Questions on scope, fees, and process

Operational decisions in owner-led professional services firms, such as accounting and advisory firms. For example: whether to hire a controller or finance lead, change who owns reporting and approvals, restructure, or change systems, and in what order.

It suits firms whose monthly report arrives late or is not trusted, or whose approvals wait on one person.

If you are unsure, describe the decision in your request. If the diagnostic is not the right fit, we will tell you directly.

How reporting, approvals, and work actually move through your firm: the month-end close and reporting timeline, reconciliations and exceptions, sign-off paths, and the handoffs between people and systems. Each is examined with your decision in mind.

Three written deliverables, each answering one question:

• Structural Assessment: What is actually happening today?
• Constraint Map: Where does the work stall, and why?
• Decision Brief: What should happen first?

Each deliverable cites the evidence behind it.

No. The example work is two illustrative demonstrations, each prepared for a fictional firm using synthetic data. Neither is a client engagement, and neither reports results for any real firm.

Each shows how findings are traced from a visible symptom to a documented cause, and how they become a decision in a set order.

No. Pinnacle Apex Partners is not a CPA firm and does not issue audit, review, or attestation reports.

The diagnostic is not an audit or any other attestation engagement, and it does not give tax opinions. It sets out in writing what the evidence shows about how your reporting and approvals run.

Fixed fee, with scope agreed in writing before work begins. You receive a written quote and engagement terms, and work starts only after your written acceptance. The timeline is set in your quote and starts once we receive the information requested. No exploratory call required.

Implementation is not included in the diagnostic. Any follow-on work is scoped separately.

Once you have the findings, you can act on them yourself, with your current advisors, or with Pinnacle Apex Partners. Follow-on work is offered only when the diagnostic shows it is the right next step. It is quoted separately in writing, and it is never a retainer.

1. We review your request.
2. You receive a written quote and engagement terms.
3. Work starts only after your written acceptance.
4. You receive a request for the information needed.
5. Findings are delivered in writing, on the timeline set in your quote.
6. If it helps, we walk through the findings with you and your team.

No. You describe the decision in your request, and the quote and engagement terms come back in writing. A call happens only when it is needed to confirm scope.

Pinnacle Apex Partners is led by its founder, Brandon J. Jones, Managing Director. He scopes every diagnostic, carries out the work, and writes the findings.

After you accept the quote, you receive a request for the information needed. It covers records your team already keeps, such as close calendars, reconciliations, and approval trails. Where it helps, we also talk with the people who do the work.

You do not need to send anything with your request.

We use the records you send only for your diagnostic and keep them confidential. Your engagement terms set out how they are stored and what happens to them after the findings are delivered. If you prefer, we will sign your confidentiality agreement before you send anything.

The timeline is set in your quote and starts once we receive the information requested. You see it before you decide whether to accept.

Your team gathers the records on the information request and answers our follow-up questions about them. Where it helps, we also talk with the people who do the work. Your quote sets out the scope, so you can judge the effort before you accept.