ATSG
Andrés Tapia Strategy Group, Chicago
An ongoing fractional CFO partnership with a Chicago executive coaching and leadership development firm, covering pricing strategy, client proposals and financial modelling.
Fractional CFOFinance that runs itself, and a CFO who answers for it.
BlackBear Consulting puts CFO and controller work together with automation, live dashboards and AI built on your own numbers. We take the routine out of your finance function and stay accountable for what it reports.
US$900MInvestment portfolio assessed for capital allocation
US$700MSavings targets tracked against actual results
US$50MAgribusiness investment case prepared and presented
Recent work with
Why the Great Bear
Travellers found north by the Great Bear. Your numbers should point the same way.
Two stars of the Great Bear point straight at the North Star, which is how navigators knew where they stood and which way to go. It is the shape in our name and in our mark. A finance function has the same job: show where the business stands today, and which way to steer.
How it works
Three steps from last month’s report to today’s numbers.
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Connect
Your ERP, bank, CRM and payroll feed one reconciled data layer, so every report starts from the same numbers.
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Automate
The routine runs itself: matching, reconciling, consolidating. Your team sees only the exceptions that need judgment.
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Decide
Live dashboards and an AI copilot answer the question in front of you, with the figures behind every answer.
See it live
Today’s numbers, not last month’s.
Most companies steer by a report that is weeks old by the time anyone reads it. This is what it looks like when the numbers update themselves and the exceptions come to you.
Cash on hand
$2,481,330
Revenue this month
$1,182,400
Gross margin
34.2%
Days to collect
41
Needs your attention
- WatchReceivables over 60 days are up 8% this week
- WatchFreight cost per unit is above plan on two routes
- On trackFriday’s payroll is covered 3.4 times by cash
Month-end closeDay 3 of 5
- Bank feeds importedDoneAutomatic
- Bank reconciliationAutomatic
- Accruals and prepayments postedDoneAutomatic
- Intercompany balances eliminatedDoneAutomatic
- Variance commentaryDrafted, waiting for reviewA person
Close progress
80%
Four steps ran on their own. The fifth is the one that needs judgment.
Gross margin bridge, last month to this month
Last month
Price
Volume
Mix
Freight
FX and other
This month
Ask the numbers
What moved gross margin this month?
From your ledger, 3 sources
Receivables by age
Current
1–30 days
31–60 days
61–90 days
Over 90 days
Days to collect, last 12 months
41
Overdue reminders go out on their own. A person sees only the accounts past 60 days.
Services
From the CFO seat to the systems underneath.
Finance leadership
The CFO seat. Strategy, planning, and the financial case you put in front of a board, a lender or an investor.
Fractional CFO
Senior finance leadership for a set number of days each month: reporting, cash, budgets and numbers you can put in front of a board.
Read morePlanning & Forecasting
Budgets, rolling forecasts and scenarios that let you plan with confidence and see problems early.
Read moreCapital & Investor Readiness
Preparing the numbers before you approach lenders or investors, so the first meeting goes well.
Read moreControlling and performance
The numbers running correctly. The close, the controls, pricing, and the models behind a decision.
Controller Services
An outsourced controller who closes the books on time, keeps the controls tight, and makes the monthly numbers something you can rely on.
Read moreFinancial Modelling & Valuation
Models that support decisions, and valuations that stand up to scrutiny.
Read morePricing & Profitability
Understanding which products, customers and prices earn their place, and what to change.
Read moreFinance Operations
Well-run processes, systems and controls behind the numbers.
Read moreServices
Finance AI and automation
The numbers running themselves. Dashboards that refresh, workflows that close the month, and AI grounded in your own ledger.
Efficiency Roadmap
A short, fixed-scope review that maps every recurring task in your finance function and shows which ones automation and AI should take over first, with the payback on each.
Read moreDashboards & Automated Reporting
Live dashboards and a management pack that builds itself from your source systems, so that reporting stops being a monthly rebuild.
Read moreFinance Process Automation
The close, reconciliations, payables and receivables rebuilt as workflows that run on their own and escalate only the exceptions.
Read moreAI Copilots for Finance
An assistant that answers questions against your own ledger and reporting in plain language, and drafts the commentary that explains the month.
Read moreForecasting & Document Intelligence
Forecasts that update themselves as actuals land, and extraction that turns invoices, contracts and statements into data without anyone re-keying them.
Read moreFour of these five steps follow rules. We automate those, and keep your team on the one that does not.
- CollectAutomated
- ReconcileAutomated
- ConsolidateAutomated
- ReportAutomated
- ExplainYour team
Ways to work together
Begin with a diagnostic, continue as it suits you.
Efficiency Roadmap
A defined first step
A short, fixed-scope review that maps every recurring task in your finance function and ranks what automation and AI should take over first. It stands on its own, and it is the usual way to begin a longer relationship.
Monthly retainer
From Essentials to Premier
Ongoing support at the level your business needs, whether that is the CFO seat, the monthly close, or running the automation once it is live. Scope is agreed with you and reviewed regularly.
Projects
Defined scope and outcome
One-off work with a clear brief and deliverable: a model, a valuation, a pricing review, a dashboard build, or preparation for raising capital.
Client work
Selected engagements.
Always Fresh
Agribusiness, Peru
Prepared the financial case, scenarios and returns analysis for a US$50 million agribusiness investment in Peru, and presented the conclusions to U.S. stakeholders.
Financial Modelling & Valuation
Agrofrut
Finance advisory engagement.
About
The person you work with.
BlackBear Consulting was founded by Alberto to give owners and management teams the financial clarity that larger companies take for granted.
Every engagement is led personally. You deal directly with the person doing the work, and the advice is written in plain language.
Before founding BlackBear, Alberto assessed an investment portfolio of around US$900M, supported a benefits-realization framework for initiatives targeting up to US$700M in savings, and built automated systems that replaced lagging reports with live dashboards for decision-making.
Contact
Start with a conversation.
Tell us a little about the business and what you are trying to solve. We will reply personally.
alberto.salas@blackbearcorp.com