Engagement 02 · Fractional Advisory
Financial counsel at the table, without a full-time hire.
Most owner-led businesses reach a point where the decisions outgrow the reporting: whether a hire pays for itself, what a job really earned, whether the pipeline supports the payroll about to be signed. This engagement puts a CPA beside you for those questions, monthly, using your own numbers.
Request an introduction →The standing agenda
- Results
- Monthly review of performance with the owners, in plain terms
- Margin
- Job, service line, or client-level profitability and pricing
- Overhead
- What fixed cost the business is carrying, and what it should
- Cash
- 13-week rolling forecast, timing of payables and distributions
- People
- Hiring and capacity models before an offer is signed
- Controls
- Close-process discipline and separation of duties as you grow
How an engagement begins
Diagnostic. We start with a review of the last twelve months and the current balance sheet, and I tell you plainly what the numbers can and cannot support yet.
Baseline. A short set of measures the business will actually be run on — margin by the unit that matters to you, overhead absorption, and a rolling cash view.
Cadence. A monthly working session with the owners, with modeling between sessions when a real decision is in front of you.
Common questions
- How is this different from hiring a CFO?
- It is the same financial counsel without the salary, the search, or the seat. You get a standing monthly working session and access between sessions when a decision comes up. Businesses that eventually need a full-time finance leader usually use this engagement to get there in order.
- What actually happens each month?
- A working review of your own results with the owners: what the period earned, where margin moved, what cash looks like for the next thirteen weeks, and the two or three decisions in front of you. You leave with figures and a recommendation, not a deck.
- Do I need clean books first?
- Yes — advice built on an unreconciled ledger is guesswork. If your accounting is behind, we either start with the accounting engagement or work alongside your existing bookkeeper until the numbers are dependable.
- What kinds of businesses is this for?
- Closely held and owner-led businesses and small professional firms, generally where uneven revenue, long sales-to-payment cycles, and owner compensation decisions are ordinary conditions rather than exceptions.
- Does advisory include tax planning?
- No. This practice does not provide tax preparation or attest services. I model the financial effect of a decision and coordinate with your tax preparer, who remains independent and gives the tax position.
- What does fractional advisory cost?
- Fixed monthly retainers start at $3,000, quoted in writing before work begins, and depend on entity count, meeting cadence, and how much modeling the year requires.
Advice is only as good as the ledger underneath it.
If your monthly close is not yet dependable, the accounting engagement is the place to start.