Jacob A. Douglas, MBAFinance and operations consulting

JACOB A. DOUGLAS / SERVICES AND PRICING

Services and pricing

Choose ongoing monthly support or a focused engagement for one important project or decision.

Based in California. Serving clients remotely across the contiguous United States (the lower 48 states).

Clear service options

Support for financial work, daily operations, and major decisions.

I help creative agencies, studios, construction companies, specialty contractors, and other project-based businesses organize financial work, improve daily operations, and make important decisions. Foundation establishes reliable records and processes. Growth provides ongoing planning, payment coordination, and operational improvement. Strategic Decision Support helps you evaluate one major choice. I lead your engagement and remain your primary contact.

Foundation

Organize Your Business

From $800 / month

Organized records, vendor information, and a clear routine for requests, approvals, and payment.

  • One entity, one currency, up to two bank or card accounts
  • Up to 100 combined statement lines monthly across the included accounts
  • Monthly transaction classification and account reconciliation
  • Monthly profit and loss, balance sheet, and exception summary
  • Document one agreed routine workflow, such as vendor onboarding or invoice approval, during setup
  • Maintain its checklist and responsibility notes, plus one consolidated question round each month

I maintain the agreed monthly records in Xero, classify transactions, reconcile the included accounts, and prepare reports. You supply complete statements and supporting documents, answer exception questions, and approve material adjustments. I review the close. One-time onboarding is $800 or one month’s recurring fee, whichever is higher. Historical cleanup receives a fixed quote after a diagnostic.

Additional scope: Each additional 50 statement lines: +$200/month. Each additional bank or card account: +$100/month. Accounts payable or accounts receivable management: +$300–$500/month depending on scope. Additional entities receive a separate quote. We confirm add-ons and overages in writing before additional work.

Payroll, tax filings, legal services, assurance or audit work, custom integrations, software, rush work, and specialist services are excluded or separately quoted. Your proposal sets the document cutoff, close-delivery target, one consolidated exception round, and your response deadline. Late or incomplete records can delay delivery and require a revised scope.

Discuss Foundation

Strategic Decision Support

Selective engagement after a fit call

Make One Major Decision With a Clear Plan

From $3,000 / engagement

Evaluate one major decision about contractor commitments, pricing, taking on a project, staffing capacity, or choosing business systems. Financing and acquisition work require a separately confirmed scope and appropriate specialist support.

  • A clearly defined decision, goal, constraints, and people affected
  • Up to three options with documented financial and operating assumptions
  • A written recommendation covering cash, risk, capacity, responsibilities, and trade-offs
  • A 90-day roadmap with owners, milestones, and measures of progress
  • One 60-minute decision meeting and one follow-up review of results and lessons
  • Coordination with your CPA when tax treatment, accounting policy, or other licensed expertise affects the decision, if included in the written scope

We confirm the question, evidence, deliverables, delivery dates, follow-up review date, CPA involvement, and fees before work begins. CPA services are not included in the starting fee unless your written proposal says otherwise. Your CPA or an independently engaged CPA remains responsible for their professional advice. Hands-on implementation, Growth, and Foundation receive separate scopes.

Discuss a major decision
A clear scope from the start.

Starting fees apply to the defined scope. I review your records, complexity, timing, and data-handling needs before confirming a proposal. Packages have separate deliverables. Setup, historical cleanup, client software, additional meetings, and specialist services are priced separately where applicable.

Understand your fees

One-time setup.
Ongoing monthly support.

Onboarding gets the work ready.

This one-time fee covers the agreed initial review of your records, approved access or exports, opening assumptions, reporting templates, and the responsibilities and schedule for delivery. Foundation onboarding is $800 or one month’s recurring fee, whichever is higher, and includes documenting one agreed routine workflow. Growth onboarding starts at $750 and defines your first improvement priority, knowledge-base structure, permitted tools, and review responsibilities. Knowledge content develops as we establish your processes.

The monthly fee covers delivery.

Your recurring fee pays for the agreed analysis, reporting, review, and follow-through each month. Each package defines its own deliverables and limits. Historical cleanup, extra projects, and additional work receive a separate quote.

Example: Growth at the starting scope

$750 one-time onboarding + $1,750 first month = $2,500 initially with the six-month option. The starting total for six service months and onboarding is $11,250, billed monthly in advance plus onboarding. Your proposal confirms the actual fee and billing dates. If an assessment has already completed setup work, we account for that overlap in your quote. The project assessment has its own agreed fee and no automatic monthly subscription.

Getting started together

A clear beginning, with support at each step.

You can bring questions and unfinished processes. We identify what is ready, what needs attention, and the first practical priority together.

