About Zaffre Advisors

Finance & business advisory that creates measurable change

About Us

Zaffre Advisors is a boutique financial and business advisory firm founded by Matthew Coleman, delivering strategic CFO-level support to ambitious Australian companies. With more than twenty years of experience leading finance teams and overseeing corporate and legal functions across the United Kingdom, South-East Asia, and Australia, Matthew brings deep technical expertise and sharp commercial insight to every engagement.

His background spans resources and energy, marine services, construction, property, financial services, Infrastructure, consulting, technology, and founder-led ventures, giving Zaffre advisors a unique ability to understand complex financial environments and deliver practical, high-impact solutions.

20+ Years Experience

Our advice is grounded in real-world finance leadership. We’ve built and led full-scale finance functions, managed multi-entity and multi-currency reporting structures, raised capital in competitive environments, restructured international operations, and unlocked value through R&D incentives—in collaboration with Australia’s leading registered tax agents and technical specialists. Beyond working with management teams, we take a holistic view that aligns financial performance with shareholder interests, ensuring that every recommendation supports both operational needs and long-term value creation. We understand how financial decisions cascade through the commercials; contracts, ownership structures, risk exposure, and strategic direction. This broader lens allows us to provide advice that is not only technically sound, but commercially aligned and ready to execute in the real world. Each engagement is supported by a trusted network of tax, legal, and technical experts, providing our clients with a fully integrated advisory experience. Zaffre Advisors works with a deliberately limited number of clients. This focus allows us to immerse deeply in each engagement, tailor our approach, and remain accountable for measurable outcomes. We only accept work when we are confident that the financial benefit to the client will exceed our fee—by a clear margin.

Mission

Empowering businesses with clarity and financial strategy to fuel confident growth.

Vision

To be Australia’s most trusted partner for purpose-driven businesses navigating finance and expansion.

Core Values

Integrity, clarity, and collaboration — guiding every decision, every time.

Our Approach

Zaffre exists for business owners who want clarity, control, and strategic outcomes — not spreadsheets, fluff, or generic advice. We are passionate about making real tranformational change for the better. We help founders and directors structure their finances, unlock growth, and make better commercial decisions – with clarity, speed and confidence.

Build Finance departments that actually work.

Structure groups and investments for scale

Maximise R&D and incentive opportunities

Support exits, raise capital, and run the numbers properly

What Makes Us Different

Most advisors focus on reporting the past. At Zaffre Advisors, we help shape the future.

Value First ROI

We only proceed where there’s a credible path to improvements that exceed our fees.

Future Focus

Built for where you’re going, not just where you’ve been.

Hands-on Delivery

No shelf reports; solutions embedded and working.

Audit-ready Discipline

transparent numbers and defensible positions.

Verification & Assurance

pre-vetted specialists, conflict checks, documented scopes, and outcome tracking.

Confidentiality & Discretion

No public name-dropping; outcomes evidenced privately.

Meet the Founder

Matthew Coleman is a seasoned finance leader and strategic advisor with over two decades of experience driving financial excellence and sustainable growth for dynamic organisations across diverse industries. As the founder of Zaffre Advisors, Matthew brings CFO-level expertise to ambitious Australian SMEs, empowering them to achieve clarity, control, and measurable results through tailored strategic finance and business advisory services.

A dual-qualified Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and Certified Practising Accountant (CPA), Matthew holds a First-Class Honours Bachelor of Arts in Sustainable Performance Management from the University of Manchester and a Master of Science in Strategic Accounting from the University of Aberdeen. His academic foundation, combined with hands-on leadership in high-growth, high-pressure environments, equips him to translate complex financial insights into actionable strategies that influence executive decisions and deliver tangible value.

His background spans leading finance functions in resources and energy, marine services, construction, property, financial services, consulting, technology, and founder-led ventures, giving Zaffre advisors a unique ability to understand complex financial environments and deliver practical, high-impact solutions.

Each engagement is value-adding and implementation-focused—delivering measurable outcomes like stabilized cash flows, enhanced profitability, streamlined processes, and investor-ready materials—while emphasizing collaboration with founders, directors, and teams to align every financial move with long-term vision and resilience. Our philspohy is simple for every dollar we cost, we will generate multiples of dollars more.

Representative Work

Delivered finance transformation across industries — from construction to tech — enhancing cash flow, forecasting, and compliance.
Clients saw improved profitability, visibility, and investor confidence through strategic financial systems and disciplined governance.

Projects & Construction

Rebuilt the finance function; introduced job-costing discipline, weekly cash cadence, and month-end close ≤5 days. Cash conversion improved within a quarter.

Professional
Services

delivered board-ready packs and rolling 13-week cash forecasts; instituted pricing and utilisation controls. Profit per engagement lifted measurably.

Innovation-led SME

Mapped eligible activities, evidence, and spend; Registered Tax Agents prepared and lodged the R&D claim. Claim quality and compliance strengthened.

Engineering
Services

implemented project-margin tracking, WIP governance, and CAPEX approval gates. Margin leakage reduced; forecast accuracy increased.

Growth-Stage Technology

Built budgeting framework, KPI suite, and investor reporting; prepared capital-raise materials. Board visibility and investor confidence improved.

Outsourced Finance Transition

Moved from ad-hoc bookkeeping to a controlled month-end; approvals matrix and segregation of duties embedded. Compliance uplift and fewer surprises.

“I’ve worked from the ground up to the boardroom in large succesful corporations. My job now is simple: bring that standard to small and medium enterprises, and leave your business stronger, clearer, and measurably better than we found it.”