At a certain stage of growth, every small business owner runs into the same wall: they need senior-level financial guidance, but they can’t justify a full-time CFO salary. That’s exactly the gap our CFO Advisory services fill. We sit at the table as your strategic financial partner — sometimes called a fractional CFO or part-time CFO — without the full-time price tag.
Signs Your Business Needs a CFO Advisor
You probably don’t need a full CFO. But you might need a CFO advisor if any of these sound familiar:
- You’re profitable on paper but struggle with cash flow
- You’re considering a major decision (hire, expansion, equipment purchase) and aren’t sure what the financial implications are
- You don’t know which products, services, or clients are actually most profitable
- You’re approaching $1M+ in revenue and your finances feel out of control
- You’re thinking about selling your business in the next 1–5 years
- Your books are clean (because we or someone else does them) but you don’t know what to do with the numbers
- You need help building a budget, forecast, or three-year plan
- Your bank or investor wants financial projections you can’t produce
What’s Included in CFO Advisory
Our CFO Advisory engagements vary by client, but most include some combination of:
- Cash flow forecasting — 13-week and longer-horizon projections so you always know your runway
- Budgeting and forecasting — annual budgets with quarterly updates, plus rolling 12–24 month forecasts
- KPI tracking — the numbers that actually predict your business health, monitored monthly
- Financial reporting — monthly executive-level reports built for decision-making, not just tax compliance
- Profitability analysis — by product, service, customer, location, or job
- Pricing strategy — analysis of margins and recommendations on pricing
- Strategic decision support — modeling the financial impact of hires, expansions, debt, or new offerings
- Banking and lender relationships — preparing for loan applications, investor conversations, or refinancing
- Exit planning — preparing your business financials for eventual sale or succession
Sometimes Called a Fractional CFO
You might know this service by other names: fractional CFO, part-time CFO, virtual CFO, outsourced CFO. They all mean the same thing — senior-level financial leadership delivered on a fractional basis. Whatever you call it, the goal is the same: give small business owners access to the kind of strategic financial expertise that only large companies could afford in the past.
Industries We Work With
CFO Advisory translates across industries, but we have particular experience with:
- Tradespeople and contractors scaling beyond owner-operator
- Service businesses with multiple product lines or service tiers
- Healthcare practices balancing reimbursement complexity
- Professional services firms thinking about partnership or sale
- E-commerce and product-based businesses managing inventory and margin
Engagement Models
Monthly Retainer
Most CFO Advisory clients work with us on a monthly retainer. We meet regularly (usually monthly or bi-weekly), provide ongoing financial reporting, and are available between meetings for ad-hoc questions or decision support.
Project-Based
If you need help with a specific project — building a budget, preparing for a loan, modeling a major decision — we offer scoped project engagements with a clear deliverable and timeline.
Bookkeeping + CFO Bundle
Many clients combine our CFO Advisory with our bookkeeping services. The synergy matters: CFO Advisory is only as good as the numbers behind it, and clean monthly books make strategic advice meaningful.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a CFO advisor different from a bookkeeper or accountant?
A bookkeeper records what happened. An accountant or tax preparer files your taxes. A CFO advisor helps you make decisions based on what your financials are telling you. The three are complementary — most growing businesses need all three eventually.
What size business is right for CFO Advisory?
Most of our CFO Advisory clients are doing $500K–$10M in revenue. Below $500K, the cost-benefit usually doesn’t work. Above $10M, you may be ready for a full-time CFO. There are exceptions in both directions — schedule a consultation and we’ll be honest about whether we’re the right fit.
How much does CFO Advisory cost?
Pricing depends on the scope of the engagement and frequency of meetings. We offer transparent monthly retainer pricing and project-based pricing for specific deliverables. A free consultation will give you an exact quote based on your needs.
Do I need to use you for bookkeeping too?
No. We can provide CFO Advisory on top of your existing bookkeeping arrangement, as long as the books are accurate and current. If they’re not, we’ll recommend a cleanup before starting CFO work — strategic advice from bad numbers is worse than no advice at all.
Areas We Serve
- Providence, RI
- Cranston, RI
- Warwick, RI
- Woonsocket, RI
- Pawtucket, East Providence, Newport, Cumberland, Lincoln, and the surrounding RI region
Schedule a CFO Advisory Consultation
Ready to bring in senior financial guidance without hiring a full-time CFO? Schedule a free 30-minute consultation. We’ll discuss your business, your goals, and what CFO Advisory could do for you.
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