What happens in the first conversation?

You describe what is going on and Jeremy asks questions about it. No presentation and no proposal. The purpose is to work out whether there is a real problem, whether Truvio is the right thing for it, and what the first priority would be. Organizations regularly leave that call having been told they need less than they expected.

How long does the assessment take?

Usually one to two weeks depending on how quickly access comes together and how far behind the records are. It ends with a written picture of where things stand and what Truvio would do first, which is useful on its own even if the engagement goes no further.

Ongoing support is a fixed monthly fee. Defined projects are a fixed project fee. Neither is billed hourly, so asking a question between closes does not cost anything. Both figures come from the scope established in the assessment, which is why the assessment happens before any number is quoted.

Delivery is remote by default, which is what makes the fractional model work and lets Truvio serve nonprofits nationwide. Onsite happens where it genuinely helps, such as a system migration, a board retreat, or the early stage of a transition where capturing what someone knows is easier in person.

How quickly can an engagement start?

Usually within one to two weeks of the first conversation, and faster when a hard deadline like audit fieldwork or a funder report is driving it. The first week is diagnostic regardless, because moving quickly on the wrong problem is worse than taking a few days to identify the right one.

Yes, and it is often the sensible route. A cleanup project or a single cycle of close and reporting shows you how Truvio works without a long commitment on either side. Ongoing arrangements frequently begin that way.

How we work

First, we figure out what's actually going on.

No engagement is scoped from a phone call. Every one starts with a look at how your finance function currently runs, because prescribing before diagnosing is how organizations end up paying for the wrong thing. What follows is what that process looks like from your side.

Step one

A conversation, not a pitch.

The first call is with Jeremy. You describe the situation, whether that is a close running late, an audit approaching, a finance person leaving, or reports the board has stopped trusting. He asks questions about it.

If Truvio is not the right answer, you will be told that on the call rather than sent a proposal.

What the assessment covers

The accounting system: how it is configured, whether it supports fund and grant tracking, and what is being worked around
The close: how long it takes, what holds it up, and which accounts are genuinely reconciled
Reporting: what leadership and the board actually receive, and whether it answers the questions being asked
Funding structure: awards, restrictions, reporting obligations, and how each is currently tracked
Who does what, including the work that has quietly attached itself to one person
Deadlines in the next ninety days: audit fieldwork, funder reports, board meetings, filings
Anything that reads as immediate risk, whether that is a control gap, a reconciliation nobody has done, or a report due in two weeks

Step two

What usually comes out of it.

Once the picture is clear, the shape of the work is normally obvious. It lands in one of four places.

Ongoing controller support

Truvio owns the finance function on a continuing basis: the close, the reporting, grant accounting, audit preparation, and the systems underneath. The most common arrangement, and the one that makes sense when the gap is structural rather than temporary.

A cleanup or stabilization project

A defined piece of work with an end: a chart of accounts rebuilt for fund accounting, grant tracking reconciled and brought current, a backlog of closes worked through, or a system migration. Some organizations need this and nothing more.

Transition coverage

Controller-level coverage while you hire, after a Finance Director, Controller, or Finance Manager resigns. Typically three to nine months, ending with a handoff to your permanent hire.

Less than you expected

Sometimes the assessment finds that what you have is mostly working and needs one or two specific fixes. That is a real outcome and you will hear it plainly rather than being sold something larger.

Pricing

A fee you can budget against.

Scope is settled before price, which is the reason the assessment comes first. Nobody can quote this work honestly before looking at the books.

Ongoing support

A fixed monthly fee covering the agreed scope. You know the number before the month starts and it appears in the budget as one predictable line.

Defined projects

A fixed project fee for work with an endpoint: a cleanup, a system migration, a backlog of closes, a chart of accounts rebuilt for fund accounting.

Not hourly

Neither arrangement runs on a meter. Asking a question should not carry a cost, and hourly billing is how organizations learn to stop asking.

Month to month

What remote delivery actually looks like.

Remote is what makes the fractional model work. It only works, though, if the rhythm is predictable enough that nobody has to chase anything.

A close on a published date

The close runs to a schedule agreed at the start, not whenever the work happens to finish. You know when statements arrive and can plan board and committee meetings around them.

Reporting that arrives with the close

Statements, budget to actual with written explanation, cash position, and grant status come as one package rather than trickling out in pieces across the following weeks.

Scheduled working sessions

A recurring conversation with the Executive Director, and attendance at finance committee or board meetings where that is useful. By video as standard, onsite when the situation calls for it.

Availability between the formal points

Questions come up between closes, usually urgent ones about whether something is affordable. Those get answered when they are asked rather than parked until the next scheduled call.

From your side

What Truvio needs to start.

Less than most organizations expect. Truvio works within whatever access policy your board has set, and read-only is sufficient for most of it.

Access to your accounting system, and read access to banking and payroll
Your grant agreements, award documents, and funder portal access
Whatever shared drive holds the finance files, including prior audits
One point of contact on staff, usually the Executive Director
An introduction to your bookkeeper, outside CPA firm, and auditors

What organizations ask before starting.

What happens in the first conversation?: You describe what is going on and Jeremy asks questions about it. No presentation and no proposal. The purpose is to work out whether there is a real problem, whether Truvio is the right thing for it, and what the first priority would be. Organizations regularly leave that call having been told they need less than they expected.
How long does the assessment take?: Usually one to two weeks depending on how quickly access comes together and how far behind the records are. It ends with a written picture of where things stand and what Truvio would do first, which is useful on its own even if the engagement goes no further.
How is this priced?: Ongoing support is a fixed monthly fee. Defined projects are a fixed project fee. Neither is billed hourly, so asking a question between closes does not cost anything. Both figures come from the scope established in the assessment, which is why the assessment happens before any number is quoted.
Do you work onsite?: Delivery is remote by default, which is what makes the fractional model work and lets Truvio serve nonprofits nationwide. Onsite happens where it genuinely helps, such as a system migration, a board retreat, or the early stage of a transition where capturing what someone knows is easier in person.
How quickly can an engagement start?: Usually within one to two weeks of the first conversation, and faster when a hard deadline like audit fieldwork or a funder report is driving it. The first week is diagnostic regardless, because moving quickly on the wrong problem is worse than taking a few days to identify the right one.
Can we start small?: Yes, and it is often the sensible route. A cleanup project or a single cycle of close and reporting shows you how Truvio works without a long commitment on either side. Ongoing arrangements frequently begin that way.

Talk with Jeremy

Start with the conversation.

Describe what is happening in your finance function. You will get an honest read on whether Truvio is the right fit, and what the first priority would be if it is.

Talk with Jeremy jeremy@truviofinancial.com