1. Agree on the work

We discuss your goals, select the service, and confirm deliverables, fees, responsibilities, approved tools, and communication in your written proposal. Your engagement starts when you accept the agreement.

2. Gather and review

After the initial payment and required information are available, I review the agreed records and existing workflows. We confirm access, identify missing inputs, and assign responsibilities so everyone knows what to provide and approve.

3. Set up your working routine

We establish the reporting structure, action register or checklist appropriate to your service, and review schedule. For Growth, we select the first improvement priority and begin your working knowledge base as we document the process.

What I’ll ask you to provide

  • Your main goals, current challenges, and important upcoming deadlines.
  • A primary contact and the people authorized to approve records, payments, and business decisions.
  • Relevant statements, current accounting reports, open invoices, vendor information, and agreements within the scope.
  • Existing procedures and access invitations or exports for the agreed systems.
  • Your restrictions on sensitive information, AI use, and other tools.

I confirm a service-specific checklist with you. Please share only the information requested through our agreed channels.

What you’ll have after setup

  • A confirmed scope, responsibilities, and delivery schedule based on available inputs.
  • An agreed place to share records and track questions and approvals.
  • Reporting templates and a starting view of the records relevant to your service.
  • A documented routine for Foundation, or an initial cash view, shared register, and first improvement priority for Growth.
  • A list of missing information, assumptions, and next actions.

For Strategic Decision Support, preparation focuses on the decision, people affected, supporting evidence, and agreed options. Your proposal confirms any separate setup fee and CPA involvement.

Why onboarding has its own fee

Onboarding covers the initial review and setup that make recurring work possible: organizing inputs, confirming access and responsibilities, building the agreed reporting structure, and establishing a delivery routine. Monthly fees cover the ongoing deliverables, reviews, and follow-through in your package.

Foundation onboarding is $800 or one month’s recurring fee, whichever is higher. Growth onboarding starts at $750. Historical cleanup, additional entities, custom integrations, software subscriptions, and other work outside the agreed setup receive separate quotes. If an assessment has already completed usable setup work, I account for that overlap in your onboarding quote.

Timing and your role

We confirm the setup schedule after reviewing the scope and required inputs. The first month focuses on establishing a reliable starting point and beginning the agreed work. More complex records or missing information can take longer.

Please provide requested information, access, and approvals promptly. Client delays can postpone delivery and outcomes; they do not automatically change the acceptance start date or pause billing. I will identify what is missing and explain the effect on timing.

I lead onboarding and remain your primary contact. Use named access invitations or approved exports wherever possible. Please do not email passwords, banking credentials, or sensitive client records. We agree on the transfer method before sharing them.

AI may assist with approved procedures and working notes, with human review. Your knowledge base develops as we establish your steps. We confirm permitted tools and information before use.

Talk through your onboarding needs

Choose your Growth payment option.

Both options cover the defined Growth scope. The six-month option gives us time to establish your process, review what changes, and refine the work together.

Six-month option

From $1,750 per month, billed monthly in advance, with onboarding from $750.

At the starting scope: $2,500 initially and $11,250 across six service months including onboarding. Save $1,200 compared with six months of the flexible option.

After six service months, continue month to month at the same discounted rate. No new agreement or six-month commitment is needed.

Flexible monthly option

From $1,950 per month, billed monthly in advance, with onboarding from $750.

At the starting scope: $2,700 initially and $12,450 across six service months including onboarding. Either party may end service with 30 days’ written notice.

Bookkeeping, software subscriptions, additional follow-up, and work outside the agreed scope receive separate quotes. Read about start dates, cancellation, and breaks.

What this can look like.

These fictional examples illustrate the services and do not describe client results.

Foundation: a clearer payment routine

An agency receives contractor invoices through several people. I organize vendor information and expense categories, document the approval steps, and clarify who handles each handoff.

Growth: keep work moving

A studio has overdue customer invoices and vendor payments waiting on approvals. I track the agreed items, follow up with the responsible people, and identify the approval bottleneck. We document the improved process and prepare an AI-assisted checklist for human review.

Strategic: decide whether to take a large project

A construction business considers a large project that may require more workers, equipment, and short-term cash. I compare up to three options, show the cash and workload effects, prepare a recommendation and 90-day plan, and coordinate defined CPA input when tax or accounting expertise is needed.

Explore a worked example.

Try the interactive Growth dashboard

Review an illustrative deliverable with invented figures and clearly stated assumptions.

See a fictional payment workflow review
See a fictional 13-week cash forecast

Tell me what you’re working toward.

Start with a consultation about your goals and service fit.

Request a consultation