Last Updated on February 6, 2026 by Jason Andrew
SNAPSHOT
When Paige Kohalmont acquired Austral Herbs through a Search Fund, she needed to raise capital, stabilise operations, and navigate a complex stock-heavy business, all without an internal finance team. SBO Financial stepped in as her embedded VCFO and full outsourced finance function, helping raise working capital, bring structure to the chaos, and build financial clarity from the boardroom down.
How SBO Financial Acted as Austral Herbs’ Embedded VCFO During a Critical Growth Phase
The Founder’s Challenge
Paige stepped into Austral Herbs with ambition and vision, but no real financial infrastructure.
Stock had to be ordered 4+ months in advance. Supplier arrangements were messy. The accounting system (Xero) and inventory system (Ostendo) weren’t speaking the same language. There was no margin visibility, no reliable cash forecasting, and no one to build models for capital raising conversations.
“I was making huge purchasing decisions and managing investor expectations, all while building my own spreadsheets and second-guessing the numbers.”
What Paige needed wasn’t just bookkeeping. She needed strategic firepower and hands-on financial execution yesterday.
The SBO Solution
SBO became Paige’s end-to-end finance team, but more than that, her strategic partner.
We stepped in as an embedded VCFO, working across financial modelling, operational cleanup, reporting, board engagement, and strategic planning.
We helped Paige raise by:
- Building dozens of detailed financial models for investors and banks, often with same-day turnaround
- Designing models around complex stock cycles and working capital timing
- Communicating financial drivers clearly to the board and stakeholders
We built her financial infrastructure from scratch:
- Linked purchase planning to cash flow with weekly forecasting tools
- Cleaned up accounting by fixing integration issues between Xero and Ostendo
- Discovered and resolved problems with supplier invoices, FX mismatches, and PO errors
- Defined and implemented gross profit tracking, which wasn’t available in existing systems
We became her finance team day to day:
- Created automated, board-ready reports combining financial & non-financial KPIs
- Met weekly to align on cash flow, AP, and inventory planning
- Joined the company’s internal messaging app to stay embedded in the business
- Advised on everything from promotions to customer membership models
The Impact
Since partnering with SBO, Austral Herbs has:
- 💰 Raised acquisition and working capital funding across equity and debt
- 📊 Gained real-time visibility into cash flow, margins, and supplier spend
- 🔧 Fixed critical operational issues that were undermining financial accuracy
- 💡 Created a system for making faster, smarter commercial decisions
- 🧘♀️ Freed up the CEO to lead with confidence, not get lost in spreadsheets
The Takeaway
SBO Financial’s VCFO service goes far beyond compliance. We embed inside your business, giving you financial clarity, investor-ready reporting, and decision-making support at the pace a founder actually needs.
Whether you’re post-acquisition, pre-raise, or scaling fast, we’ll help you run your business with confidence.
👉 Book a call to see how we work.
