The pattern
You are brilliant at the thing your company does.
The numbers are a different language, and lately they have been keeping you up. The board wants a forecast you do not have. The runway math changes every time you look. A diligence team is about to ask questions you are not sure your books can answer. That is the exact moment a CFO earns their keep, and the exact moment most founders cannot yet justify hiring one full time.
Who we serve
Four worlds we go deep in
We anchor in four regulated, capital intensive industries, and we are open to a strong fit outside them.
Technology (AI and SaaS)
ARR you can trust, a model your team runs on, a clean story for the raise.
Read more →
Healthcare and Biotech
Runway and milestone burn the board believes, books audit ready before you need them.
Read more →
Pharma
A close that survives diligence, accruals and workpapers built for real scrutiny.
Read more →
Pharmacy
Margin you trust by location and payer, PBM reconciliation that stops eating your week.
Read more →
Get it trustworthy
Clean books and a reliable monthly close you can finally trust.
Make it strategic
Add the forecast, the 13 week cash view, and board ready reporting as you grow.
Carry it through
A full stack CFO in the room for the raise, the lender, and the exit.
Two service lines
Two ways we work with you
Service line one
Fractional CFO services
For founders in our four industries who have outgrown a bookkeeper. Five packages, from bookkeeping up to full CFO, each on a flat monthly scope.
See the five packages →
Service line two
AI consulting for accounting work
For accounting firms and finance teams running QuickBooks Online or Xero. We teach the month-end close and reporting method we use at Island Waters, built on one client company, with human review throughout.
See the AI consulting options →
Why founders trust us
Senior judgment, not junior hours
A two decade CFO on your account, not a team of analysts learning on it.
Regulated vertical depth
We speak your financial language: reimbursement, milestones, licensing, the public company close.
The full lifecycle
From the first clean close through the raise, the lender, and the sale.
The record behind the firm. Meet Shawn →
Our promise
Calm in the storm. Plain talk. You decide.
A steady hand when the numbers turn scary, so you decide from clarity, not fear. Senior judgment said plainly, then the decision handed back, because it is your business and your call.
Who you work with
Shawn Elliott, Founder & CEO
More than two decades in financial leadership across public accounting, two private equity exits, and clinical trial accrual accounting for a pharmaceutical company that later went public. Senior CFO judgment delivered directly, not through layers.
The first step
Let us take a look together.
A short, no pressure conversation to see if we are a fit. If we are not, we will tell you, and point you to who is.
See If We Are a Fit (15 minutes)