You are already seeing it
You do not need a new framework to recognise this.
You have clients where:
- Revenue is moving, but nothing is improving
- Profit does not reflect the effort going in
- The owner is still involved in everything
- Decisions are reactive, because nobody can see far enough ahead
- The same issues come up every quarter in slightly different forms
The financial result is visible in the accounts. The commercial and operating causes underneath it usually are not. That is the part we work on, alongside the business.
Where we fit
We do not replace you. We work on what sits underneath the numbers.
When a client starts asking questions like:
- Why are we not getting ahead?
- What should I actually be focusing on?
- Why does everything still come back to me?
- We should be doing better than this.
That is the point to bring us in.
What we actually do
We turn financial symptoms into a commercial and operating explanation.
Assess. We break performance down below the P&L. Where margin is made and lost, by product, customer and channel. What is driving the result and what is not. Two to four weeks, fixed fee.
Plan. The few priorities most likely to improve financial performance, each with a named owner, a timeline, a cost and an expected result.
Execute. Where the client wants it, we stay involved and track what each initiative delivers against what was expected, reconciled to the accounts.
Not another advisory report. A read of the business specific enough to act on.
Operator track record
EBITDA Improvement
As part of the executive leadership team. Within 18 months.
Who we are
Built by an operator, not a career adviser.
APG Partners was founded by Trent West, former Chief Operating Officer of Foundation Education Group. Across almost a decade with the business, Trent held executive responsibility across operations, commercial performance, customer experience, education delivery, compliance, technology and transformation.
He helped scale the group from approximately 7,000 to 16,000 students, helped move it from recurring losses to sustained profitability and built the operating structure required for national scale, alongside commercial initiatives that created substantial enterprise value.
That experience sits behind every assessment, before we ever ask you to put a client relationship in front of us, we understand the responsibility involved.
More than 20 years of senior management and operational experience with direct P&L responsibility: financial performance, transformation and growth execution. As COO of Foundation Education Group he held executive responsibility across education, operations, student experience, quality and compliance, technology and major transformation.
Connect on LinkedInWhat the referral is worth
A referral that strengthens your position.
A referral only works if it helps twice. The client has to be better off, and so does the relationship you already have with them.
For your client
They understand why performance is not improving, where to focus and what to stop doing. Decisions get made faster because the picture is clearer. The business becomes easier to run, and easier for you to advise.
For you
A client whose numbers finally have an explanation behind them. Fewer circular conversations about performance. Better context for the advice you were already giving, and a relationship that is stronger on the other side of the work.
We do not take equity, we do not take over the accounting relationship, and we do not sell the client anything you already do.
A two-way relationship
Referrals run in both directions.
A good partnership moves value both ways, with each firm doing the part the other is not set up to do. You hold the trust and see the numbers. We do the commercial improvement and the hands-on execution. Neither of us competes for the other's work.
What you refer to us
- Clients whose numbers show a commercial or operating problem you can see but are not set up to fix
- Underperformance, a stalled plateau, or profit that does not follow revenue
- A business that leans too heavily on its owner
- An owner starting to think about growth, succession or a sale
What we refer to you
- The accounting and advisory work that improvement and growth create: structuring, cleaner reporting, tax planning
- Transaction and due-diligence support when a client prepares to sell or raise
- Clients who come to us without a trusted accountant, pointed to the partners we work with
- A stronger case for the advice you were already giving, backed by the numbers
The better each shared client does, the more work flows both ways. That is the engine. There is no scorecard and no obligation: we refer where it genuinely fits, and trust you to do the same.
What this looks like in practice
Specific findings. Measurable outcomes.
Each engagement began with a Commercial Assessment that identified the operating cause behind the numbers. Clients are not named.
Education
$10M EBITDA Improvement
From Weekly Cash Losses to ~$10m EBITDA
A national education provider was losing $40k per week with a customer rating below 1.5 stars. We rebuilt the commercial model and turned it into the largest provider in the country.
