What "Fractional CFO" Actually Means

"Fractional CFO" is advertised everywhere, but no one tells you actually what it means. They tell you instead that corporations pay up to $300 thousand. Good news, major companies will pay ten (10) times that. And, "fractional" is just a fancy term for "regular part-time."


CFOs are responsible for all of a company's financial operations. This doesn't mean that the reports, etc. are accurate to the penny, but that the information is reasonably accurate and dependable for the payment of taxes and planning for the future.

Planning for the future takes on three roles:

  1. The most important single aspect of the CFO's responsibilities is to review current expenses and income to ensure the company can cover all of its current and planned expenses, to create a budget for near-term operations, taxes, etc, and to check the reality of that budget versus actual results over time.

  1. To establish plans for Income Taxes and to regularly determine the benefits of maintaining a cash or accrual basis for income tax over time.

  1. To establish longer term Strategic Plans for future operations. These plans include (a) reviews of new businesses joining local Chambers to determine if competition and opportunities are changing, (b) checks of the local development departments to determine if new business expansions are being planned that may change your local competitive surrounds, and (c) a DOT request to determine if important roads near you have plans that can change your market. For instance, a nearby intersection being replaced by an overpass or a nearby road being widened.

  1. To determine the cash flow plan for future operations and the possible need for additional funds to protect and/or expand operations.

The Cost of Going Without

Business Owners frequently think that CFOs are simply too expensive to afford when the reality is that they're too critical to not afford.


For instance, a small cleaning company didn't think they could afford more than their $200/month bookkeeper and $750 annually for their taxes. The first year, they continued with the bookkeeper at $200/month and paid us $350/month, plus $500 to do their taxes which we reduced by $5,000. In total, we saved them over $1,000 while also preparing them for the future.

We'd love to speak to you about how we might help guide your company into the future.


Dealing with finances at this level requires complete trust and open communication between the CFO and the business owner/CEO.