Fractional FP&A and Controller support for climate ventures, startups, and mission-driven nonprofits. Based in Boston.
I fix what’s not working and set up financial systems your team can run.
Start with a free consultation.
Why Leslie
Leads at scale
Finance leadership within a $200M+ organization
Handles complexity
Supported a team behind 600+ reports a year, across 30+ countries
Fast under pressure
Secured $40M+ in emergency oxygen funding during COVID
Seasoned
15+ years in financial leadership
Leslie Verploegen — Boston, MA
Who You’re Hiring
I’m good at explaining finance to people who don’t live in spreadsheets. I bring financial structure and clarity to mission-driven companies and nonprofits of every size, from early-stage climate startups to $200M+ global health programs.
My recent work includes climate organizations like Reframe Systems and Cascade Climate, a $250M consumer packaged goods company, and nonprofits like the International Institute of New England. I’ve streamlined NetSuite and implemented Prophix and Vena, moved teams onto Ramp and outsourced bookkeeping, and set up cost tracking for companies that make physical goods.
Before going independent, I was Associate Director at the Clinton Health Access Initiative, where I secured more than $40M in emergency funding for oxygen programming during COVID and supported a team behind 600+ financial reports a year across more than 30 countries. I have a Master’s in Public Health from Boston University.
Core Expertise
What I Do
I shape each engagement to fit how your organization works. I work with both companies and nonprofits, and most of what I do applies to both.
I plug in quickly to set up budgeting, forecasting, cash flow planning, and spend visibility. I also support controller work like tightening the month-end close and preparing for board meetings.
Clean, audit-ready financials that hold up for funders, investors, and boards. For nonprofits, that means grant-level budgets, tracking spending against each award, and on-time funder reports. For companies, it means audit prep, investor reporting, and clear financial policies.
I set up the systems and processes your finance team runs on, including chart of accounts, expense policies, SOPs, and tools like Ramp and Vena. For companies that make physical goods, that includes tracking WIP, COGS, inventory, and project labor. For nonprofits, it means tracking costs by program and funding source.
Approach
Every organization is different. I tailor my approach to your specific goals and challenges.
I move quickly on board deadlines and grant reports and keep the numbers accurate.
You walk away with the documentation, training, and tools to run things yourselves and build on them.
In Practice
Manufacturing
A fast-growing manufacturer needed better visibility into project profitability as they scaled. They wanted to make data-driven decisions but couldn’t see costs by project or department. We restructured their chart of accounts, and I set up expense policies and trained the team on WIP and COGS tracking. This gave leadership real-time visibility into margins.
Real-time margins
Nonprofit
The International Institute of New England manages a significant number of grants across multiple programs and wanted to give their program teams better financial tools. They wanted each team to see its own grant budgets and spending directly. We set up Vena, a cloud-based FP&A tool, and wrote the documentation to go with it. After that, each team could track its budgets and spending in real time and run its programs without waiting on finance.
Vena implemented
Growth-Stage
An organization preparing for expansion needed to model multiple growth scenarios. I built them a 5–10 year forecasting model their team could update themselves.
5–10 year model
Climate Tech
Reframe Systems, a robotics company building net-zero homes, wanted precision on project costs and labor spending. With multiple projects running at once, those numbers were hard to pin down. I built an hourly labor allocation method and connected time tracking to their PEO payroll system, so management could see project margins and where the labor was going.
Labor allocation
In Their Words
Trusted by founders and finance leaders for proven results.
Leslie’s super power is bringing clarity to chaos. Within the first few weeks of working with us, Leslie created new mechanisms to drive visibility across the company on our materials and labor spend. She coached our leaders on best practices for the financial management of our projects and the increased visibility is helping our leaders make better decisions. We’re glad we partnered with Leslie and look forward to engaging her again in the future.
Vikas EntiCo-Founder, CEOReframe SystemsLeslie is a reliable, knowledgeable and enthusiastic professional whom I’ve had the pleasure to work with at my current organization, IINE. Leslie played a critical role in successfully rolling out a financial budgeting and reporting software (Vena) to our program leads at IINE, giving teams visibility into their grant-level budgets and spending. Her proactive approach and ability to take full ownership ensured the project stayed on track and delivered results without requiring constant oversight.She not only solved technical problems, but also went the extra mile to find effective solutions. Her ability to think through challenges and develop practical, user-friendly reports have made financial insights more accessible and actionable for our team.One of the most valuable contributions was the comprehensive procedures manual she created, which is clear, well-organized, and will serve as a lasting resource for our team. Her strategic thinking and ability to make complex information easy to use has empowered our staff with a clear, sustainable resource, ensuring long-term efficiency and continuity.
Céline MukasineChief Financial OfficerIINELeslie guided Cascade Climate through a major upgrade of our financial planning and operations. We had hit the limits of what our team could do on its own: forecasting cash flow as plans changed, reporting granularly against individual grants, and closing our books efficiently. Leslie quickly developed a plan of action with us, rebuilt our budget so it will hold up as we grow, and moved us onto Ramp and a third-party bookkeeping service that now saves us considerable time.Whether we’re launching a new program, preparing a grant proposal, doing a routine close, or getting ready for a board meeting, we’ve never been better prepared. We’d work with Leslie again in a heartbeat.
Vilas RaoCo-Founder, COOCascade ClimateCommunity
I’m available for:
In person around Boston, or virtual anywhere.
Get in Touch
Tell me what you’re working on and we’ll figure out if I can help.
Book a consultationStart with a free consultation. Engagements are billed hourly with a minimum commitment. Group sessions and special programs are also available for accelerator and incubator members.