To role-play the CFO before you commit to a plan, put the plan, the monthly cash forecast, the financing agreements with their covenants, and the last twelve months of actuals into one request. Then instruct Pingpong to read the plan as a chief financial officer who has to sign off on it: find the month when cash is lowest, measure the headroom against every covenant in that month, and test each forecast assumption against the actuals. Do it while the timing of hires and spending can still change.
This page is for chief executives taking a growth, expansion, or restructuring plan to the board, especially where the finance lead is new or part-time. For an outside investor deciding whether to fund you, see role-play the skeptical investor. For the director most likely to vote no, see role-play the skeptical director. Executive starting points live under Pingpong for executives.
What the CFO seat reads first
A CFO reads a plan starting with cash timing: when money leaves, when it comes back, and what the lender or the bank line requires in between. A plan can be profitable over three years and still breach a minimum liquidity covenant in month seven.
The CFO seat asks questions like these:
- Which month has the lowest cash balance, and how far is it from each covenant?
- Does the forecast count revenue when it is booked, when it is recognized, or when cash is collected?
- Do the assumptions for deposits, payment terms, and collection days match the last twelve months?
- What happens to the low point if the largest customer pays a month late?
- Where is the downside case, and who decided what goes in it?
A worked example
This example is illustrative and does not describe a customer. A 140-person company sells and installs electric vehicle chargers for commercial parking operators. The chief executive plans to ask the board in three weeks to approve a second regional installation hub: 22 hires, a warehouse lease, and $3.8 million in combined capital and operating spending over the first year. The company has a $6 million bank line that requires at least $4 million in cash at all times.
The request asks Pingpong to read the plan as a CFO who has worked with that bank and presents the cash forecast to the audit committee each quarter.
A useful pass opens on the cash low point. All 22 hires start in the first month, but the first installation revenue arrives in month five, and the charger supplier requires 50 percent prepayment. Cash bottoms out in month seven at $4.3 million, $300,000 above the covenant. The largest customer owes $900,000 and has paid at 75 days for the past year, so one late payment would cause a breach.
The forecast also records revenue at booking, while the company recognizes it when each site is commissioned, which has averaged 70 days after installation because of utility connection delays. The plan assumes customers pay a 30 percent deposit at signing, and the last twelve deals averaged 18 percent. There is no downside case.
The chief executive changes the plan before the board sees it. The hub opens in two stages: the lease and 8 hires first, the other 14 after 20 signed contracts in the new region. The finance team asks the supplier for net 30 terms and raises a covenant amendment with the bank before the board meeting. The board pack shows base and downside cases, each with a monthly line for covenant headroom, and revenue timed to commissioning.
If you already have a CFO
Run the role-play before you share the plan with your finance lead, and bring the questions it raised to that meeting. A CFO who sees that you have already checked the cash low point and the covenants can spend the meeting on judgment calls only they can make.
A request you can copy
Below are my plan, the monthly cash forecast, our financing agreements, and twelve months of actuals. Role-play as the chief financial officer who must sign off before this goes to the board. Open with the month cash is lowest and the headroom against each covenant that month. Then test every forecast assumption against the actuals, quoting the cell, and say which ones you would change. Tell me what would happen to the low point if our largest customer paid a month late. End with what you would require before supporting it. Stay in the CFO seat.
Paste the covenant definitions from the credit agreement, not a summary.
How Pingpong runs the role-play
The web review app sends your request through several models in order. Each later model receives the original request and every earlier answer, with instructions to assess the work so far. Recalculate every flagged figure in the model yourself before you change the plan. For the steps inside the app, see running your first review.
What a model can't role-play
A model does not know how your bank has handled covenant requests before, what your auditors will accept on revenue timing, or which customers are about to slow their payments. Accounting and credit agreement questions belong with your auditors and counsel.
When the plan needs a board vote, see war-game a decision before the board meeting. More guides live under work decisions before you commit.