Frequently Asked Questions

A full or part-time CFO addresses in-house accounting and balances the books. But more importantly, such professionals ‘interpret’ the numbers, helping you make efficient, timely, and successful business decisions.

A fractional CFO comes to understand your business and core processes so you can focus on business operations, growth, and do what you do best – leading the company. 

Among the major benefits of having a CFO is instant access to incredible business strategy. Depending on your needs they’ll build financial models, financial reports, handle debt, accounting, budgets, secure credit, and determine the true costs of doing business. 

Businesses that necessitate full-time finance experts don’t have the luxury of utilizing a fractional CFO. Others don’t realize they have the option. 

Decide if your time is better spent focused on your business while you let us take care of CFO duties. Request a consultation to discover if our outsourced CFO service is right for you.

Should you consider CFO consulting hourly rates, try a monthly service plan, or hire a full-time chief financial officer? Consider some calculations:

Perhaps you need a fractional or part-time service provider for occasional specific projects from time-to-time, resulting in 80 total hours at the end of the year. At $300 per hour, that’s $24,000.

If you need a fractional CFO more regularly, say all day twelve times a year, for accounting, to ensure the books are accurate and help you make strategic and profitable business decisions, it would cost $18,000 (at the fractional CFO rate of $1,500 per day).

Maybe you’re undergoing a merger or acquisition and need an experienced CFO for a few months. It would cost you somewhere between $15,000-$30,0000, which is significantly more affordable than the $200,000+ (plus benefits) a full-time expert would demand.

 As mentioned, the average relationship lasts for one to two years, which starts with a ‘Discovery Phase’. 

Discovery rates average $1,500 and will establish immediate fixes as well as short-to-long term actions and business aspirations.

After the Discovery Phase, businesses create customized journeys with fractional CFO service providers. A timeline may look something like this:

• Initial consultation → fix immediate issues (1-3 mos) 
• Create an actionable plan (1-6 mos) 
• Implement and revise (6 mos – several years) 
• Begin to address bigger projects and business growth

In some cases, businesses partner with fractional CFO services for a decade or longer as the relationship allows for growth and continued success.

• Basic plans/financial reporting    $250-$300 per session
• Monthly to quarterly packages     $300-$800
• Benchmark reporting                    $1,000 + (depending on size of business)
• Obtaining Financing                     1% of loan amount requested, $500 minimum

Some offer part-time CFO packages or bundled plans. You can find packages that charge per session, month or quarter. Rates vary depending on the breadth of the work and the depth of analysis, however, many part-time CFO services companies don’t advertise package deals. This is because the true nature of the service is customized. They must understand your needs and goals before creating a unique and customized plan for your business. 

Outsourced CFO service packages are devised after considering:

• The type of systems your company uses 
• Size and duties of current personnel
• Whether you have a full-time accountant or bookkeeper
• The size and volatility of your market
• The number and type of sales channels leveraged by your business

Additional Part-Time CFO Costs

Additional costs may apply depending on your location, level of need, and availability of your fractional CFO. Some experts have clients pay for travel, room, and expenses if they need to make arrangements for training, meetings, integration, etc.

Also, the relationship may necessitate other expenses such as QuickBooks software and training someone who can bridge the gap between daily in-house operations and remote contact with your fractional CFO service.