Fractional CFOs are truly part-time CFOs. They are chief financial officers who work on a part-time or project basis, rather than in a full-time role. Our CFOs provide their financial leadership and guidance to companies on an as-needed basis rather than as a permanent member of the leadership team. 90% of our clients engage us on a part-time basis. We work on-site, and we’re working with you typically 5-15 hours per week.

On some occasions, our clients need a Full-Time CFO—but only for 1-6 months. We refer to this as an Interim CFO. The need for an interim CFO occurs when a company suddenly loses its CFO and needs a qualified executive to fill the seat while an extensive search is conducted. Other reasons include:

• A company is in a turn-around situation and needs heavy lifting from a CFO to restructure the company’s cost, performance, and capital structure
• A company is in M&A mode and needs a CFO to evaluate/negotiate the deal(s) and integrate acquisitions
• A company who needs financial leadership on a major project that the existing CFO simply doesn’t have time to take on.

It varies by client, and it all begins with you. We start with your goals and aspirations and then look at both:

• the delta in your current performance versus these goals
• and your biggest financial management challenges

From this, we work with you on the recommended course of action and how we can generate additional cash or profits ASAP. Most clients engage us for recurring services and pay us based on an agreed-upon retainer.

While this is not a specific answer since we don’t know your needs, we can promise you this: Hiring one of our fractional CFOs will be more cost-effective than hiring a full-time CFO. That’s because you’d only be investing in a CFO with a specific, well-defined area of expertise.

We truly step in as your CFO to provide your team with financial insight and the everyday, “in the trenches” work to get things done. The only difference between hiring us and a full time CFO is that for the market we serve of entrepreneurial business with $5 million to $75 million in sales, they simply don’t have enough CFO-level work to justify adding a $250,000 salary to the payroll.

That depends on your needs and goals. If you are looking for financial leadership on a part-time or project basis, or if you don’t have the resources to hire a full-time CFO, a fractional CFO may be a good fit for your business.

We have CFOs, controllers, accounting managers, and staff analysts. You could truly outsource your entire accounting and financial management functions and not miss a beat. However, before jumping that far, let’s first assess what your needs are and prioritize your services and fees accordingly. For our clients that do use both our CFO and controller services, they still have significant savings compared to hiring a full-time controller. The best part: it will cost you nothing to find out if we’re a good fit for you.

You started this business with financial goals and aspirations. If you’re facing each day with your vision further and further out of reach, you’re likely missing the financial insight to drive these to reality.

An accountant should provide you with good numbers. A CFO provides financial insight to guide your business to greater EBITDA, Cash Flow and company value. Depending on the unique challenges your business faces, there are a number of situations where hiring us might make sense. Generally, if you don’t have the resources to hire a full-time CFO yet have specific needs (perhaps on a certain project, or even a niche need in which you need guidance), it may be time to hire us to help.

As entrepreneurs, we all wear a lot of hats. Yet, not all the hats we wear speak to our true gifts, our core competencies. One sign than you or your team have spread themselves too thin is that, when you look at the goals you set for your business, you’re increasingly finding it nearly impossible to reach them. You simply don’t have the bandwidth or financial insight you need to get things back on track.

We find that our clients need a fractional CFO to help them and their leadership teams to get back to what made them successful from the start—to focus on the financial leadership piece in whatever capacity makes the most sense, so they can return to focusing on what they do best.