MSPs · IT Services
Fractional CFO for MSPs and IT services companies.
MSPs and IT services firms are valued on the quality of their recurring revenue and margins. We build the numbers that prove it, to you, your lender and your next buyer.
MSPs and IT services firms are valued on the quality of their recurring revenue and margins. We build the numbers that prove it, to you, your lender and your next buyer.
Most IT businesses run on two systems that never quite agree. The PSA knows which agreements, tickets and techs drive the work. The accounting system knows what the business actually earned. Owners end up making pricing, hiring and acquisition decisions from a P&L that can't tell them which clients, services or contracts make money.
That gap costs real money twice. It leaks margin every month through agreements priced years ago and labor nobody tracks against them. Then it costs again at exit, when a buyer discounts every number you can't support. A fractional CFO who knows how MSPs make and lose money closes that gap: service-line margins you can trust, pricing set on real cost to deliver, and an EBITDA story that holds up in diligence.
Adjusted EBITDA with documented add-backs, a clean recurring-revenue schedule, and the fixes buyers discount for, done before you go to market.
Gross margin by agreement, client and service line, so you know which contracts carry the business and which ones quietly drain it.
Per-user and per-device pricing set on true labor, tooling and licensing cost, with a plan for repricing legacy agreements without losing clients.
Billing, SKUs and the chart of accounts aligned between your PSA and QuickBooks, Xero or Zoho Books, so monthly reporting matches what the business actually does.
Evaluating targets, deal models, diligence on agreements and margins, and integration plans that protect the cash you paid for.
Lender-ready packages for SBA and conventional acquisition loans and lines of credit, presented by a former commercial banker.
MSPs typically sell on a multiple of adjusted EBITDA. These are the factors that move that multiple up or down, and the ones we work on first.
The share of revenue under managed agreements versus project and break-fix work. Buyers pay most for contracted, repeatable revenue.
Client retention, multi-year terms and auto-renewal clauses tell a buyer how much of today's revenue will still be there next year.
A few oversized clients, or relationships that live only with the owner, push buyers toward lower multiples and longer earnouts.
Managed security, compliance services and a clear vertical focus tend to earn a premium over a generalist book of business.
Value drivers summarized from Adastra Equity’s 2026 IT services EBITDA multiples review. Every deal is different; we model yours.
Pulse works with managed IT firms on the work that moves their numbers: billing and PSA-to-accounting workflows, service-line economics, and acquisition diligence. Founder Noel Billingsley was also a founding officer of an FDIC-insured community bank, underwriting and placing commercial debt. That combination matters most at the two moments that define an IT business's value: when you price your services, and when you buy or sell.
“As our Fractional CFO, he built our financial foundation, implemented governance, and secured the capital we needed to launch.” — CEO, Managed IT Services
An owner planning to retire wanted to go to market within a year. The business was profitable, but the books couldn't show buyers where the profit came from.
An in-house bookkeeper and a chart of accounts that had grown without a plan. No revenue or cost by product or service, no real cost of goods sold, and every tech's time sitting in overhead. The PSA and the books were tied together with a few journal entries each month.
Rebuilt the chart of accounts around the services the MSP actually sells. Moved labor out of overhead and into cost of service. The owner can now see gross and net margin by product, by service and by client, on an automated KPI dashboard instead of a month-end spreadsheet.
With the real numbers visible, the work turns to raising gross and net margin, and lifting revenue per client through revised contract terms, before buyers see the books.
Details are generalized to protect client confidentiality.
Fixed scope, quoted up front. Each one stands on its own, and can roll into ongoing CFO support if you want it to.
We check how your chart of accounts and labor are set up, show gross margin by service and by client, and give you a repricing plan for the agreements that underperform.
We build adjusted EBITDA with documented add-backs and a recurring-revenue schedule, and list the issues a buyer would discount for, in the order to fix them.
We review the target’s financials and agreements, build the deal model, and map a financing path before you commit.
A lender request, a cash question or anything that doesn’t fit a box. Describe it and we’ll scope it.
We review your PSA data, financials, agreements and goals.
We agree the deliverables, whether that's margins, pricing, a model or a deal.
We rebuild the reporting, reprice, model and package for lenders or buyers.
Monthly CFO support as you grow, buy or prepare to sell.
A short note is enough. Noel will review it and come back with a clear first step.
Go deeper on the decisions this work supports.
How flexible contract terms keep deals closing when clients stop committing long.
What gets a business loan approved, and the red flags that quietly kill deals.
Who does what in finance, the metrics worth tracking, and why profit and cash diverge.
Most MSP sales are priced as a multiple of adjusted EBITDA. The multiple moves with the quality of that EBITDA: how much revenue is contractually recurring, how long clients stay, how concentrated the client base is, and how much of the business depends on the owner. Two MSPs with the same profit can sell for very different prices.
Yes. On the sell side we clean up adjusted EBITDA, document add-backs, and fix the issues buyers discount for before you go to market. On the buy side we model the deal, review the target's agreements and margins, and line up acquisition financing, including SBA options, from a banker's seat. We don't broker deals, which keeps us independent: our job is to make sure the numbers hold up, working alongside your broker, attorney and lender.
Yes. We work from the data you already have in your PSA (such as Halo, ConnectWise or Autotask) and QuickBooks, Xero or Zoho Books, and align the two so agreement, product and labor margins reconcile to the books.
Yes. SaaS gets measured on a different scorecard than an MSP, so we run it as its own practice. See fractional CFO services for SaaS companies.
Ongoing CFO support is a monthly retainer sized to your business and the work involved. Defined projects, such as a valuation-readiness review, a pricing rebuild or an acquisition model, are quoted as a fixed fee. We scope and quote before any work starts, so there's no open-ended meter.
No. Your bookkeeper keeps the books and your CPA handles tax and compliance. We handle the financial strategy: margins, pricing, cash, capital, valuation and decisions. We don't provide tax or legal advice.
Take the 60-second fit check or book a call. Either way you'll leave with a clear next step.
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