Interim CFOs & Controllers as a Deal Protection Tool: A 90-Day Blueprint for PE-Backed Trades Roll-ups.

Interim CFOs & Controllers as a Deal Protection Tool: A 90-Day Blueprint for PE-Backed Trades Roll-ups.
Plumbing. HVAC. Roofing. Restoration. Specialty trades platforms are still attracting serious private equity interest.
The thesis is usually clear.
Stable, recurring service revenue.
Strong local brands and referral engines.
Fragmented markets that lend themselves to roll-up strategies.
On paper. The story works. In practice, a lot hinges on what happens in the first 90 days after close, especially in finance.
This is where an interim CFO, often paired with an interim Controller or upgraded Controller, becomes less of a "nice to have" and more of a deal protection tool.
Below is what we see in PE-backed platforms, along with a concrete 30-60-90-day plan you can actually use.
Clarity. What is really happening inside trades roll-ups
In a trades platform, you have to consider that you are buying hundreds or thousands of daily jobs, calls, and trucks rolling out of branches that were not built with a PE-grade finance function in mind.
After close, a few things are almost always true:
The dispatch or field system does not communicate cleanly with the GL.
Job codes, pricing, and margin reporting vary by branch and legacy owner habits.
Cash collections depend heavily on a few people who "know how things work."
The Controller and accounting team were sized for a smaller, simpler business.
Layer on PE leverage and a roll-up plan, and you add the following:
Lender expectations around covenants, reporting cadence, and forecast accuracy.
A board that wants clear visibility into branch performance, unit economics, and integration progress.
Add-on acquisitions that show up with their own systems, habits, and close cadence.
That is the real context an interim CFO walks into. The question is not, "Can they optimize the capital structure?" The question is, "Can they make sure the finance side of this thesis does not fall behind the operational ambition?"
Authority. What we see on the ground
From our vantage point, working with PE-backed platforms across plumbing, HVAC, roofing, restoration, and other specialty trades, we see three common approaches to early-stage finance leadership.
1) Hope the existing team can stretch
Keep the legacy Controller and lean accounting staff.
Ask them to "level up" into lender reporting, integration, and board prep.
Maybe add a senior hire later, after a few add-ons. 
This usually works until the first heavy audit, refinancing, or messy integration. Then the cracks show fast.
2) Hire a permanent CFO immediately but with no bridge.
Rush a permanent CFO search while the platform is still in flux.
Drop them into broken processes, unclear responsibilities, and urgent lender needs.
Expect strategic leadership while they are still trying to understand how jobs become cash. Sometimes this works. 
But often it burns a good CFO, creates mistrust on both sides, and forces another reset.
3) Use interim leadership to stabilize and build.
Bring in an interim CFO with explicit responsibility for the first 90 to 180 days.
Pair them with an interim Controller if the accounting engine needs real rebuild work.
Give them a defined 30-60-90-day mandate focused on cash, close, reporting, and integration. Then decide what the permanent structure should be, with eyes open.
The third approach is where we see smoother lender conversations, fewer surprises in audit, and less burnout in branch-level teams.
Problem. Where finance breaks in trades roll-ups.
When you push a trades business into a PE-backed roll-up without upgrading finance, the problems are very specific.
1
Job-to-cash is opaque
You cannot easily answer simple questions.
How much money did we really make by branch, service line, or technician?
Where is cash leaking? (e.g., change orders, callbacks, warranty work, slow insurance payments)
How is the job mix shifting relative to the deal thesis?
Field systems, spreadsheets, and the GL do not line up. Everyone spends time reconciling instead of deciding.
2
Close is slow and fragile
The month-end close depends on a handful of people who know the quirks in each branch or legacy entity.
Cutoffs are inconsistent.
Job costing posts late.
Inventory, WIP, and accruals are handled with manual entries and "we will true it up later."
This is tolerable in a private, unlevered business. It becomes dangerous when lenders and boards are watching for timing and accuracy.
3
Lender and board confidence is thin
Reports go out. But:
Numbers move between versions.
Branch-level trends are hard to explain.
Covenant headroom is not clearly articulated.
