Why I Started Birdie Financial — and Who I Built It For
I spent years in corporate finance and FP&A — working across industries, building forecasts, running budget cycles, and sitting in rooms where the numbers shaped million-dollar decisions.
I was good at it. But the longer I did it, the more I noticed something: the financial rigor and strategic clarity that large companies took for granted was almost entirely inaccessible to the people who needed it most — small business owners, nonprofit leaders, founders working with lean teams and real stakes.
They had bookkeepers. They had CPAs at tax time. But they didn't have anyone helping them actually understand their numbers — or use them to make smarter decisions.
That gap is why I started Birdie Financial.
What I Kept Seeing
In corporate environments, financial leadership is built into the structure. There are controllers, analysts, and CFOs whose whole job is to make sure decision-makers have the right information at the right time.
But talk to a small business owner or a nonprofit executive director, and the picture looks completely different. They're staring at a P&L that doesn't quite make sense. They're guessing at cash flow. They're making hiring decisions based on gut feel because no one has ever built them a forecast.
It's not that they're bad at business. It's that they've never had the right partner in their corner.
Why Plain English Matters
One thing I committed to early on: no jargon.
Corporate finance has a language that can feel deliberately intimidating — EBITDA, variance analysis, working capital ratios. These are useful concepts, but they're tools, not gatekeeping mechanisms. My job is to translate.
When a client leaves a meeting with me, I want them to feel clear, not confused. I want them to know exactly what their numbers are saying and exactly what to do about it.
That's not dumbing things down. That's doing the job right.
The Midwest Work Ethic Is Real
I'm Omaha-born and Omaha-based, and I think that shapes how I work in ways that are hard to quantify but easy to feel.
There's a directness here. A practicality. A preference for getting things done over talking about getting things done. I bring that same energy to every client engagement — we move quickly, we focus on what matters, and we don't bill you for things you don't need.
I work with businesses and nonprofits across Omaha and beyond, but there's something about serving this community — the founders, the mission-driven organizations, the family-owned businesses — that feels personal.
Who Birdie Financial Is Built For
I work with:
Small business owners who are growing but making financial decisions without real visibility
Nonprofit leaders who need board-ready reporting and strategic financial guidance
Founders who've outgrown their bookkeeper and need a strategic partner — not just more reports
If you've ever thought "I feel like I should understand my numbers better than I do" — that's exactly who I built this for.
Let's Talk
Birdie Financial engagements start at $1,750/month, and every new client starts with a free 30-minute discovery call. It's a conversation — no pressure, no pitch. Just a chance to understand where you are and whether we're a good fit.
[Book a Free Discovery Call →]
Joe Mikuls is the founder of Birdie Financial, an Omaha-based fractional CFO practice serving small businesses and nonprofits. Learn more at birdiefinancial.com.