About S1 Finance
We combine financial operations expertise with an investor's analytical approach — supported by the processes, tools, and systems to scale with your business.
Who We Are
S1 Finance is an outsourced accounting and finance partner for service-based businesses — primarily staffing firms, HVAC contractors, dental practices, property managers, and professional services companies that have outgrown basic bookkeeping but aren't ready for a full-time finance team.
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We combine financial operations expertise with an investor's analytical approach — supported by the processes, tools, and systems to scale with your business. Whether you need clean books, strategic insight, or a financial partner at the table for big decisions, we build the infrastructure to get you there.
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Headquartered in Dallas. Working with clients across Texas and beyond.
Meet Matt Goldberg, CFA
If finance is the language of business, why do so many owners struggle to use it?
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That question started everything.
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I spent years in corporate finance at a Fortune 500 semiconductor company — managing financial planning across global facilities, running finance and accounting for business units at every stage from start-up to mature to end-of-life, analyzing R&D portfolios to find the patterns that separated high-return projects from the rest, and building data tools that could identify supply gaps months before they hit. The work was complex. The stakes were real. Hundreds of millions of dollars moved through the systems I helped build.
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But the work wasn't fulfilling.
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Then a friend asked for help. She needed someone to look at her financials and build better invoicing processes. What started as a favor turned into something more — strategic planning, competitive analysis, day-to-day process improvements. And I discovered two things:
First, I loved the work. Working with someone who cared deeply about their business, solving problems that had a direct impact on their life — that satisfaction dwarfed anything I'd felt in the corporate world.
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Second, the gap was enormous. Small businesses couldn't access the kind of financial support that large companies take for granted. Not until they were already big enough to afford it. And by then, they'd spent years making decisions on gut feel, outdated reports, and hope.
​I pursued the CFA charter because I was more interested in what drives a business than the mechanics of tax and compliance accounting — that's not what keeps me up at night. What keeps me up is the question behind the numbers: is this business building something worth owning? The CFA charter is an investment credential — built for investment analysts, portfolio managers, and people who evaluate businesses for a living. I chose it because that's how I think — about the businesses I work with and the ones I invest in.
The Investor Mindset
Every business has financials for taxes. That's a given — you file returns, stay compliant, and work with your accountant to make sure the IRS is taken care of. Most owners have this covered.
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But those financials are backward-looking. They tell you what happened. They don't tell you what to do next.
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Here's a question I ask almost every owner I work with: how much would you pay for your own business?
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Not “do you love what you do” — would you write a check for it, knowing everything you know? What would make you pay more? What would make you pay less?
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Most people pause. Not because the answer is no, but because they don't have the numbers to answer honestly — or they simply haven't thought about it that way before.
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That pause is the gap we work in.
The financials that actually help you run your business look completely different. They answer questions like:
But those financials are backward-looking. They tell you what happened. They don't tell you what to do next.
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Which service lines are making money and which ones aren't? Can we afford to hire in Q3? What happens to cash flow if our biggest client pays 15 days late? Where should we invest next?
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These are the financials most small businesses don't have — and even owners who've built a solid bookkeeping foundation often hit a ceiling where clean books alone aren't enough. You need the analysis layer on top: the forecasts, the profitability breakdowns, the scenario models that turn good data into better decisions.
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Large companies build entire finance teams around this kind of work. Owners in the $1–10M range are doing just as much with far less room for error — a bad quarter or decision that a Fortune 500 absorbs without blinking can consume all the profit and cash in a growing business. The question isn't whether these owners need the same expertise. It's how to deliver the right amount of each skill set at a price that makes sense.
Your business is an investment. Your financials should help you manage it like one.
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We work closely with your CPA and tax advisor — they handle the compliance side, we handle operations and strategy. With cleaner data and better reporting, you'll spend more time with your CPA on tax planning and forward-looking strategy instead of just closing the books. Together, your business gets the full picture.
What We Believe
Clarity over complexity.
Financial reports should answer questions, not create them. If you can't look at a dashboard and know where your business stands in 30 seconds, the reporting isn't working.
Strategy comes first.
Before we touch a spreadsheet, we understand your goals. Where do you want to take your business? What keeps you up at night? The financial work follows the strategy, not the other way around. It's in the name.
Owners deserve real numbers.
Not just what happened last quarter — where you're headed, what's driving your margins, and what decisions are in front of you. The same quality of financial intelligence that Fortune 500 companies use.
Build systems, not dependency.
We put processes in place that make your financial operations stronger over time. Clean data. Reliable workflows. Reporting that scales with your growth — so your finances support your ambitions instead of constraining them.
How It Works
Every engagement starts with a conversation — about your business, your goals, and where the gaps are. Some clients come to us with a clear growth plan. Others reach out because something just broke — a cash flow scare, a bookkeeper who quit, numbers that stopped making sense. Either way, the first step is the same: understand where you are, then build a plan that fits.​​
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What that looks like depends on what you need:
Full-service accounting — Your books are clean, reconciled, and closed on time. AP/AR, bank reconciliations, month-end close — the foundation everything else depends on.
Financial reporting and systems — Custom dashboards, KPI tracking, profitability analysis by service line or customer, and cash flow projections built for how you actually run your business.
Fractional CFO services — Budgeting, forecasting, investor reporting, scenario planning, and strategic guidance — at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire.
Our focus is financial operations and strategic guidance. Your CPA and tax advisor handle compliance — we build the reporting and analysis layer that helps you actually run the business. Better structure means better inputs for everyone.