Alinement Group — Written for owner-led companies

2026 · alinement.com

The free Diagnostic

Find the drift before it costs you another quarter. Run the business on numbers you can read.

In about 45 minutes, you get a plain-English read on where your team, your priorities, your numbers, and your weekly rhythm have quietly separated. No accountant-speak. Just the first clear look.

Where do you sit?

See whether your business is run from one shared plan — or from nine spreadsheets and last week's fire drill. You'll know within the hour. Walk into the next client meeting with a clear read on what's actually stuck — the priorities, the scorecard, or the cash they can't see coming. Start a better client conversation without playing management consultant. The numbers open the door; you already know how to read them.
Start the free Diagnostic

Free. No credit card. Your results stay yours.

Built by Terry Smith, CPA/CITP — fractional CFO and QuickBooks ProAdvisor, in the numbers since 1985, with more than 90 clients across four decades.

A free first step, not a watered-down sales pitch.

You answer the questions. Alinement shows you the gaps in plain English. Then you decide what to do next — on your own time, with no one calling to close you.

✓Free ✓No credit card ✓About 45 minutes ✓Plain-English report ✓Yours to keep

Item 1

The founder

Who built this.

Before you trust a number, it's fair to ask who's behind it.

Terry Smith

CPA/CITP · Founder, Alinement Group

CPA/CITP Fractional CFO QuickBooks ProAdvisor In the numbers since 1985

Forty-one years in the numbers — staff accountant, controller, CFO — across more than 90 clients. I kept watching good owners guess because nobody made the numbers plain. I built the Diagnostic so you can get that first clear look yourself, in plain English.

Item 2

The problem

Most teams aren't lazy. They're running from different scoreboards.

Your sales look fine until cash gets tight. Everyone says "growth," but each person means something different by it. Your meetings make notes, not decisions. That's not a people problem — it's an operating-rhythm problem, and it's fixable once you can see it.

If every leader wrote down the top three priorities this quarter, would you get back the same three answers?

Item 3

The method

Four moves, always in order.

None of these moves are new. The discipline is doing them in order, and not skipping ahead to tools before you've seen where you stand.

  1. i.DiagnoseFind out where you actually stand today — not where you assume you do.
  2. ii.AlignGet every leader pointed at the same few goals, written down in one place.
  3. iii.ExecuteTurn the goals into owners, KPIs, and a check-in you actually keep every week.
  4. iv.OperateBuild the rhythm — a pulse, a meeting, a scoreboard — that keeps it running without you.
A week on the rhythm Small, steady beats — not one big scramble
Mon
Team pulse
Tue
Own the work
Wed
Leaders meet
Thu
Own the work
Fri
Score check
Sat
Rest
Sun
Rest

The Diagnostic is step one. Everything else exists to help you keep the rhythm after. The method page walks through all four moves.

Item 4

The ladder

One house, one ladder — taken in order.

You don't choose between software, a course, and a newsletter. Each has a job, and they come one rung at a time. Start free at the bottom; climb only when you're ready.

  • 0.
    The Diagnostic Free · Start here
    Your job
    Answer honestly. About 45 minutes, on your own first.
    Alinement's job
    Show your first clear read: scores across five dimensions, the risks, and your next moves.
  • 1.
    Academy — OS Mastery Free · 10 modules, 33 lessons
    Your job
    Learn to read your own numbers.
    Alinement's job
    Teach the method free — no card — so your result turns into decisions.
  • 2.
    The Alinement Brief Free weekly rhythm
    Your job
    Stay sharp — five minutes, once a week.
    Alinement's job
    Send one usable idea a week, written the way a straight-shooting CPA talks.
  • 3.
    Alinement OS
    Your job
    Put the rhythm in motion with your team.
    Alinement's job
    Strategy, goals, KPIs, team pulse, meetings, cash flow — plus an AI advisor that knows your numbers.
  • 4.
    For Advisors
    Your job
    Serve many clients from one place.
    Alinement's job
    A privacy-first workspace across every client — CFO-level advisory without building the system yourself.
Start the free Diagnostic

Free. No credit card. Your results stay yours.

You don't have to decide the rest today. Pricing for Alinement OS lives in one place: alinement.app/pricing.

Item 5

The deliverable

What lands on the page when you're done.

Four short reads, in plain English — the same four lines you'd want a CFO to walk you through.

01

The executive summary

The whole picture in a few plain-English paragraphs — no accountant-speak.

02

Five dimension scores

Where you stand, 0–100, from financial clarity to leadership alignment.

03

Priority actions

The top five moves for the next 90 days, with the why behind each one.

04

Strategic risks

What could bite first — and how to soften it before it does.

Who it's for

Three seats at the table. One first step.

Different roles, different pain — and a different rung of the ladder that answers it first.

The owner

You suspect the leadership team isn't chasing the same three priorities — but you can't prove it.

Answered at Rung 0. The Diagnostic shows you the drift before the next quarter buries it.

The fractional exec

Every new client engagement starts from a blank page, and week one goes to guesswork.

Answered at Rung 4. For Advisors gives you a repeatable read across every client, privacy-first.

The bookkeeper / accountant

You see the numbers clearly, but you don't have a plain way to open the bigger conversation.

Answered at Rung 1. OS Mastery gives you the shared language — free — to lead it.

Where it goes

When you're ready, the same read runs the whole business.

The Diagnostic is a snapshot. Alinement OS turns it into a weekly picture — the same few numbers, refreshed every week, so nothing surprises you.

Illustrative product view — sample data, not your results.

Item 8

The notes

Questions worth answering first.

The small print, said plainly.

  • Is the Diagnostic really free?

    Yes. No credit card, and no required sales call. You answer the questions and get your first read on the business. It's yours to keep.

  • Who should take it first?

    Start with the owner, managing partner, or lead advisor. If the first read is useful, invite the leadership team so you can compare answers side by side.

  • Is this accounting software?

    No. Your accounting system records what already happened. Alinement helps you decide what to do next — from your numbers, priorities, meetings, and decisions. It's educational; it teaches you to read your own business.

  • Can consultants or accountants use this with clients?

    Yes. The For Advisors path is built for professionals who need a repeatable way to diagnose, align, and operate across many clients — privacy-first, so client data stays separated.

  • Will I be pushed into three products?

    No. The Diagnostic comes first. Academy, The Brief, OS, and For Advisors each have a job after that — in order, not all at once. You climb one rung when you're ready, not before.

The bottom line

You don't need another spreadsheet before you know what's off.

Start with the free Diagnostic. Get the score. Then decide the next move with clearer eyes.

Start the free Diagnostic

Free. No credit card. Your results stay yours.