
Grow into the next phase without outgrowing their infrastructure
Companies at this size often don’t have this level of control — even those with internal CFOs.
This team does.
AS A FINANCIAL LEADER MOVING FAST, ACCOUNTING MIGHT NOT BE THE ONLY CLARITY YOU NEED | Explore a Dual-CFO Model
High-growth companies don’t struggle because they lack effort.
They struggle because they lack visibility.
A Dual-CFO partnership gives founders:
Mature financial structure
Forward-looking clarity
System design that matches scale
A partner to problem-solve with
A coach for internal finance leaders
The ability to move fast and stay in control
READY TO EXPLORE YOUR OWN DUAL-CFO PARTNERSHIP?
If you’re preparing for scale, exploring an exit, or just trying to get ahead of cash planning, AVL’s fractional CFO team is built for exactly this moment.
We help founders and CFOs build:
Rolling 13-week cash flows
Mature financial systems
Scalable reporting
Reliable forecasting
True operational visibility
Learn more about AVL’s fractional CFO services — and see how a Dual-CFO partnership could change the way you operate.