Hamish Dunleavy
Studio Finance Lead
Spent eight years managing budgets for a Cairns design studio before going independent. Now helps creative businesses understand their numbers without the corporate jargon that makes everyone's eyes glaze over.
Build Your Financial Expertise Through Practice
Our program focuses on hands-on development in business finance management, creative industry accounting, and practical budgeting frameworks. Starting September 2025, you'll work through real scenarios that creative professionals actually face.
Discuss Your GoalsHow It Works
Three Development Phases Over Nine Months
We've seen people come in knowing spreadsheets but struggling with actual financial decisions. The structure below isn't rigid—it adapts based on where you're starting from and what you need most.
Sessions run Tuesday and Thursday evenings, 6:30-8:30pm AEST, with weekend workshops once monthly. Most participants keep their day jobs while progressing through the material.
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Foundation Work (Months 1-3)
You'll work with cash flow analysis, basic forecasting, and understanding financial statements in creative business contexts. We use case studies from Australian agencies, freelancers, and small studios so the numbers feel familiar.
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Applied Skills (Months 4-6)
Here's where it gets interesting. You'll build budgets for hypothetical projects, analyse pricing structures, and work through common financial challenges like seasonal income variation and project-based cash management.
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Integration Project (Months 7-9)
Your final project involves creating a comprehensive financial plan for a creative business scenario. Past participants have tackled everything from photography studio expansions to design agency restructures.
Learn From People Who've Been There
Petra Vangelos
Financial Systems Consultant
Builds financial processes for freelancers and small agencies across Brisbane. Her background in film production means she gets the chaos of project-based income and irregular payment schedules.
Owen Kirkbride
Business Planning Advisor
Worked with over forty creative businesses on financial planning and growth strategies. Started as a graphic designer who taught himself accounting out of necessity—and learned the hard way what matters most.
Development Timeline
What Growth Actually Looks Like
We followed up with participants from our 2024 program to see how things turned out. Results varied quite a bit, but here's what several people experienced over twelve to eighteen months.
Months 1-3
Getting Control of the Basics
Most people started feeling more confident about reading their own financial reports. One participant mentioned finally understanding why her accountant kept asking certain questions about quarterly income.
Common outcome: Better preparation for tax season and clearer cash flow visibility
Months 4-8
Making Different Decisions
This is where people often started changing how they priced projects or structured client agreements. A Melbourne photographer restructured his pricing after realising his hourly rate wasn't covering actual costs.
Typical progress: Revised pricing models and improved project profitability analysis
Months 9-12
Building Financial Systems
Many participants created forecasting systems they actually used. One Brisbane studio owner built a six-month cash flow model that helped her decide when to hire an assistant—and when not to.
Common development: Custom budgeting frameworks adapted to individual business needs
Months 12-18
Long-Term Application
Follow-ups showed people continuing to refine their approaches. Several started advising peers on financial planning. One participant took on a part-time bookkeeping role for a design collective using skills from the program.
Extended outcomes: Ongoing skill application and occasional consulting opportunities