A fractional CFO is — you guessed it — a fraction of the cost.
If you were to attempt to hire a full-time CFO right now, you’d likely have a heart attack. Don’t believe me? Go ahead and check GlassDoor and see how ridiculous a full-time CFO salary is.
It’s crazy, right? For small business owners, it must feel like a pipe dream to afford that C-Suite position — a complicated, twisted, pipe dream. Those numbers don’t even reflect the real cost: add in the benefits, perks, and bonuses, and that number skyrockets!
And most businesses will never need someone working on their operational finances for 40+ hours a week. But, there are absolutely times they need that level of advice and guidance throughout the year.
With a fractional CFO, you still get all the high-quality financial leadership you need, without the soul-crushing costs of a full-time — in-house — executive.
So, How Much Does a Fractional CFO Cost?
Short Answer? Well…
It depends.
Look, every business is different and yours is no exception, so a standard one-size-fits-all price point wouldn’t be fair — let alone realistic — to meet your individual needs.
Here’s the long answer:
If you see ranges or a flat price floating around online for CFO services, you can likely assume that it’s inflated to cover the unknowns of not knowing you. They cover the extremes, not your unique needs. CFO services are supposed to be a collaboration and a conversation. Preemptively providing a flat price is just poor practice.
Fractional CFO services aren’t a product. They’re a customized service uniquely tailored to your business.
Working with a fractional chief financial officer like myself is an incredibly collaborative process. I’m not going to toss numbers around. We’ll sit down and figure out the cost together based on what you actually need to achieve meaningful results.
What Affects the Cost of Fractional CFO Services?
Now that’s the question you should be asking! I can give you a framework that will determine the price point you can expect from me.
When crafting a solution for your business, we need to answer a few simple questions first:
1. What’s Your Order-to-Cash (OTC) Process?
Not many business owners even understand what this is. Do you know? No?
Let me ask it a different way.
What happens between the time you make a sale and the time the cash lands in your bank account?
You may think you know your OTC process like the back of your hand. But the reality is, we ALL have our blind spots, and some of those could be more costly than others.
Take e-commerce for example. As a fractional CFO, when I review your order-to-cash cycle you can expect to pay me to help you:
- Help you understand how your cycle affects cash flow
- Make recommendations on software to make your life easier
- Develop processes to ease pain points like vendor management and billing
I could keep going, but I think you get the point. The more bloated your process, the more attention and care it will require, boosting the costs associated with it.
2. What Kind of Help Are You Looking For?
Are we looking at busting the doors wide open on financial strategy? Or maybe you’re desperately wanting to understand all the numbers behind your business because no one’s ever explained what’s affecting your bottom line in a way you can understand.
As a Fractional CFO, I’m a pro at translating complex finances into everyday language. And, yeah, I can also come in and steer the ship in a direction that makes sense for your financial goals — it just won’t cost the same thing as it would to put together a commission calculator.
Curious about how I can help you? Depending on your needs, I can help with:
- Cash flow forecasting
- Budgeting
- Financial planning and analysis
- Profit drivers and margins by product
- Commission calculators
- Order to cash audit
- Process development and improvement
A fractional CFO can be a godsend to small business owners. Especially when the very thought of managing the numbers sends them running for the hills.
3. When Was the Last Time Someone Really Looked at Your Books?
Biting that lower lip, embarrassed about your answer? That’s okay.
I get it. I meet wildly successful business owners who have been getting by with knowledge they gleaned from their high school accounting class. Decades ago.
It’s a miracle they’ve gotten this far, so it goes without saying, the greater your need, the greater the costs.
With all that said, does it make sense when I say the cost of a fractional CFO depends?
It’s madness to put the same price tag on every project — or even expect an average range for costs that don’t seem all over the place.
What you can expect is a guarantee that I Heart EBITDA will handle your finances with the utmost professionalism, accuracy, and years of expertise you should rightfully expect.
I’m going to give you blunt and unbiased advice — we’re going to have difficult conversations, and you’re going to be better for it. We’re going to create a process to reach your goals, and I’m going to make you follow it.
Because not following it is a waste of my time and your money.
Once you’ve answered the above questions, connect with me. We’ll go over your unique needs and form a price point you can actually live with.
