How we work, and what it costs.
Flat-fee, scoped, and outcome-driven. Most engagements start with a fixed-fee diagnostic, then move to a monthly retainer sized to the work. No transaction fees, no surprises. Here is the full menu.
The Pulse Check ... the front door.
Almost every engagement starts here. The Pulse Check is a 30-day, fixed-fee diagnostic on cash, margin, and KPI maturity, ending in a prioritized action memo you own whether or not we continue. It is the lowest-risk way to get a senior read before committing to a retainer, and it is where we both decide with information rather than a pitch.
Three retainer tiers. One menu of project work.
Engagements are flat-fee, scoped, and outcome-driven, so conversations stay strategic and your costs stay predictable. Retainers run on a monthly cadence; the Acting CFO engagement is scoped case by case. Each tier builds on the one before it.
- Bi-weekly CEO/founder touchpoint
- Monthly executive financial review with written summary
- Variance commentary on existing reporting package
- Rolling 13-week cash flow forecast (build plus monthly refresh)
- Lightweight KPI tracker (build plus maintain)
- Annual budget review and challenge with written commentary
- Quarterly cash flow review and forecast refresh
- Ad-hoc analysis within engagement scope
- Everything in Foundations
- Monthly close review and full reporting commentary
- Cash flow forecasting (short-term and long-term)
- Dynamic KPI dashboard maintenance
- Annual budgeting and reforecasting
- Pricing and margin analysis (tactical)
- Lender and investor relations support
- Everything in Growth
- Full board financial package authorship
- Multi-scenario forecasting and stress modeling
- Capital strategy and transaction prep oversight
- Lead role with bankers, lenders, and board
- Strategic pricing and unit economics
- M&A pipeline and diligence support
- Daily or near-daily CFO presence
- Lead role with bankers, lenders, PE sponsors, and board
- Cash bridge, working capital, and covenant management
- Transaction prep, diligence leadership, or turnaround execution
- Direct supervision of internal finance team or controller
- 13-week and long-range forecast ownership
- Board-grade reporting and investor relations
- Custom scope sized to situation severity
Engagements outside these tiers... lighter-touch advisory, project-only, or custom hybrid scopes... are available on request and scoped after a no-cost diagnostic call.
Prefer project work?
Not every need is a retainer. Fixed-scope projects... financial models, board reporting, quality-of-earnings, capital raise, and exit readiness... are scoped and priced on their own page, and pair well with a retainer or stand alone.
See Project Engagements See Exit Preparation
How to choose
Start with the Pulse Check unless you already know you need an operator in the seat now, in which case we scope a retainer directly. If a sale or raise is the driver, exit prep is usually the right container. When in doubt, the diagnostic tells us.
What this is not
I am a fractional CFO advisor, not a broker-dealer. I do not raise capital, sell securities, or make paid investor introductions, and I do not charge transaction-based or success fees. Fees are fixed... diagnostic, monthly retainer, or scoped project.
Answers before the call.
How engagements are structured and priced.
Do I have to sign a long retainer to start?
What does it cost?
What is the difference between fractional, embedded, and acting CFO?
Do you take equity or success fees?
How fast can we start?
Start with a fixed-fee read.
One direct conversation, then the Pulse Check. That is usually all it takes to know the right way to work together.