Lenders start asking more pointed questions. Boards spend time probing data quality instead of focusing on pricing, routing, marketing, or capacity decisions.
4
Integrations make everything worse
Each new acquisition brings:
A different chart of accounts.
A different way of using job codes.
Another instance of a field system.
Without a finance leader owning integration from day one, these layers pile up until even simple questions require heroic effort.
Solution. Interim CFO as a deal protection tool.
An interim CFO does not solve everything. But they do three big things well if you set them up correctly.
Stabilize cash and close
Create visibility into daily and weekly cash by branch, including AR aging and key bottlenecks.
Document and simplify close tasks so timing is predictable, even if not perfect yet.
Tighten the connection between job data and the GL so revenue recognition and COGS are at least directionally right.
Make the story credible to lenders and owners
Translate job and branch realities into a statement that lenders and the PE team can understand and trust.
Produce reporting that is simple, consistent, and clearly tied to covenant and value creation metrics.
Build enough trust that when there is bad news, stakeholders believe it is being surfaced, not hidden.
Set the platform up for integration and growth
Define minimum standards for chart of accounts, job codes, and reporting before the next acquisition.
Work with operations and IT on how field systems will feed finance—not in an abstract way, but in concrete workflows.
Recommend a realistic finance org design for the next 12 to 24 months, not a "wish list org chart."
Often, the interim CFO works alongside an interim Controller or an upgraded Controller. CFO owns the narrative, Controller owns the engine room. Both are focused on derisking the deal in practical ways.
The 30-60-90 Day Blueprint in Specialty Trades.
Our recommended template for a 90-day interim engagement in a PE-backed trades platform.
Days 1-30: Know the business better than the spreadsheet.
The goal in the first month is simple: understand how the business truly converts jobs into cash, and where that reality diverges from the financial model.
Ride along with branch leaders and technicians. Observe calls coming in, jobs being dispatched, work completed, tickets closed, and invoices generated.
Follow a sample of jobs through their entire lifecycle: from inbound call or lead, to job ticket, to time and parts tracking, to invoice, to collections, and finally, to the General Ledger.
Map cash flow and working capital by branch and line of business. Focus on Accounts Receivable (AR) aging, open insurance claims, unpaid change orders, callbacks, warranty work, and inventory tied up in slow-moving SKUs.
Document the actual close process: who pulls data from the field system, who posts job costs, who reviews reconciliations, where spreadsheets fill gaps, and which tasks are at risk if one person is unavailable.
Clearly split responsibilities. The Interim CFO owns the stakeholder context (PE thesis, lender expectations, board dynamics, covenant headroom). The Interim Controller, if applicable, owns the process reality (systems, reconciliations, chart of accounts, and control gaps).
The output of the first 30 days is a simple "here is how this business actually works" view that everyone can agree on.
Days 31 to 60. Protect lender and payroll confidence.
In the second month, the focus shifts to predictability. You are not trying to perfect everything; you are trying to make sure key stakeholders get what they need on time and can trust it.
Set non-negotiable dates.
Close, lender packages, board decks, branch flash reports, and payroll. Publish a calendar and hit it.
Fix the biggest friction points.
Start with bank and AR reconciliations, misapplied payments, job code chaos, recurring plug entries, and any manual step that creates repeated confusion.
Bring branches onto a simple, common cadence.
The same timing. A basic branch P&L. Call volume, job count, average ticket, gross margin, and a clear cash view that a branch manager can understand.
Clarify external and internal focus.
The Interim CFO keeps lenders and sponsors informed; no surprises on timing or content. The Interim Controller ensures every branch and consolidated view ties back to the GL and reconciliations.
By the end of day 60, lenders and owners should feel a noticeable difference in reliability. Inside the company, people should know what is expected and when.
Days 61 to 90. Set the platform up for the next add-on.
The third month is about making sure you do not repeat the same firefight with the next acquisition.
Deliver two clean, repeatable reporting cycles.
Board and lender packages that tie directly to branch-level numbers and reconciliations. With a clear view of service versus installation, residential versus commercial, and emergency versus scheduled work.
