Regular financial review, cash forecasting, and decision support for owners who need someone reading the numbers inside the business — not only filing them at year-end. One advisor, a cadence set in the written scope, and deliverables agreed before work begins.
Not every business needs this. It fits owners whose financial questions have outgrown what bookkeeping and an annual tax return can answer, but who don’t need a full-time finance executive. A fractional engagement is CFO-level judgment on a defined scope and cadence; it is not the same capacity as a full-time seat, and when a business outgrows it, we help plan the transition to a full-time hire.
"The business is bigger than my finance instincts now."
You started as the operator and the finance person. The business has grown past what you can run from memory. You need regular clarity on cash, margin, and where the leverage is — and you need it from someone who has seen this stage before.
"I want this business ready when a buyer looks at it."
You’re thinking about a sale in the next few years. A buyer’s diligence team will examine the financials closely. Now is when to clean up the working capital story, document earnings adjustments, and build consistent reporting that holds up. See also sell-side advisory.
"We bought it. Now I have to run it."
You just acquired a business. The first year or two is when financial clarity matters most: integrating the books, understanding the real margins, and watching cash through the transition.
The engagement runs on a predictable cycle, on the cadence agreed in your written scope, with a direct line for the questions that can’t wait. Each step produces something you keep.
Once the books are closed for the period, the completed numbers are reviewed and turned into a short reporting package. Timing depends on when records and bank data are available. Performing the monthly close is a separate job from using its output: it can remain with your existing bookkeeper, or be included in the engagement by agreement.
Reporting is built around the financial statements, cash visibility, and the few numbers that drive your business. What the package contains, and when it arrives, is set out in the written scope for each engagement.
A regular session, in person at one of our offices or yours, or by video. We walk through the prior period together: what happened, what to watch, what to do about it, and who is doing what before the next session.
A financing question, a vendor negotiation, a hire you’re considering — call or email. Questions between sessions are included as set out in the written scope; larger pieces of work are scoped separately so nothing is a surprise. Your tax preparer, banker, attorney, and wealth advisor each see part of the picture: we don’t replace them, and we coordinate where a decision touches their work.
Planning work beyond the regular cycle — a periodic business review, an annual budget and plan, or preparing the financials for a sale — is added by scope.
Scope, deliverables, timing, and fees are set out in writing before any work begins. The fee reflects the scope, the condition of the books, and the cadence you need. Some engagements are the reporting rhythm on its own; others add planning work, or are directed at preparing the business for a buyer’s review alongside sell-side advisory. The first conversation is where we work out which fits.
A full-time CFO or senior finance hire carries salary, benefits, and often a recruiting fee in the first year, and takes time to ramp. Many privately-held businesses need CFO-level judgment on a regular cadence rather than a full-time seat. A fractional engagement provides a defined scope at an agreed fee. It is not the same capacity as a full-time hire, and when a business outgrows the fractional model, we help plan the transition.
Bookkeeping records and reconciles transactions and closes the books. Accounting and reporting turn that into financial statements. Fractional CFO work uses those statements to support decisions about cash, margins, pricing, hiring, financing, and growth. All three matter; they are different jobs. The engagement can work alongside your existing bookkeeper, or monthly close can be scoped into the engagement.
The first milestone is agreed in writing at the start. It usually covers getting the books to a reliable monthly close, defining the handful of metrics that matter for your business, and building a working cash forecast. Timing depends on the condition of the records and how quickly information is provided. Once a few clean months are in place, the regular rhythm settles and any planning work in your scope begins.
Sometimes that's the right fit. Tell us what you're trying to work out, and we'll say whether a smaller, one-off piece of work answers it better than an ongoing engagement. Either way, the scope and fee are set out in writing before work begins.
Term and notice are set out in the written engagement letter before work begins, so you know the commitment before you make it.
Send a short message and our office team will follow up to arrange a conversation with Brian. If this isn’t the right firm for your situation, he’ll say so and point you toward someone who is.
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