Case study / Financial services

How we helped Accounting Forward sign 8 new clients in a single month

A fractional CFO firm built for 7-figure restaurant operators. $200K+ closed and 8 new clients signed in a single month.

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2:44

"We closed 8 different clients in a single month, which we'd never done before."

Matt Dybing CEO, Accounting Forward

$0 In closed deals

0 Clients · 1 month

0 Return on investment

Fractional CFO services for 7-figure restaurant operators.

Industry

Financial services

Headquarters

Minnesota, USA

Company size

2 to 10 employees

// The challenge

Growth tied to luck, not a system.

Accounting Forward had a strong reputation in restaurant finance, but every new client came from a referral or a partnership. There was no engine.

Pipeline depended on warm intros

Every new client traced back to a referral or partnership. Growth slowed every time word of mouth slowed.

No dedicated outbound function

The team was great at delivery but had never built a system for proactive client acquisition. Outbound was a blank page.

Saturated, generalist market

Restaurants get pitched by every accounting firm in the country. Standing out required precision targeting and a sharper message.

// The approach

Three layers of engineered outbound.

Infrastructure, data, and messaging built specifically for one tightly defined ICP: 7-figure independent restaurant operators.

// 01

Setup & deliverability

Multi-provider sending stack across Google, Outlook, and dedicated SMTP
Domain warm-up and inbox monitoring via HyperTide and AeroSend
SPF, DKIM, DMARC and BIMI configured for every sending domain
Daily inbox placement testing across 12 seed accounts

// 02

Data & targeting

Built ICP filters in Clay layered with Serper.dev signal scraping
Restaurant operator search across Yelp, Google Maps, and review platforms
Revenue triangulation using employee count, location count, and POS signals
Multi-source email and direct phone enrichment with Prospeo, Icypeas and Hunter

// 03

Messaging & personalization

20 plus copy variants tied to operator profile and restaurant type
AI personalization at the first line, not just the subject line
Language tuned to restaurant pain points: cost of goods, labor, prime cost
Rapid iteration on opens, replies and meetings booked every two weeks

// The results

Five months of compounding outbound.

Repeatable performance, predictable meetings, and a clear ROI on every dollar spent on the program.

Qualified meetings booked per week

New clients signed in a single month

Average reply rate across campaigns

Qualified leads generated

In new revenue closed

Return on investment

// The outcome

From referral roulette to a predictable engine.

The 5 month program rebuilt how Accounting Forward acquires customers.

Eight new restaurant clients signed inside a single month at peak
Over $150,000 in new annual revenue committed
3 to 5 qualified meetings landing on the calendar every week
A repeatable Clay enrichment workflow now owned by the team
An always-on outbound channel running alongside referrals
Founder time reclaimed from chasing intros to closing deals

// Key takeaways

What made this work.

// 01

Infrastructure first, copy second

Multi-provider deliverability and warm-up came before a single message was sent. Volume without inbox placement is just noise.

// 02

Targeting beats personalization

Clay plus Serper.dev let us isolate 7-figure independent restaurant operators with surgical precision. The right list closed before the right line did.

// 03

Iteration weekly, not quarterly

Reply rate, meeting rate and qualified lead rate were reviewed every Monday. Underperforming variants were killed within 14 days.

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