Call out what must change before the next acquisition.
Be specific about team gaps. For example, branch-level accounting support; system issues in dispatch and job costing tools; data quality; and inventory, WIP, and revenue cut-off controls.
Recommend the long-term financial design.
For a larger platform, perhaps a permanent CFO, a strong Controller, and regional or hub accounting teams are needed. For a leaner platform, consider a portfolio or group CFO along with a high-caliber on-site Controller and a small team that supports multiple brands.
Create a one-page financial roadmap.
Outline the top priorities for the next 6 to 12 months, specifying what gets done, in what order, and what talent will be needed to achieve them.
This is the hand-off moment, either to a permanent CFO and Controller, or to a more stable long-term model that everyone understands.
The Why. Why interim makes more sense now than ever.
In today's environment, trades platforms are facing:
Higher leverage.
More aggressive add-on plans.
Tighter lender scrutiny.
Higher expectations from boards and eventual buyers around data and controls.
At the same time:
Quality CFOs and Controllers who understand PE and trades are scarce.
You often cannot justify a full permanent build-out on day one.
Rushing a permanent hire into a chaotic situation is one of the fastest ways to burn trust.
Interim leadership gives you a way to buy time and capability without overcommitting.
You get sponsor-grade thinking on how finance should support the thesis.
You get practical help fixing cash, close, and reporting.
You have space to run a thoughtful permanent search once the dust has settled a bit.
Used this way, interim is not a band-aid. It is a deliberate part of the value protection and value creation plan.
Opportunity. How sponsors can turn this into an advantage.
Many firms still treat interim CFOs as a last resort. Something you do when a CFO resigns unexpectedly, or when lenders are already unhappy. You can take a different approach.
By building interim leadership into your playbook for trade roll-ups, you can:
Show branch teams that you are serious about making their lives easier, not just asking for more reports.
Show lenders that you are investing in control and visibility early, not waiting for issues to surface.
Show future buyers that the platform is built on a solid finance foundation, not one or two heroic individuals.
That reputation compounds. Brokers, founders, and executives talk. The sponsor who consistently runs clean finance transitions and integrations becomes easier to sell to, easier to work for, and easier to lend to.
Next Steps. How to put this into practice in the next 90 to 180 days.
If you want to use interim CFOs and Controllers as deal protection tools in trades, here is a simple starting plan.
Identify your highest-risk platforms
Focus on:
New platforms with underbuilt finance.
Roll-ups with multiple recent acquisitions.
Businesses heading into a major audit or refinancing.
Situations where the current CFO or Controller is clearly overextended.
Decide where interim leadership changes the trajectory
Where would an interim CFO de-risk lender conversations and board expectations?
Where would an interim Controller materially improve close, reconciliations, and reporting quality?
Where would a short window of both create the most leverage?
Define clear 30-60-90 outcomes before you engage
Write down what "done" looks like at each stage.
Share it with candidates. Ask them to walk you through how they would execute.
Align internally so the CEO, PE team, and branches know why this is happening.
Run a thoughtful permanent search in parallel
Once the interim leader has mapped reality, you are in a much better place to define the permanent CFO and Controller profiles.
Use what you learned in the first 90 days to tune the job specs and assessment process.
Institutionalize the lessons
Turn the 30-60-90 plan into a repeatable template for future platforms.
Build a small bench of interim leaders and finance executives you trust and would work with again.
Essence. The simple takeaway.
In PE-backed trades roll-ups, finance is not just a back-office function. It is part of how you protect the deal you just signed and establish the value creation you promised.
Interim CFOs and Controllers, used deliberately, offer a low-friction way to stabilize cash, streamline month-end close processes, make reporting credible, and prepare the platform for the next add-on.
With most of our partners, "good" looks like a clear decision on an interim CFO versus an interim Controller, supported by a focused 90-day plan. One role manages the narrative for lenders and owners; the other oversees the financial operations. Together, they keep the platform stable enough to grow.
If you are looking at a trades platform right now and wondering whether the finance function can support the roll-up you have in mind, that is usually the signal to at least explore this option.