Burnaby, Metro Vancouver
Burnaby sits in the middle of Metro Vancouver and its businesses look like the region in miniature, with industrial yards in Big Bend, technology campuses near Production Way, retail at Metrotown and film stages off Boundary Road. We give those companies a finance lead who turns monthly statements into weekly decisions, working alongside your CPA.
The local economy, in plain words
- Light manufacturing and warehousing in Big Bend and along the Lougheed corridor
- Technology and telecommunications campuses around Production Way
- Film and television studios near Boundary Road
- Regional retail centred on Metrotown
- Post-secondary institutions on Burnaby Mountain and at the BCIT campus
Where Burnaby companies lose money quietly
Manufacturers and distributors here tie up cash in inventory and then extend terms to customers who pay slowly, so a profitable year on paper can still end with an overdraft. Technology firms hire ahead of revenue and discover the burn rate only when the runway is short. Retailers at the mall carry rent that does not move while sales do. The pattern we see most often is a business that knows its total margin but not the margin on each product line, customer or crew, so the growth that feels good is sometimes the growth that costs the most.
The Burnaby businesses we serve
We work with owner-led manufacturers, wholesale distributors, equipment rental firms, engineering and technology companies, clinics and the trades contractors who run their fleets out of Burnaby industrial parks. Many have a controller or senior bookkeeper already. Our job is to give that person a finance lead who sets the forecast, the pricing rules and the reporting cadence, and who speaks the same language as the bank. Your CPA stays responsible for tax planning, review engagements and the year end, and we make sure what they receive is clean.
How we work in Burnaby
Burnaby is a short drive from our Vancouver base, so meetings happen on your shop floor or in your boardroom. The opening weeks produce a cash flow forecast and a unit economics view of what you sell. From there we build the budget, the monthly management pack and the KPI dashboard your managers will actually read. If a lender, landlord or buyer needs reporting, we prepare it. Engagements are priced as a monthly retainer or a fractional executive seat, never hourly, and most start with a single Strategy Session.
Services in Burnaby
Questions from Burnaby
We already have a controller in Burnaby. Why add a fractional CFO?
A controller keeps the records accurate and the close on time. A fractional CFO decides what the records mean for pricing, hiring, borrowing and capacity, and owns the forecast. The roles work best together.
Can you help a Burnaby manufacturer with inventory and working capital?
Yes. We map how long cash sits in stock and receivables, then set reorder, terms and collection rules that free it without starving production.
Do you meet in person in Burnaby?
Yes. Burnaby is inside our in-person area, which covers Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Shorter check-ins run by video between visits.
Start with a finance review.
Ninety minutes with Ali on your cash, margin and pricing. You leave with the four numbers to watch and the two or three moves that change them, whether or not we work together.