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The Finance Function Audit

One day. Six layers. A written action plan your board can sign off on.

For CFOs and Finance Directors of mid-market businesses who know AI belongs in their finance function but need to know exactly where to start.

 

Book a Call Here with Marie

Meet Marie

I'm Marie Speakman. Ex-European CFO, now AI automation advisor to mid-market finance leaders across the UK.

I spent thirty years in corporate finance, including as Head of Finance for seven European offices, where I led the migration of seven different accounting systems onto a single Microsoft 365 environment. That project is where I learned what finance transformation actually costs  not in software licences, but in human hours, organisational resistance, and the accountability that lands on the CFO when it goes wrong.

I came into AI early. In 2021, I led finance AI projects in collaboration with Beebot AI before most finance functions had even heard the word "LLM." The last four years have been spent translating what works, what doesn't, and what a CFO actually needs to know before signing off on an AI system that touches the numbers.

Today I work one-to-one with CFOs who need a clear, practical, board-ready answer to the question: where does AI fit in my finance function, and what should I do first?

I built the VALIDATE framework to align AI adoption with ISO 42001. I was featured in Forbes on how finance leaders are using AI. And I run the Finance Function Audit for CFOs who want to stop experimenting and start deciding.

 

What you walk away with

A complete picture of where your finance team's time is actually going, and what to do about it.

Specifically, you leave the Audit with:

  • Your top three AI opportunities, prioritised by impact and effort
  • A written action plan specific to your team, your systems, and your processes
  • A prioritised roadmap showing what to do first and what to leave for later
  • A one-page summary your board or audit committee can use directly

No generic recommendations. No enterprise tools built for businesses ten times your size. A clear picture of your function and exactly where to start.

The Finance Function Audit is scoped to the size and complexity of your finance function. We confirm scope and fee on the call before you commit to anything.

 

Book or Enquire Here

Who Is This For

 

CFOs and Finance Directors of UK mid-market businesses, typically ÂŁ25m to ÂŁ250m in turnover, who know AI belongs in their finance function but need a defensible place to start.

You probably recognise at least two of these:

  • Your finance team is capable but spending most of its time keeping the ledgers moving
  • Month end takes longer than it should, and the board pack is a production
  • You have systems in place, but they don't talk to each other the way you need them to
  • You have heard enough about AI to know it matters, but not enough to know where it actually fits in your function
  • Your board has started asking questions about AI that nobody in the business can confidently answer
  • If any of those sound like your week, the Finance Function Audit is built for you.

What the Audit Covers 

 

The Finance Function Audit works through your finance function across six layers. Together, they give us a complete picture of where you are today and where Automation and AI will make the biggest difference.

Process — how work flows through your finance function

People — the skills, roles, and capacity in your team.

Technology — the systems you have in place and how they connect

Service — how finance delivers to the rest of the business

Data — how data drives decisions and reporting

Governance — your controls, accountability, and audit trail

No generic recommendations. No enterprise tools built for businesses ten times your size. Just a clear picture of your function, across the six layers that matter.

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The Results

By the end of the Audit Day, you will:

  • Know exactly where AI fits in your finance function.
  • Have the three highest-impact automation opportunities identified, prioritised, and scoped
  • Understand the real cost of your current manual work in hours, in risk, and in opportunity
  • Governance position you can defend to your board, your auditors, and your risk committee
  • Board-ready summary that takes less than a week to produce because the work is already done
  • Have a clear first move  the one thing to start on Monday morning, not a twelve-month transformation plan

  • Step-by-step frameworks to apply AI confidently in finance workflows

  • Time-saving automation ideas you can implement straight away

     

 

"What Client Say"

"We are enjoying working with Marie, developing CPD for accountants within the topic of AI. Marie has great knowledge in this area and we are working together to help empower accountants on their AI journey"

Rachel Bruce Publisher of Accounting CPD

"Working with Marie Speakman was extremely valuable for my business. She helped us develop a clear, actionable plan to enhance efficiencies within our finance function. While she introduced us to several valuable technology solutions, I’m especially pleased that we were able to maximise the full potential of the tools we’re already investing in. Her insights will make a tangible difference to our operations"
 
Kirsty McKenzie Imultiply Finance Recruitment

"I hadn’t met anyone who was able to break AI  down into what it meant for us day to day 

And every company I talked to about it in terms of implementing it had been larger businesses than us 

So how did I may it real for an SME in Scotland this is where Marie came in."

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