Straight answers about
how this works.

A fractional CFO is a senior finance leader who works with your business on a part-time, ongoing basis. The role covers cash forecasting, capital strategy, pricing decisions, KPI design, board and lender reporting, and the high-stakes calls that fall outside the bookkeeper's lane. You get the judgment of someone who has sat in the chair, without carrying a full executive on payroll.

A controller owns the integrity of the numbers, clean books, tight monthly close, accurate reporting, internal controls. A CFO uses those numbers to drive decisions, capital strategy, growth bets, pricing, hiring, M&A. Most growing businesses need controller-level discipline first, then CFO-level leadership on top of it. We can fill either seat, or both.

A bookkeeper records what happened. A controller makes sure what was recorded is right, closes the month on a calendar you can plan around, and produces reporting you can actually run the business with. Most businesses outgrow bookkeeping somewhere between $1M and $5M in revenue, when the questions stop being 'did we make money' and start being 'where is it coming from and where is it going.'

Most CPA firms are built around the tax return. We're built around the business. The tax work is part of what we do, but the engagement is ongoing leadership, monthly cadence, real conversations about the decisions in front of you, not a once-a-year handoff. Senior people stay in the room the whole time.

Both, depending on the situation. Some clients have a bookkeeper or junior accountant we work above as the controller and CFO layer. Others bring us in to rebuild the function from scratch and recruit the internal hire later. The right answer is the one that gets you the leadership you need without paying for seats you don't.

You're not buying hours on a timesheet. You're buying senior judgment in the room when the high-stakes decisions show up, capital, pricing, hiring, the hard calls.

Most partnerships fall between $2,500 and $10,000 per month, depending on scope and cadence. Smaller engagements are reserved for situations where the fit is exceptional and the work is focused. Most partnerships sit in the middle of that range.

Three things drive where you land:

• Scope. Tax strategy only vs. controller-level discipline vs. full fractional CFO leadership.
• Cadence. Monthly touchpoints vs. a weekly leadership rhythm with on-call availability.
• Complexity. Number of entities, revenue, M&A activity, lender or board reporting requirements.

The honest comparison isn't our monthly fee against a salary. It's our fee against the fully-burdened cost of the hire you'd otherwise make: base, payroll taxes, benefits, PTO, equipment, recruiting, and the management overhead of supervising the role. That's roughly 1.3x base.

Fully-burdened estimates include payroll taxes, benefits, PTO, equipment, recruiting, and management overhead (~1.3x base). Salary ranges reflect regional benchmarks for senior finance roles.

You get senior judgment without carrying the headcount, and without the ramp time, turnover risk, or recruiting cost.

Because every business is different. A two-entity construction company with active M&A conversations needs something different from a single-location home health agency. Publishing a flat number would either underprice the harder work or overprice the simpler engagement. The discovery call is short, free, and the fastest way to a real number.

Most clients see the engagement pay for itself within the first one to two quarters, sometimes sooner. The early wins usually come from tax positioning, pricing decisions, and cleaning up reporting that's been hiding margin leaks. The compounding wins, capital structure, growth bets, exit positioning, show up over years.

Most engagements include a recurring leadership cadence with you and your team, monthly close and management reporting, tax planning and preparation, on-call availability for the moments that don't fit on a calendar, and senior judgment on the high-stakes decisions in between. The exact mix is shaped to what the business actually needs.

We work month-to-month. There's no long-term contract, no termination fee, no exit drama. The relationship continues because it's working, not because you signed something. Most partnerships run multiple years, but that's earned, not contracted.

Both. Clients in Ohio see us in person on a regular cadence. Clients elsewhere work with us through scheduled calls and secure document exchange. The level of senior judgment is the same either way. The mode is whatever fits the business.

Thirty minutes. We listen first, you walk us through where the business is, what's working, what's in the way, and what you're trying to get to. If we're a fit, we follow up with a clear scope and pricing. If we're not, we'll point you somewhere that is.