What should a CFO review before you commit to a second location?

A location review needs to arrive before management becomes committed to the site. Tell the CFO which decisions are still open: signing a lease, paying a deposit, ordering equipment, recruiting a manager or announcing an opening date. Provide the actual deadlines and the person who can approve each commitment.

Ask for staged findings if the complete analysis cannot be finished before an early deadline. The first deliverable might identify missing information and conditions for proceeding with further investigation. An incomplete model should not become an unconditional approval simply because a landlord wants an answer on Friday.

The SBA's planning guidance connects customer research with financial projections. Apply that connection to the new location: ask the adviser to show where the expected customers come from and what evidence supports their spending. The established location's average sales can inform the work, but a different catchment, opening schedule or customer mix needs its own explanation.

Separate genuinely additional revenue from sales that may move out of the existing site. Ask operations to explain staffing and service capacity at the expected volume. Record who supplied each assumption and which pieces still depend on research. A forecast with precise monthly numbers can remain highly uncertain if its underlying demand claim has not been tested.

Include deposits, fit-out, equipment, permits where applicable, recruitment, training, opening inventory and costs incurred before the first sale. Then extend the analysis through the ramp-up period. The cash requirement is not limited to the amount needed to unlock the doors.

Have the CFO compare an on-time opening with a delayed opening and slower initial demand. Identify costs that continue during a delay and commitments that can still be postponed. For a hypothetical site, an extra month before opening could leave rent and manager payroll payable while sales remain zero. Use the actual agreements to quantify that exposure.

Require a consolidated view of both locations. A new site can appear viable by itself while consuming cash the original operation needs for its own suppliers and staff. The model should explain any shared resources, internal funding and temporary support assumptions.

Ask for a short decision memo that distinguishes facts, estimates and outstanding conditions. It should identify what must be resolved before the next commitment, such as a contractor quotation, financing approval or a revised staffing plan. Assign a named owner to each condition and a date for reporting back.

Define when the analysis must be refreshed. A different lease term, later possession date or larger fit-out budget can change the decision. Agree how those revisions are priced in the CFO engagement and who has authority to request them. Keep legal lease review and specialist regulatory advice with the professionals appointed for those questions.

The final handoff should include the model, source records, decision memo and the version management approved. Request a small set of opening milestones that can be compared with actual results. Avoid turning the project into an oversized dashboard before the team knows which decisions it needs to monitor.

Agree whether the CFO will review results after opening or whether that work belongs to the internal team. The acceptance test is practical: someone should be able to explain the required cash, the main uncertainty and the next decision without recreating the engagement. A well-presented forecast is useful only if management understands the commitments it authorizes.