Lionel Turine — Fractional CFO for SMEs

i. About

A CFO who has led, transformed, and built.

Financial expertise built across SMEs, large corporations, and transformation programmes — with a hands-on, decision-driven, results-focused approach.

$Portrait of Lionel Turine, fractional CFO$

Lionel Turine · Grez-Doiceau

My career combines finance leadership, organisational transformation, and entrepreneurial experience. I have led finance functions in international environments, supported transformation programmes at IGT, UCB, Degroof Petercam, Athora and GSK, and co-founded and grown a family SME over 14 years.

At GIMBER, I led the rebuilding of the finance function after several years of losses, delivering a return to profitability and a complete professionalisation of financial steering.

Accounting looks at the past and the present. Financial steering illuminates the future. My role is to bridge the two, helping leaders make sound decisions based on reliable, useful numbers.

This dual experience — that of an entrepreneur who knows the daily realities of an SME, and that of a CFO accustomed to the demands of structured groups — shapes the way I work with leaders: practical, rigorous on the numbers, and always connected to operational reality.

A graduate of LSM - UCLouvain (Master in Finance & Business Administration, 1995), with a stint at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, I built my career between Brussels, London, Casablanca, and Lausanne. I now operate independently from Grez-Doiceau, serving SMEs across Wallonia, Brussels, and beyond.

ii. Approach

Four pillars to put finance at the service of your decisions.

A structured, practical approach designed for SMEs — turning your numbers into tools for steering, deciding, and growing.

— 01

Consistency

Before building any reporting, I make sure your numbers are right. That means checking that the accounting truly reflects operational reality, that variances are understood, and that the data is reliable. The objective is simple: enabling you to decide based on solid, clear, and actionable information.

— 02

Reporting

Good reporting isn't just another document — it's a decision-making tool. I design dashboards tailored to your business, with the right indicators — sales performance, margins, cash flow, costs, profitability — delivered at the right cadence and in a format that's genuinely useful to you and your teams.

— 03

Optimisation

Once your numbers are reliable and visible, I help you identify improvement levers. Margins, cost structure, cash flow, working capital, profitability by client or product: the goal is to surface the actions that will have real impact on your results.

— 04

Engagement

I don't stop at delivering analyses or recommendations. I move forward with you on implementation, alongside you and your teams, turning insights into decisions and decisions into measurable results. My role is to bring clarity, momentum, and genuine accountability in execution.

iii. Services

Six concrete missions to structure and professionalise the finance of your SME.

Engagements you can combine according to your priorities: one-off missions, recurring support, on-site or remote.

Bridge with your accounting

I act as the bridge between your leadership and your in-house accountant or accounting firm. I translate your operational priorities into clear requests, ensure the right information is available at the right time, and remove the administrative friction that costs you time.

Verification & validation of numbers

I check the consistency of your accounts, reconcile key data, and flag any anomalies. The aim is that your margins, cash flow, and key indicators truly reflect your business reality — so you can make decisions with confidence.

Tailored management reporting

I build dashboards tailored to your business and priorities. Operational KPIs, margin tracking, cash flow, budget, forecast, treasury plans: each tool is designed to be clear, actionable, and useful in your daily decisions.

Financial planning

I build with you a clear financial framework to steer the next 12 months (budget) and prepare the 3 to 5 years ahead (forecast). Annual budget, rolling forecast, cash flow scenarios, profitability trajectory: you have concrete models to decide, anticipate, and engage with your partners.

Debt restructuring

I support you in analysing your funding structure and in negotiations with your financial partners. Credit lines, leasing, long-term financing, bank negotiations: I help you build a clear, defensible case aligned with your real needs.

ERP implementation

I support you on the finance side of your ERP project: scoping requirements, solution selection, data preparation, deployment tracking, and change management. The goal is for the ERP to become a real steering tool — not a heavy, underused investment.

iv. Experience

Experience built at the crossroads of SMEs, scale-ups, and large corporations.

Finance leadership, transformation, and steering roles held in varied environments — with one consistent goal: making finance clearer, more useful, and closer to operational decisions.

Over the past years, I have supported organisations of widely different sizes and sectors: growing SMEs, entrepreneurial ventures, financial institutions, industrial groups, and large international companies.

This diversity allows me to bring a dual perspective — the rigour of large corporations and the pragmatism essential to SMEs. My role is to structure the finance function, make the numbers reliable, support management decisions, and accompany transformations with method and ground-level pragmatism.

GIMBER

CFO

La Cantine de Géraldine

Co-founder, CFO & CEO

Athora Holding

Project & Change Manager

UCB

Finance Transformation

Degroof Petercam

Digital Program Manager & Marketing Director ad interim

P&V Insurance

Program Manager

AXA Belgium

Digital Marketing Manager

GSK Vaccines

Program Manager

Guru Training Systems

CFO

St John's Int'l School

CFO & COO

IGT

GM Switzerland · GM Morocco

Proximus

Business Unit Controller

v. For whom

Built for leaders who want to regain control of their numbers.

Support designed for SMEs that need finance to be more structured, clearer, and more useful for decision-making — without necessarily hiring a full-time CFO.

— 01

Solo leaders running the show

You're already carrying a lot: sales, operations, clients, teams, finance. In that context, it becomes hard to step back, look at the numbers calmly, and properly challenge important decisions.

I bring you an experienced financial perspective, a reliable sparring partner, and a clear method to gain clarity, time, and impact.

— 02

Growing SMEs

Your company has grown, but your finance organisation hasn't yet kept the same pace. Accounting alone is no longer enough, decisions are getting more complex, and you need a clear view of your margins, cash flow, and priorities.

I help you build a finance function that matches your stage of development — without the weight of a full-time hire.

— 03

Companies in transition

Acquisition, succession, fundraising, refinancing, turnaround, system change, or restructuring: certain periods demand sharper financial insight and closer steering.

I step in to clarify the situation, secure the numbers, structure decisions, and support you in conversations with your teams, banks, or partners.

vi. Process

A simple start, without excessive commitment.

First conversation

A 30-minute call to understand your context, your priorities, and check whether I'm the right partner. No commitment.

ii.

Targeted diagnostic

A short engagement (typically 2 to 5 days) to assess the current situation: data quality, financial structure, areas of risk, quick wins.

iii.

Scoped proposal

Concrete recommendations, a prioritised action plan, and a support format that fits — recurring or one-off, on-site or remote.

iv.

Implementation

Disciplined execution, regular deliverables, steering checkpoints. Adjusting the format as your needs evolve. You remain the decision-maker, I carry the operational engine.

The financial
leadership your SME
can finally afford.