COMPANY SUMMARY
Sapling Financial Consultants is a management consulting firm, founded in 2015. What started as an idea from a kitchen table has turned into a trusted management consulting firm serving clients across North America. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, with a newly opened satellite office in Atlanta, Georgia, Sapling is supported by a team of 30 professionals, delivering high-quality financial modelling, due diligence, interim FP&A and data analytics solutions tailored to mid-market companies, private equity firms, investment banks, search funds and independent sponsors, infrastructure and electricity developers, as well as entrepreneurs. During the past decade, Sapling has developed a reputation for excellence in financial modelling and data analytics.
More than half of Sapling’s clients are based in the U.S., reflecting its expanding geographic footprint and growing reputation in management consulting. The firm continues to scale its capabilities, invest in new talent and maintain flexibility in response to shifting market conditions. During periods of economic uncertainty, Sapling has consistently demonstrated steady growth. The firm was recognized for its excellence, being awarded the CanadianSME National Business Award for Best Professional Service in 2023, ranked in Globe and Mail' and Ragan’s 2025 Workplace Wellness Award in the category of Learning & Development – Wellness Initiatives, as well as being ranked in Canada’s Top Growing Companies by The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business Magazine in 2024, with a three-year growth rate of 215 per cent.
POSITION SUMMARY, DUTIES AND QUALIFICATIONS
Position Summary
We are looking for an ambitious Consultant with experience in either transaction advisory, corporate finance, public accounting, FP&A, private equity, investment banking, or other related fields, who above all wants to do high quality, impactful work they can take pride in--work that creates real value for our clients.
Our guiding principle is We Live for A+. If you are someone who strives for excellence, not because you have to, but because you take pride in doing great work and enjoy seeing how far you can go, then Sapling might be exactly where you belong.
As a Consultant, you will work together with our co-founders and consulting team to conduct buy-side or sell-side financial due diligence, develop quality of earnings reports and databooks, deliver comprehensive financial models, build KPI dashboards, conduct industry research, build presentation decks, and conduct in-depth analyses for management using financial data.
We are a boutique consultancy that differentiates itself from the big firms with best-in-class work and a strong functional expertise, and we have no interest in diluting our brand. The ideal candidate can not only keep up, but also win our respect through their work ethic, attention to detail, and high quality of work.
We’re looking above all for someone with a longer-term outlook who wants to join like-minded people in building a wildly successful company founded on that principle of creating high-impact value for clients.
This role will help you deepen and widen your due diligence, financial modelling, and data analytics skills and provide you with hands-on experience with client and business development. Ultimately, you will play a large role in a small but growing team with big ambitions for the future.
Our company is on a hybrid model, with the entire team in-office Tuesdays and Wednesdays (2 days/week at 100 Sheppard Avenue East, Suite 870, Toronto), and the balance of days at home. Our hybrid model is a reflection of the independence that our team is entrusted with in completing their work.
Responsibilities
- Assist with core financial due diligence, helping to identify key risks and potential deal breakers, assess the strengths and weaknesses of the business against industry benchmarks, and aid in the evaluation of the potential transaction
- Analyze detailed financial statement information including income statement, balance sheet, cash flow and key operational data. Combine the data into meaningful information that is used to drive discussions with target management and drive observations and conclusions
- Evaluate the quality of the target company’s reported earnings, net assets and cash flows
- Build deal-oriented reports and presentations for clients that highlight the key financial, commercial and other findings facing investments and the drivers behind maintainable profits and cash flows. Aid the team in further articulating how such findings should be incorporated into the client’s valuation and sale, purchase agreement and provide other negotiating points
- Develop quality of earnings databooks and reports, synthesizing financial, accounting, operational and other information from companies going through the M&A process (buy-side or sell-side) in order to normalize earnings, and provide assurance around claimed earnings
- Conduct in-depth market, industry and company research on clients, and develop decks and reports, for business plans, business cases, valuations, financial analyses and related documents
- Develop financial analyses/data analyses providing actionable insight to management through spreadsheets constructed with data from accounting/finance systems, operational systems, HR systems, web databases, etc.
- Build comprehensive and complex financial models covering client companies’ operations (revenue and expense drivers), capital structure (debt, equity and other related structures), working capital items (AR, AP, tax, etc.) and full financial statements (balance sheet, cash flow statement and income statement) – LBO, debt/equity raise, budgeting models, plant expansions, project finance, roll-up strategies, etc.
- Develop, manage, oversee and implement dynamic spreadsheet “tools” covering a wide range of situations based on client needs. Examples of previous Sapling work in this regard include a manufacturing plant scheduling tool, a plant nursery harvest model, biological asset valuation models, financial statement consolidations, personal finance overviews, life insurance sales models, investment account tax and return calculations, etc.
- Build automated Key Performance Indicators Dashboards that drill down into a company’s financial and operational data to identify key business trends and assist with forming a short and long-term finance strategy
- Manage client relationships, ensuring overall satisfaction, and looking for pertinent opportunities to provide additional services to existing clients
- Oversee and conduct quality control on the work of the Analysts on the team
- As required, and depending on available billable work, assist with proposals (“live” client leads, government bids, etc.), marketing material development, writing of white papers and blogs, webinars and seminars to associations and prospective client firms, and help in the process of disseminating marketing materials (emails, webinars, etc.)
Skills & Qualifications
- A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline (i.e., commerce, economics, business administration, computer science, mathematics, engineering, etc.) is required, though work experience in a relevant field coupled with a non-related Bachelor’s degree (humanities, social sciences, etc.) can substitute
- 2-4 years of professional services experience in transaction advisory, corporate finance, public accounting, FP&A, private equity, investment banking, or other related fields
- Strong computer literacy with emphasis on advanced Excel, PowerPoint, and Word skills
- CPA or CFA designation or significant progress towards certification is highly desirable
- Master’s degree in a related field is considered an asset
- Strong accounting skills with detailed knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and/or IFRS
- Knowledge of Power BI, SQL or MySQL databases, and/or other programming languages (e.g., VBA, C#, Java, Python, etc.) is welcomed, but not a must
- Intellectual curiosity and passion for learning about new industries and new businesses, as well as new technical skills
- Ability to take ownership of responsibilities and see them through to completion
- Ability to work independently and manage time and multiple tasks/deadlines/deliverables at once
- Strong dedication to the team and excellent work ethic with a willingness to work for extended hours including weekends when called for by client needs
- Experience with coaching junior staff and providing feedback is considered an asset
- Desire to contribute to the firm over the long haul, with the understanding that loyalty and hard work will be recognized in