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 economics, cash, and infrastructure, 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.
Four retainer tiers. One menu of project work.
Engagements are flat-fee, scoped, and outcome-driven, so conversations stay strategic and your costs stay predictable. The tiers ladder by the maturity of your finance function and the depth of engagement... each one includes everything below it.
- Bi-weekly CEO/founder touchpoint
- KPIs defined and a performance dashboard (build and maintain)
- Proactive red-flag and priority surfacing
- Monthly performance read on cash and margin, with written summary
- Rolling 13-week cash flow forecast (build and refresh)
- Annual budget review and challenge with written commentary
- Ad-hoc analysis within engagement scope
- Everything in Foundations
- Decision-grade monthly reporting package and close review
- Unit economics and margin modeling
- Cash flow forecasting (short-term and long-range)
- Budget, annual plan, and FP&A with reforecasting
- Lender and investor relations support
- Everything in Growth
- Board-grade reporting and board-meeting leadership
- Capital strategy and allocation framework
- Multi-scenario forecasting and stress modeling
- Finance-function leadership across the business
- Systems and reporting infrastructure oversight
- Transaction and diligence support when a deal is live
- Everything in Keystone
- Runs finance day-to-day, with full ownership
- Near-daily CFO presence and priority mobilization
- Direct supervision of internal finance team or controller
- Cash bridge, working capital, and covenant leadership where needed
- Transaction prep, diligence leadership, or turnaround execution
- Leadership-gap continuity through to a permanent CFO
NoteNeed less than a full Foundations cadence? A lighter-touch advisory retainer is available on request for teams that want an occasional senior sounding board. Project-only and custom hybrid scopes are available too... each scoped after a no-cost diagnostic call.
Not sure which tier fits?
That is what the Pulse Check is for. Thirty days, a fixed fee, and a structured read on economics, cash, and infrastructure, ending in a memo that names the right tier... or tells you a retainer is not the right next step yet. The fee credits in full toward a retainer if you engage within 60 days.
Prefer project work?
Not every need is a retainer. Fixed-scope projects... profitability diagnostics, strategic planning, 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. It reads your economics, your cash, and the systems and ownership underneath the numbers, and the memo is what decides the next step. 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.