Financial Services
$6M Exit Within 3 Years
From ~$800k Losses to ~$250k Profit and $6m Sale
A financial services business was burning $100k per month with only $300k left in the bank. We rebuilt client value, restored profitability, and positioned it for a $6m sale.
Healthcare
$3M Value Created
From Sustained Losses to >$500k Profit
A GP practice was losing over $350k annually, propped up by the owner's consulting income. We rebuilt the practice model and delivered over $500k profit within six months.
What you receive
What you actually see, month by month.
Every APG engagement is tracked in the APG Platform, so the work is visible and can be checked. With the client's approval, you receive:
- A clear explanation of the operating causes behind the financial performance you have been watching
- Quantified opportunity areas, sized before anything is promised
- A map from each initiative to the financial outcome it is expected to move
- Visibility over what has been committed, and by whom
- A reconciliation of expected versus actual impact, month by month
None of it depends on taking our word for it. The reconciliation either agrees with the accounts or it does not, and you can see which.
Boundaries: this matters
We are not accountants.
- We do not do tax
- We do not do compliance
- We do not interfere with your client relationship
Your client remains your client. APG works on the operating and commercial causes behind the numbers. You remain responsible for accounting, tax and financial advice.
Where appropriate, we involve you in establishing the financial baseline and presenting the findings, so the commercial and financial perspectives stay aligned.
Who to refer
We are selective, and that protects you too.
A referral only strengthens your position when the engagement works. This is the honest profile:
A good fit
- Established, owner-led business with a credible revenue base
- Capable leadership, underperforming relative to potential
- Meaningful financial information available
- Owner open to external challenge
- Enough management capacity to act on findings
Not a fit
- Distressed beyond practical recovery
- Owner seeking validation rather than analysis
- No capacity or appetite to implement
- Unwilling to share data
- A problem that is purely accounting, legal or compliance
If a situation sits on the wrong side of this list, we will say so in the first conversation, before anyone has spent time on it.
When to bring us in
You do not need a full brief.
If you are thinking any of the following, it is worth a conversation.
- They are working hard but not getting ahead.
- Something is off, but I cannot pinpoint it from the numbers.
- They are stuck, and it is not a tax or accounting issue.
- They are asking bigger questions than I can reasonably answer.
How it works
Three steps. No obligation beyond the first conversation.
Quick conversation
You introduce the situation. We will tell you directly whether there is a fit.
Commercial Assessment
Two to four weeks, fixed fee. We work from the data, the economics and how the business actually operates, not workshop consensus or unsupported assumptions. See exactly what it covers.
Clear diagnosis
An explanation of what is holding performance back, why it is happening and what should change first. After that, the client decides what to do next.
No obligation. No pressure.
Common questions
What accountants ask before referring.
Does my client stay my client?
Yes. Your client remains your client, and we do not interfere with that relationship. We work on the operating and commercial causes behind the numbers, and no client contact is made without your agreement.
Do you do tax, compliance or accounting?
No. We do not do tax and we do not do compliance. We work on why the numbers look the way they do, the operating and commercial causes behind the performance you have been watching, which is a different job from the one you do.
What does the referring accountant receive back?
A clear explanation of the operating causes behind the financial performance, quantified opportunity areas sized before anything is promised, a map from each initiative to the financial outcome it is expected to move, and a month-by-month reconciliation of expected versus actual impact. It makes the numbers you already see easier to explain and act on.
When is a client a good fit for a referral?
When revenue is moving but nothing is improving, when profit does not reflect the effort going in, when the owner is still involved in everything, or when the same issues come up every quarter in slightly different forms. In short, when the owner keeps asking why they are not getting ahead, and the answer is not in the compliance work.
How does referring strengthen my position rather than risk the relationship?
A referral only strengthens your position when the engagement actually works, which is why the whole approach is reconciled to the accounts: the impact either shows up in the numbers you see, or it does not. When a client's operating problems get solved, the advisory relationship you hold becomes more valuable, not less.
Have a client in this position?
A short conversation is all it takes to know whether there is a fit. If there is not, we will say so directly. Initial conversations can stay entirely de-identified, and no client contact is made without your agreement.
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