ASM Consulting

Your finance function has more in it than you're getting out.

I work with mid-market CFOs and finance leaders rebuilding their finance function around AI. Automating the manual cycles. Building the decision-intelligence systems leadership uses to make impactful choices. Making the right technology calls. Based in Copenhagen, working with clients across the Nordics and UK.

Book a Free Discovery Call See the problem
Arasa Velaigam · FCCA · CFA · Copenhagen
Experience
20 years
five banks · two markets · one operator
JP Morgan · Barclays · Nordea · Danske Bank · KPMG
FCCA · CFA
From manual cycles to a finance function that runs itself.
10 days to first results · Fixed price
Experience across
JP Morgan Barclays Nordea Danske Bank KPMG
The Problem

Is your finance function holding you back?

38% of CFOs say eliminating manual processes is their top priority. Yet most mid-market finance teams are still running month-end closes, reconciliations, and reporting the same way they did five years ago.

Month-end takes too long

Steps that made sense at five people now slow everything down at fifty. The close drags on while the business waits for numbers.

Reporting assembled from scratch

Every investor update, every board pack, every regulatory submission built manually. Again.

No financial model, no forecasts

The business is growing, yet there is no investor-ready model, no cash flow forecast, and no structured way to answer the question every board member asks: where do we stand?

Senior time absorbed by process

Your best people are firefighting production work instead of analysing, advising, and making decisions.

3-5 hrs
per investor update, assembled by hand
2 weeks
for a month-end close that should take days
40%
of finance team time on process that should be simpler
Services

What does ASM Consulting do?

Every engagement is fixed price with a clear scope. No open-ended billing. I work with companies across Copenhagen, London, and the wider Nordics and UK. Some clients need existing processes fixed. Others need something built from scratch: a financial model, a reporting structure, a dashboard. The work follows three stages: understand the situation, build the solution, keep it running.

Stage 1
Assessment
10 days · fixed price
Focused diagnostic

Understand your situation. Whether that is mapping processes that need fixing, scoping a financial model, or defining what reporting you actually need. Clear recommendation on where to start.

  • Map 3-5 core finance processes end to end
  • Identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and error risks
  • Prioritised roadmap: optimise first, then automate
  • Clear recommendation on where to start
Stage 2
Build
3-6 weeks · fixed price
Full implementation

Working deliverables in production. Redesigned processes, a financial model, automated reporting, or whatever was scoped in the assessment. Not a slide deck.

  • Processes redesigned, then automated where it fits
  • User documentation and handover
  • Before/after metrics documented
  • Your team trained to maintain it
Stage 3
Retainer
Monthly · cancel any time
Ongoing partnership

Continuous improvement. Processes refined as the business evolves. New optimisation and automation opportunities identified and built.

  • Bi-weekly check-ins
  • Ongoing process and workflow refinement
  • New improvement opportunities scoped
  • Priority access for questions and decisions

Quick Wins

1-2 weeks · single workflow

One process fixed. One report, one reconciliation, one data extraction. Streamlined and automated. See a result in 1-2 weeks.

Workshops

Half-day or full-day

Half-day or full-day sessions for your finance team. Identify opportunities, build capability, leave with a plan.

Financial Modelling

2-4 weeks · fixed price

Investor-ready three-statement models built properly the first time. P&L, balance sheet, cash flow. Linked, documented, and yours to maintain.

Investment Analysis & Portfolio Modelling

Scoped per engagement

Asset allocation modelling, portfolio performance analysis, and investment reporting for charities, family offices, and growing firms. Rigorous analysis grounded in 20 years of financial services experience.

Not sure where to start? Book a free discovery call and I will help you figure it out.

How I Work

How does an engagement work?

Every engagement starts by understanding what you actually need. Sometimes that is fixing a process. Sometimes it is building something that does not exist yet. The approach is the same: understand the situation, design the right solution, deliver it.

01

Assessment

1-2 weeks · fixed price

Understand your situation. Map what exists, identify what is missing, and scope what needs to be built or fixed.

02

Build

3-6 weeks · fixed price

Working deliverables deployed in production. Redesigned processes, financial models, automated reporting. Not a recommendation. Real output your team uses every day.

03

Retain

Monthly · cancel any time

Continuous improvement. Processes refined as the business changes. New optimisation and automation opportunities built.

Substance first, then technology. I understand what you need before building anything. Where automation fits, I use AI-native tools that adapt when formats or processes change. No specialist developer needed to maintain it.

Results

What results does finance automation deliver?

A SaaS startup founder was carrying the entire finance function manually. Investor updates took 3-5 hours each quarter, assembled from scratch. The financial model had not been updated since the first fundraise.

Challenge

Investor reporting chaos

Investor updates assembled from scratch each quarter. Financial model built once and never updated. Capital raises tracked in a spreadsheet. The founder spent Sunday evenings on work that should have taken an hour.

Result

Structured, automated, trusted

80%
reduction in investor reporting time

Investor-ready financial model rebuilt from source data. Automated reporting pipeline. Capital tracking consolidated. The founder now spends Sunday evenings on the business, not the numbers.

This engagement was delivered as a portfolio-building project. Full case study with client permission available on request.
Facing a similar challenge?
Arasa Velaigam, Founder of ASM Consulting
About
Arasa Velaigam
Founder, ASM Consulting

I have spent 20 years in financial services across JP Morgan, Barclays, KPMG, Nordea, and Danske Bank. I know what month-end looks like from the inside. I know which processes eat time, which reconciliations go wrong, and where the real bottlenecks are.

