Ninety days from a bank balance to a finance function.
This is the sequence for a fractional CFO engagement. Single services follow the same shape, shorter.
- Days 1 to 10The readStatements, bank, receivables, payables, pipeline and the job or product data. We tell you what the numbers say before we change anything.
- Days 10 to 30Cash firstA 13-week cash flow you can trust, the collections and payables rhythm, and the four numbers you will see every Monday.
- Days 30 to 60Margin and priceGross margin by job, product or client. The pricing model. The cost base, line by line, with the three or four changes worth making.
- Days 60 to 90Forecast and closeThe budget for the next twelve months, the monthly close calendar with your bookkeeper and CPA, and the dashboard that replaces the spreadsheet.
- After 90 daysThe cadenceA fractional CFO on a retainer, or a hand-off to your controller and a quarterly review. Either way the systems keep running.
How an engagement is scoped and priced
Every engagement starts with a paid finance review or a free fit call, then a written scope. Single services are fixed projects. The fractional CFO seat is a monthly retainer for a set number of days per month. Larger programs follow published engagement bands. Nothing is billed by the hour and nothing starts without a written agreement. See consultations and fees.
Who does what
We own the thinking part of finance: cash, pricing, margin, forecasting, reporting, systems and the finance team. Your bookkeeper records the transactions, and we work with them weekly. Your CPA owns tax, assurance and filings, and we make their job easier with clean, timely books. We do not give tax, legal or investment advice.
What you need to share
Read-only access to the accounting software, the bank feeds, the pipeline or job system, and an hour a week from the owner. Everything is confidential and covered by an NDA on request.
Start with a finance review.
Ninety minutes with Ali on your cash, margin and pricing. You leave with the four numbers to watch and the two or three moves that change them, whether or not we work together.