Kalinawan

The finance and operations leader you need, before you need one full-time.

A decade building the finance, operations and systems behind founder-led companies — from a standing start, through turnarounds, and into steady, well-run businesses.

Book an intro call See our work
36.5% operating expense reduction in under 12 months, with revenue channels intact
171 → 82 days sales outstanding, cut by more than half
47 days → 2 wks core process rebuilt through process improvement and automation
$5.8M acquisition integrated — 50+ projects in six months

Senior leadership, sized to the business.

Growing companies hit a point where the founder is still running finance and operations off the side of the desk, the books lag the business, and no one owns the systems that hold it together.

A full-time executive is often more than the business needs — or can carry. Kalinawan gives you that experience on a fractional basis: someone who has built these functions from nothing, and who stays hands-on until they run without him.

Services

Where we can help

Process Improvements

Most growing companies run on processes built for a smaller version of the business. We map how work actually moves — from quote to cash, purchase to pay, and close to report — find where time and money leak out, and redesign the workflow around fewer handoffs and clearer ownership. Where it makes sense, we automate the repetitive steps so your team spends its time on judgment instead of data entry. The result is faster cycle times, fewer errors, and a business that can grow without adding headcount at the same pace.

Technology Implementations

The right system can change how a company operates; the wrong rollout can set it back a year. We help you choose and implement the tools that fit where the business is headed — ERP and accounting platforms, AP and expense automation, CRM, and AI-powered workflows — and we stay hands-on through configuration, data migration, SOPs and training. Every implementation is built around your processes rather than forcing your team to work around the software, so adoption sticks and the investment pays for itself.

Data Analytics & Modeling

Good decisions start with numbers you trust. We build integrated three-statement models, driver-based forecasts, rolling cash flow projections and KPI reporting that show leadership where the business stands and where it is going. Models are designed to be used, not admired: clear assumptions, scenario toggles for the decisions in front of you, and outputs your team can maintain after we hand them off. Whether you are weighing a new market, a major hire or a cost reset, you will see the impact before you commit.

Strategic Planning

Many leadership teams agree on where they want to go but lack a system for getting there. We help define a clear long-term vision, translate it into an annual plan and quarterly priorities, and put the scorecards and meeting cadence in place to keep everyone accountable week to week. Drawing on EOS and years of operating experience, we facilitate the hard conversations, surface the real issues, and leave you with a repeatable planning rhythm that keeps strategy connected to execution.

Selected work

Case studies

Engagements and leadership roles led by Kalinawan's founder. Client names are withheld.

Consumer brands · Turnaround & finance build

Rebuilding the financial foundation of a multi-entity brand portfolio

The situation. A founder-led cannabis and hemp portfolio operating in a regulated, capital-constrained market with no finance, HR or IT function and costs running ahead of revenue.

The work. Implemented an ERP with AR/AP workflows and SOPs, a 13-week rolling cash model and an EOS operating cadence; led a company-wide cost restructuring; secured over $2M in financing; and built Striker, an AI collections agent.

36.5% OpEx reduction in under 12 months
171 → 82 days sales outstanding
3 mo → 14 days month-end close
Real estate investment · South Africa

Turning a seven-week process into a two-week one

The situation. A real estate investment firm running a core process that took 47 days end to end.

The work. A process improvement and automation exercise to redesign the workflow and take manual steps out of it.

47 days → 2 wks process cycle time
Consumer brand studio · California

The financial case behind a national retail deal

The situation. A brand studio pursuing a multimillion-dollar deal with a national retailer and needing numbers that would stand up to the retailer's scrutiny.

The work. Built an integrated three-statement pro forma modeling the deal's impact on the business.

Multimillion-dollar national retail deal secured
Manufacturing · Post-merger integration

Integrating a $5.8M acquisition

The situation. A battery manufacturer closing a $5.8M acquisition that needed to be absorbed without disrupting the business.

The work. Led the post-merger integration team, running the workstreams through to completion.

50+ integration projects in six months
$2M+ reduction in potential liability
Nick Dickinson, founder of Kalinawan
Founder

Nick Dickinson

Nick founded Kalinawan after more than a decade on the operating side of growing companies. He co-founded an outsourced accounting and advisory firm, helping take it from three people to seven figures in revenue before selling his stake in the business in 2026, and served as CFO of a multi-entity consumer brand portfolio, where he built the finance, HR and IT functions from the ground up and led the business through a company-wide restructuring.

After earning a degree in Supply Chain Management and Entrepreneurship from Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management, he started his career on the floor at Amazon, managing operations at a new robotics fulfillment center and joining the launch team for one of the largest buildings in its network. He is also trained in EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System, and has put it to work inside the companies he has led — turning long-term vision into quarterly priorities and weekly execution. That path — operator first, finance second — shapes how Kalinawan works: the numbers have to reflect how the business actually runs.

Nick lives in New York City with his wife, Lauren, and their cat, Liberty. Away from the spreadsheets, you'll find him traveling, discovering a new type of cheese, or up at his camp in the Adirondacks.

Approach

How we work together

01

Discovery

A short questionnaire and working session to understand the business, where it's headed, and where the gaps are today.

02

Scoped proposal

A clear scope, deliverables and timeline — project-based or on a monthly retainer, whichever fits.

03

Build & hand off

Hands-on work alongside your team, with regular reporting, until the function runs on its own.

Contact

Let's talk about what you're building.

A 30-minute intro call to walk through where the business is and whether fractional leadership is the right fit.