I started ASM Consulting because I kept seeing the same problem: talented finance teams trapped in processes that have not kept pace with the business, or mid-market firms that need their finance function rebuilt around AI, properly, the first time. I combine deep finance domain knowledge with practical delivery: AI-native automation, decision-intelligence systems, financial modelling, and the right technology calls. I stay through delivery. No handoff to juniors.

I hold the FCCA designation (Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and the CFA® (Chartered Financial Analyst) charter. The ACCA qualification covers financial reporting, audit, tax, and governance. It is grounded in building and controlling financial information. The CFA Programme covers portfolio management, valuation, asset analysis, and investment decision-making. Most finance consultants hold one of these. I hold both, which means I can work across the full spectrum: from setting up your accounts and controls to modelling your portfolio and building investor-grade forecasts.

JP Morgan Barclays Nordea Danske Bank KPMG
FCCA · CFA · Based in Copenhagen, Denmark · Working across Nordics and London / UK
Why ASM

How does ASM compare to hiring or doing it in-house?

Most mid-market firms never call a consultant. They absorb the pain, or they hire. Here is what each path actually costs.

Managing it in-house

Hiring a finance employee

Fractional CFO

ASM Consulting

Cost

No direct spend — but founder or team time absorbed every month

Cost

Full-time salary plus employer costs, before you know if it solves the problem

Cost

Monthly retainer, ongoing commitment before you know the return.

Cost

Fixed price. Scoped before you commit. No surprises.

Who does the work

Whoever has capacity — usually whoever can least afford the distraction

Who does the work

Someone new who needs 3–6 months to understand your business

Who does the work

An experienced CFO, typically shared across 5–10 other clients

Who does the work

Same person from first call to final handover. FCCA and CFA charterholder, 20 years in financial services

Outcome

Processes stay manual. Problems compound. Month-end never gets faster.

Outcome

Depends on the hire. Broken processes often stay broken — just with more headcount.

Outcome

Strategic oversight improves. The manual work underneath typically stays unchanged.

Outcome

Optimised processes, working automation, and a team that knows what to do next

Timeline to fix

Never — there is always something more urgent

Timeline to fix

3 months to recruit, 3–6 months to onboard

Timeline to fix

Available within 1–2 weeks. Process problems are rarely in scope.

Timeline to fix

First results in as little as 10 days — scoped to your situation before we start

Risk

Errors, delays, and founder time spent on work that should not need you

Risk

Wrong hire is expensive and slow to reverse

Risk

Paying for strategic presence. Operational problems compound in the background.

Risk

Fixed scope, fixed price — you know what you are getting before you start

Cost

No direct spend — but founder or team time absorbed every month

Who does the work

Whoever has capacity — usually whoever can least afford the distraction

Outcome

Processes stay manual. Problems compound. Month-end never gets faster.

Timeline to fix

Never — there is always something more urgent

Risk

Errors, delays, and founder time spent on work that should not need you

Cost

Full-time salary plus employer costs, before you know if it solves the problem

Who does the work

Someone new who needs 3–6 months to understand your business

Outcome

Depends on the hire. Broken processes often stay broken — just with more headcount.

Timeline to fix

3 months to recruit, 3–6 months to onboard

Risk

Wrong hire is expensive and slow to reverse

Cost

Monthly retainer, ongoing commitment before you know the return.

Who does the work

An experienced CFO, typically shared across 5–10 other clients

Outcome

Strategic oversight improves. The manual work underneath typically stays unchanged.

Timeline to fix

Available within 1–2 weeks. Process problems are rarely in scope.

Risk

Paying for strategic presence. Operational problems compound in the background.

Cost

Fixed price. Scoped before you commit. No surprises.

Who does the work

Same person from first call to final handover. FCCA and CFA charterholder, 20 years in financial services

Outcome

Optimised processes, working automation, and a team that knows what to do next

Timeline to fix

First results in as little as 10 days — scoped to your situation before we start

Risk

Fixed scope, fixed price — you know what you are getting before you start

Questions

Common questions

The things people usually want to know before getting in touch.

Most engagements start within one to two weeks of the discovery call. I keep my client list small enough to give each engagement full attention from day one.
I work with mid-market firms where decisions can be made quickly and outcomes show up soon after. The leadership team senses there's more in the organisation than is being delivered. AI is the lever they want to pull. Below this band, founders are usually paying personally and budget is too tight. Above it, procurement cycles slow everything down. The sweet spot is the firm that wants to leap-frog peers, not chase them. The common thread: AI is rewriting the finance function. The question is who moves first in your sector.
Everything needed to achieve the agreed outcome. No separate charges for revisions, calls, or documentation. The scope and price are agreed before any work starts, so you always know the total before committing.
No. I build workflows and automation your finance team can run and maintain themselves. I document everything and train your team before I leave. The goal is independence, not dependency on an ongoing consultant.
That is my risk, not yours. Fixed price means the scope is agreed upfront. If I underestimate the time required, I absorb that cost. You always know the total before committing to anything.
ASM CONSULTING

Ready to get your finance function sorted?

A 30-minute conversation about what you need. Whether that is a financial model, a dashboard, a process that needs fixing, or a question you are not sure how to frame yet. No sales pitch. I will listen, ask questions, and tell you honestly whether I can help.

Book a Discovery Call
Email   [email protected]
Based   Copenhagen, Denmark
Working   Nordics & UK
LinkedIn   @arasavelaigam Company   ASM Consulting ApS Newsletter   The Finance Fix