Kearney Group Welcomes Matt O’Hanlon as Director of CFO Advisory Services.

Matt O’Hanlon joins Kearney Group.

We’re thrilled to announce that Matt O’Hanlon has joined Kearney Group as Director of CFO Advisory Services. With an impressive career spanning both elite sport and the corporate world, Matt brings a wealth of experience and fresh perspectives to our ever-evolving team.

As a Chartered Accountant and seasoned CFO, Matt has held key roles in high-performance environments, including Chief Operating Officer at Western United FC and Head of Football Operations at Essendon Football Club. 

His extensive c-suite experience and background in elite sport give him a unique perspective on leadership, culture, and driving success within fast-paced, large-scale organisations.

 

Bringing Strategic CFO Advisory Services to SMEs.

At Kearney Group, Matt will lead our CFO Advisory Services, providing strategic financial guidance to small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) across Australia. His focus will be on helping businesses make smart, data-driven decisions, build high-performing teams, and navigate periods of growth and change with confidence. 

“I’m really excited to be working alongside a team that’s clearly as passionate about collaboration and culture as I am,” said Matt. “I love helping businesses excel and grow and I can’t think of a better place to do that than at Kearney Group.”

Paul Kearney, Founder and CEO of Kearney Group, echoed his enthusiasm, saying, “Matt’s leadership style and financial experience, combined with his genuine passion for mentoring and building strong relationships, make him the perfect fit for our team and clients. We’re delighted to have him on board.”

 

From client to adviser.

Interestingly, Matt’s journey to Kearney Group began as a client where he witnessed the power of our Integrated Advice model first-hand, and quickly began referring others to us.

As our working relationship got closer, Matt says he realised that “with the backing of a team of accountants, tax professionals, financial advisers, and lending specialists, we could offer a CFO advisory service that’s unlike anything else in the market today.”

 

Bridging the CFO gap for SMEs.

Whether you call him a Virtual CFO, Outsourced CFO, Fractional CFO or your CFO Adviser, Matt’s role remains the same.

In practice, he provides high level strategic advice and financial analysis to SMEs who aren’t yet ready for an in-house CFO, but need more guidance than they can reasonably expect to get from your average bookkeeper or financial controller.

“CFO Advisory isn’t a ‘forever service’,” Matt explains. “If we do our jobs correctly, we should have your business running well and profitably enough that in a couple of years, you’ll be ready for your own in-house CFO.”

 

Away with hocus-pocus business coaches.

For Paul Kearney, this approach is a refreshing change from what he calls the “hocus-pocus style of business coaching” — a trend that often sees small businesses locked into long-term ‘mentor’ relationships that lack substance and technical expertise.

At best, coaches are often well-meaning but time-poor public practice accountants. They can help with compliance and tax but are typically far too stretched to provide the detailed and strategic attention clients need to execute and grow strongly.

At the other end of the spectrum are the business-guru-entrepreneurial types. Often these coaches lack both the real-world experience of running a business over the long-term, and the tax or legislative know-how you’d at least get from a good accountant.

“With Matt on deck,” says Paul, “we actually get the best of both worlds: a Chartered Accountant and someone with proven experience running large organisations.”

Moreover, because we operate in Integrated Advice Teams, CFO Advisory clients can access the vast knowledge of our accounting, tax, business advisory, private wealth, and strategic lending specialists as required.

 

Integrated CFO Advisory and Bookkeeping.

In addition to expanding our CFO Advisory Services, Matt will also work closely with Kearney Group’s Bookkeeping team, to better integrate our highly regarded commercial bookkeeping with our ever-evolving business advisory and strategy services.

“In many ways, CFO Advisory is the logical next step for strongly growing businesses,” says Matt. 

For businesses already accustomed to our high-touch bookkeeping services, adding CFO Advisory unlocks CFO-level insights and the dedicated, strategic support essential for taking growth to the next level.

Together, CFO Advisory and Bookkeeping ensure businesses are well-supported at every stage of their journey.

 

Looking ahead.

As we welcome Matt O’Hanlon to Kearney Group, we are not only expanding our leadership team, we’re also doubling-down on our commitment to delivering exceptional SME advice and services.

If you’re ready to elevate your business, we invite you to reach out and discover how Kearney Group’s CFO Advisory Services can help you thrive.

 

Take Five with Matt O’Hanlon.

Want to know more about Matt? Hop through to his bio, connect on LinkedIn or dive into our latest edition of “Take Five With…” where we explore unexpected ideas from interesting people… in this case, Matt O’Hanlon!

Meet Matt