What is BrndTst?
BrndTst is an independent financial consulting firm. Our work rests on one idea we call safe finance: enough cash to pay every bill, investments you can explain in plain words, and no payment to a firm nobody has checked. We write those rules down with your team, and your team runs them day to day.
Problems with company money rarely start with the investment itself. They start when nobody has decided how much cash the business actually needs, when nobody checks who is on the other end of a transfer, or when a deadline makes an offer seem too good to question. Written rules and a short checklist deal with each of these before it becomes expensive.
13 weeks
The horizon of the cash flow forecast we build with you, which your team updates each week.
3 tiers
How we split company cash: operating cash, a reserve for shocks, and only then strategic money.
2 approvals
Two people sign off each payment, under the payment controls we set up with your team.
0 commissions
We're paid only by our clients, through a fixed fee agreed in writing.
Who is BrndTst for?
BrndTst works with owner-managed and growing businesses that hold real cash but have no treasury team of their own. It's built for founders, managing directors and finance managers who want an independent view on how cash is kept, invested and paid out, or who are getting ready to borrow or raise money.
We're likely to be a good fit if you:
- have built up cash and aren't sure how much to keep or where to put the rest;
- have been approached with an investment, a loan or a funding offer and want it checked;
- want a cash forecast you can trust before you hire, expand or borrow;
- are preparing to approach a bank or investors.
We're not the right firm if you:
- want someone to choose investments or manage a portfolio for you, which needs an authorised investment firm;
- want personal financial advice for yourself rather than help for your business;
- are looking for guaranteed or unusually high returns, which no honest adviser can promise.
What can BrndTst help your business with?
BrndTst has three services, each built around a decision your business faces: what to do with spare cash, how to see a shortfall coming, and how to get ready for a lender or investor. Each one is a fixed-fee project that ends with files your team keeps and a walkthrough on using them.
Safe investing for company cash
For cash that is building up. You receive an investment policy for the board to approve, a model showing how much to keep in each tier, and a written check of any firm or offer in front of you. More on safe investing for company cash.
Cash flow and treasury
For cash that is tight or hard to predict. You receive a 13-week forecast your team updates in a short weekly routine, and payment controls that make invoice fraud much harder. More on cash flow forecasting and treasury.
Financial modelling and fundraising
For a loan or an investment round. You receive a three-statement model with scenarios, a funding pack a lender can test, and a check on any funder who approaches you. More on financial modelling for fundraising.
Is BrndTst legit?
BrndTst is a financial consulting firm paid only by its clients, through a fixed fee agreed in a signed proposal. It doesn't take deposits, sell investments or manage money, so a client never hands money over to it. Nobody on the other side of a deal pays us, which is why our checks can afford to be blunt.
We aren't a regulated investment adviser and we don't recommend specific investments. When a decision needs one, we say so and help you brief them.
If anyone using our name asks you for a payment, a password, a security code or remote access to a computer, it isn't us. Here is how to check that a message really comes from BrndTst.
- Never holds or manages client money
- Paid only by its clients, with no commissions
- Scope and fixed fee agreed in writing
How can you check a firm before your company pays it?
Start with the public register kept by the financial regulator in the firm's country and check that its permissions cover the exact service on offer. Compare every contact detail you were given with the register, then phone the firm on the registered number. Clone firms copy real names, so that call is the step that catches them.
Our guides to checking an investment firm and investment fraud red flags go through each step, and the warning signs that should stop a payment.
Have an offer in front of you already?
A check on a single firm, fund or funding offer can be a small project on its own. We look at the regulator's register, the contact details, who would hold the money and the terms on offer, and give you a written record of what we could and couldn't confirm. The decision stays with you.
Questions businesses ask before they get in touch
How much does BrndTst charge?
A fixed fee for each project, quoted once we've understood the scope and written into the proposal you sign. That fee is the whole cost unless you agree a change of scope in writing, and we never take commissions or a percentage of money invested or raised.
How long does a project take?
Anything from a few days for a check on one firm or offer to around six weeks for a financial model with a funding pack. Your proposal sets the dates, and the pace depends mostly on how quickly your data is ready.
Is my company too small to need this?
If your business holds more cash than it needs for the next few months, or someone has approached you with an investment or funding offer, a short piece of work can be worth it. If it isn't, we'll tell you so at the introductory consultation.
Will you ask for access to our bank accounts?
No. We never need logins, passwords or the ability to make payments. When we build a forecast or a model, we work from reports and exports your team sends us, and you choose what to share.
Can you work with our accountant or bank?
Yes, if you'd like us to. Projects often go better when the accountant or the bank's relationship manager sees the work before it's final. We share drafts only with the people you name.
What do you need from us to start?
Only a short description of the business and the decision in front of you. Once the proposal is signed, we ask for the specific exports the work needs, such as bank statements, ledgers or management accounts, and explain why each one is needed.
More answers are on the FAQ page.
How does working with BrndTst start?
Working with BrndTst starts with an email: a few lines on what your business does and what you need. We reply to arrange an introductory consultation, then send a written proposal with the scope, deliverables, timetable and fixed fee. Nothing starts, and nothing is payable, until you've signed it.
Email us
A few lines are enough: what the business does, what you'd like help with and any deadline, such as a board meeting. Please don't send passwords, bank logins or ID documents.
Introductory consultation
We ask how the business makes and spends money, what decision is coming up and what you've already tried. By the end you'll know whether the work is worth doing, and whether we're the right firm to do it.
Written proposal
Scope, deliverables, timetable and a fixed fee, set out in an engagement letter. Nothing starts until you sign it.
The work and the handover
We work alongside your team, check findings with you as we go, and hand over every file we build with a walkthrough, so you can run it yourselves.
Our email address is consulting@thoktent12.click.
What to put in a first message is on the contact page; the whole process, step by step, is on how we work.