Spectacle: the finance function between the books and the boardroom

When Spectacle fits

The accounts work. The questions have become harder.

The business has grown, and whoever runs it needs more than annual accounts and a bank balance. Spectacle fits when:

Your board, investors or bank want to follow the numbers month by month, and understand why the forecast changed.
You are about to approve a budget, raise capital or apply for funding, and the numbers have to stand up to scrutiny.
Cash is tight, and you need to see the balance day by day for the coming weeks.
You have asked an AI about your accounts and got an answer you could not check.
You are putting AI to work on your own data, and need a foundation you can trust.

How the work is divided

Your accountant, your auditor and us

The accountant

Makes the company readable

Keeps and structures the books, and makes sure the formalities are right.

The auditor

Makes the numbers credible

Audits the annual accounts and gives owners, board and bank assurance that they hold.

Spectacle

Makes the company steerable

Uses the numbers to steer, every month: where you stand, where you are heading, and what should be decided.

Already have an accountant? Good. That is how it should be. We do not keep books and we do not replace your accountant. We build on the finances you already have, check the foundation before we use it, and turn the numbers into management information.

What we do

Answers to the questions your board actually asks

What happened? We explain the development, not just the variance. Profit, balance sheet and cash flow, against budget, against last year and against the previous forecast.
What is happening now? The forecast is updated against what actually happens, with several scenarios and the cash position ahead.
What did we expect? We compare every forecast with the previous ones, so you can see how the picture has changed, and why.
What does the board need to know? What has changed since the last board meeting, and the status of the matters the board follows from meeting to meeting.
What should we do? Advice when it matters: funding, investments, pricing and capacity.

An illustration · the figures are made up

First-half revenue, NOK m
	Budget	Feb	Apr	May	Jun	Actual
Estimate	24.0	23.4	22.9	22.4	22.0	20.3
Miss	+3.7	+3.1	+2.6	+2.1	+1.7

Each forecast was trimmed a little, and every one of them missed in the same direction. Against the budget it looks like one big miss once the half-year is over. Against the earlier forecasts you can see by April that each new round moves the same way, and then it is the method that needs fixing, not just the number.

The obvious question

Can't you just ask AI?

Yes. AI can analyse your accounts in seconds, and you should use it. But it does not know whether the numbers it reads have been checked, what you expected six weeks ago, or which assumptions the board based its plan on. And it answers just as confidently when it is wrong.

AI is not the problem. It is part of the reason Spectacle exists.

Foundation We check the numbers before we use them. Every figure can be traced to its source, and every assumption is marked as one. If you use AI on your own data, we place a map in your data folder that says which file is the answer to which question.
Context We know the business, not just the chart of accounts: the contracts, the customers, the board and what has been decided.
Continuity Forecasts, risks, assumptions and decisions are followed over time, not just from one month to the next.
Accountability A named adviser approves every delivery and stands behind it. Not a chatbot.

Autumn 2026

Before you approve the 2027 budget

Is your budget a map, or last year's assumptions with new numbers?

A budget is more than twelve months of figures. It is the company's hypothesis about what will happen. Before the board approves the plan, you should know which assumptions it rests on, how they fit together, and how you will notice when the terrain no longer matches the map.

The budget is where steering begins, not where the work ends.

Book a free finance review

How it works

From first meeting to ongoing control

Finance review

A free 60-minute online meeting. We read your accounts and what is publicly known about the company beforehand, and you leave with our first observations on the foundation you steer by.
Set-up

We gather your accounts and the other data your business holds, check them and bring them together: financial statements from your first year to the last closed year, and a financial model with budgets. It gives you and us the same picture from month one.
Ongoing control

Reports, forecasts and follow-up that stay current as new numbers come in, and that remember what you expected last time.

After the finance review you receive a written proposal with the exact scope and price for your company. One fixed monthly fee for what you actually need, with the set-up included. No lock-in, two months' notice. Funding applications, valuations and budget processes can also be bought as separate projects. Work beyond the agreement is always cleared with you before it is done, and your data is processed under a separate data processing agreement.

Who is behind it

One adviser, with the capacity of a whole team

You deal with one adviser who knows your company and your numbers, not an agency with a rotating team. Behind the adviser is a method and a set of our own tools that do the work of a full finance department. You spend as little time as possible handing over information, and get as much insight as possible in return.

Contact

See what you are really steering by

Book a free finance review: 60 minutes, online. We read your accounts before we meet, and you leave with our first observations, whether or not you go on with us.