Outcome Program · Working Capital & Margin Recovery
Release trapped working capital and close structural margin gaps.
Reconcile accounting policies across peer footnotes, isolate where cash is locked in inventory, unbilled work or supplier terms, and sequence the working-capital and margin levers that flow directly to EBITDA.
The commercial challenge
Headline ratios hide where cash and margin actually leak.
Standard database screens miss accounting policy differences, off-balance-sheet receivables factoring, branch master-data duplication and trading-house markups. Leadership needs a footnote-reconciled peer baseline and a sequenced value creation bridge before committing capital.
- Cash trapped in slow-moving branch inventory, unbilled work-in-progress and fragmented ERP payment terms.
- Negative-contribution SKUs and regional trading-house markups masked by category-level gross margin averages.
- Price, channel and aftermarket service mix gaps leaving gross margin on the table across product lines.
What your team receives
Three decision-ready deliverables in one program.
We reconcile accounting footnotes to release cash trapped across inventory, receivables and payables, isolate negative-margin SKUs and trading-house markups, and build price, mix and channel margin bridges against top-quartile peers.
- 01
Footnote-reconciled working-capital bridge
Consistent DIO, DSO and DPO comparisons across Direct, Adjacent and Best-in-Class peers, converting day targets into dollar cash-release scenarios.
- 02
Gross-margin & SKU profitability diagnostic
Decomposition of unit conversion costs, markdown drag, direct-to-mill sourcing opportunities and aftermarket repair bundling.
- 03
Sequenced value creation workbook
An editable spreadsheet ranking quick-win cash releases that self-fund medium-term shop-floor or commercial investments.
Illustrative output
How the executive brief and reconciled databook are structured.
Every cell in the accompanying spreadsheet model is formula-driven and tagged either empirically sourced (with document and page citation) or model-inferred (with stated benchmark assumptions).
| Value creation lever | Company baseline | Peer benchmark | Modeled poolCA$M | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unbilled WIP & DSO collection cadence | 82d | 54d | $28M | high |
| Branch SKU pooling & inventory turns | 2.6× | 3.8× | $22M | high |
| Direct-to-mill sourcing & SKU pruning | 64% COGS | 58% COGS | $18M | high |
| Price, mix & aftermarket channel bridge | 36% GM | 41% GM | $14M | medium |
Capabilities & starting scopes
Start with one deliverable or run the full outcome loop.
Each outcome program draws on specific steps of the research loop and can be commissioned as a focused starting deliverable or a recurring program.
Diagnose
Where is the value, or the risk?
Quantify trapped working capital, SKU and supplier markups, SG&A bloat and asset-level cost exposure.
You getDiagnostic and peer benchmark
Plan
What should we do, and what is it worth?
Build quantified EBITDA, cash-release, channel-mix and capex-phasing roadmaps.
You getValue creation plan
Monitor
What changed since the last review?
Re-index supplier should-costs, track peer watchlists and flag portfolio covenant shifts.
You getQuarterly monitoring read
Starting research deliverables
Peer benchmark
Release cash trapped in inventory and receivables, audit component should-costs and trading-house markups, and benchmark SG&A spans and layers.
Value creation plan
Size and sequence the initiatives that move EBITDA, cash conversion and valuation multiples: channel shifts, aftermarket capture, pricing and capex phasing.
How to start
One question, a fixed fee, a first read in days.
- Your question
- One live question, with the decision it serves.
- What comes back
- A reviewed answer with a point of view (a ranked shortlist, a diagnostic or a plan), with every source and anything unverified flagged.
- The fee
- The fee is fixed and agreed before work starts.
- The timing
- A first read in days, not weeks, then the reviewed brief on the date we agree.
We can provide regular research updates after the first project.
Industries & buyer teams
Target sectors and teams that commission this outcome.
Choose your industry to see sector-specific research questions and sample workbooks, or select your team to see how we scope the first engagement.
Industries served
- Industrials & manufacturing
Audit component should-costs with zero spec changes, release cash trapped in branch inventory and unbilled work, and capture higher-margin aftermarket repair revenue.
- Retail & consumer
Isolate negative-margin SKUs, unbundle trading-house and freight markups, release cash trapped in seasonal inventory, and model direct-to-consumer channel shifts.
- Energy & utilities
Rank facility capex by return, benchmark asset operating cost, and release cash trapped in spare parts and project working capital.
- Technology & telecoms
Benchmark legacy-version support and R&D maintenance drag, offload low-margin implementation services to partners, and model implied equity valuation bridges.
- Advisory & professional services
Equip consulting, deal-advisory and transformation partners with pre-pitch financial hooks, off-market target screens and peer benchmarks.
Teams we work with
- Strategy teams
Release trapped cash, claw back supplier markups and fund growth.
- Procurement and supply chain
Negotiate from bottom-up manufacturing physics, not supplier quotes.
- Advisory firms
Walk into the pitch with the financial gap already sized.
- Investors and owners
Originate off-market targets and stress-test the bridge pre-LOI.
Anonymized proof
What our analysts have uncovered across delivered engagements.
Branch & SKU cash
Footnote-reconciled working-capital and SKU margin diagnostics isolating excess branch inventory, trading-house markups and post-merger SG&A layers against peers.
Site-by-site
Outside-in working-capital, component should-cost and site-by-site financial models for industrial, retail and energy assets — built without internal company data.
Pre-LOI bridge
Implied equity valuation bridges and standalone carve-out reconstructions separating volume growth from channel mix and margin expansion before exclusivity.
From the 15Rock Review
Field notes & whitepapers on working capital & margin recovery.
Analyst-checked teardowns, benchmarks, and decision frameworks drawn from delivered engagements.
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Start with one question
Which business unit, portfolio company or target account needs a working-capital and margin baseline?
Tell us what you’re investigating and when you need an answer. We’ll discuss the scope, inputs and research that would help.