Advisory & fractional CFO, answered.

Bookkeeping is the operational layer — recording, categorizing, reconciling, producing financial statements. Advisory is the judgment layer that turns those financials into business decisions — how to price, when to hire, whether to add a location, how to fund growth, what KPIs to track, when to negotiate which contracts.

Bookkeeping answers what happened. Advisory answers what to do about it. As automation and AI commoditize basic bookkeeping, value increasingly lives in the advisory layer — the strategic judgment that automation cannot replace. TechBrot’s advisory cluster covers fractional CFO, cash flow management, budgeting and forecasting, KPI reporting, quarterly business review, and financial strategy.

Bookkeeping is being automated. Bank feeds eliminate manual transaction entry. OCR extracts data from receipts and bills automatically. AI categorizes transactions based on patterns. Integrations sync data from ecommerce, POS, and operational platforms. Reconciliation tooling handles routine matches. What remains: judgment calls (which categorization is correct vs which is wrong), exception management, GAAP application, reconciliation discipline, and the close calendar. The data-entry portion of bookkeeping is collapsing in cost and time.

Where value is moving: the advisory layer above bookkeeping — strategic financial leadership, KPI design, cash flow forecasting, budgeting discipline, quarterly business review, capital allocation strategy. These require judgment automation cannot replace. The historical model (charge for bookkeeping hours) is being replaced by a new model (charge for the advisory layer where actual business value is delivered). TechBrot positions accordingly: bookkeeping is a foundation we deliver well, but advisory is where margin and durable value live.

CPA work is primarily tax-focused and backward-looking: tax return preparation, tax planning, audit and assurance services, IRS representation, regulatory compliance. CPAs are credentialed to do work TechBrot cannot do, and most successful businesses need a CPA. Advisory work is operations-focused and forward-looking: cash flow management, KPI design, budgeting and forecasting, performance review, strategic finance, capital allocation. The two roles are complementary, not competing.

Practical division: CPA owns tax (income tax filing, tax planning, IRS work, audit). TechBrot owns operational accounting and advisory (bookkeeping, monthly close, financial statements, KPI dashboards, fractional CFO work, strategic financial leadership). Many CPAs offer light advisory; some firms offer deep advisory; TechBrot offers deep advisory specifically because the bookkeeping foundation and operational platform fluency make it possible. We coordinate directly with your CPA on tax-relevant items.

Management consulting is project-based and strategy-focused — engaged for specific initiatives (market expansion, organizational restructure, operational improvement) with defined deliverables and end dates. Consultants come in, analyze, recommend, and leave. Accounting advisory is ongoing and finance-focused — embedded with the leadership team monthly, owning the finance function organizationally, building cumulative judgment about the business that compounds over time.

Practical distinction: a consulting engagement might cost $50K-$500K for 3-6 months of work and a strategic recommendation. A fractional CFO engagement costs $40K-$100K annually and provides ongoing financial leadership for years. Different purposes, different value structures. Many businesses use both at different stages — consultants for specific initiatives, fractional CFO for ongoing financial leadership. TechBrot does the latter; we don’t do management consulting.

ROI from advisory shows up across several dimensions, none of which appear on a P&L line. Cash flow ROI: businesses managing cash on instinct vs 13-week forecasts typically discover 10-20% working capital efficiency gains, plus avoiding cash crises that would otherwise require expensive emergency financing. Pricing ROI: businesses without KPI clarity routinely under-price their highest-value services and over-discount their lowest-value ones; advisory-led pricing reviews commonly recover 5-15% gross margin. Decision quality ROI: hire/fire decisions, expansion decisions, vendor negotiation decisions, capital allocation decisions made with data instead of intuition are dramatically better, but the value is hard to attribute.

The most common ROI story we see: a business engaging advisory and within 6 months identifies a specific operational change (pricing adjustment, contract renegotiation, capacity reallocation) that produces $50K-$500K+ in annual margin or revenue. Advisory at $4K-$8K/month pays for itself many times over when the leadership team uses it. When the leadership team doesn’t use it, advisory is wasted spend — which is why the discovery call assesses engagement-readiness honestly before scoping.

A fractional CFO is the right answer when a business needs strategic financial leadership but doesn’t yet have the complexity or budget to justify full-time CFO compensation ($200K-$400K+ all-in for an experienced CFO in the U.S.). Typical fractional CFO threshold: businesses between $1M-$30M revenue, businesses approaching a financing round or exit, businesses in transition (rapid growth, post-acquisition, new market entry), businesses where the founder/CEO is making financial decisions on intuition rather than analysis.

Fractional CFO pricing: typically $3,000-$8,000+/month for 10-25 hours of strategic financial leadership monthly. Full-time CFO becomes justified when financial complexity demands 40+ hours/week, when the team has multiple finance staff requiring leadership, or when the business has reached $30M-$50M+ revenue. Many businesses operate with fractional CFO for years before transitioning to full-time — the transition usually coincides with crossing a revenue or complexity threshold rather than a calendar milestone.

A fractional CFO delivers strategic financial leadership across six core areas:

• Cash flow management — 13-week rolling forecast, working capital optimization, financing strategy.
• Budgeting and forecasting — annual budget, rolling 12-month forecast, variance analysis, scenario modeling.
• KPI reporting — industry-specific dashboards, monthly executive package, board-ready reporting.
• Strategic finance — capital allocation, pricing strategy, M&A readiness, exit positioning.
• Operating partner role — joining leadership team meetings, supporting major decisions with financial analysis, owning the finance function organizationally.
• Coordination — managing the relationship with the CPA, banker, investor, and other external financial parties.

Fractional CFO typically delivers 10-25 hours per month of CFO-level work, scaling up to 40+ hours during major transitions (fundraise, sale, acquisition).

Fractional CFO is ongoing — embedded with the leadership team monthly, building cumulative judgment about the business over years. Typical commitment: indefinite, with quarterly scope review. Hours: 10-25 hours/month steady. Engagement: relationship-driven, compound value over time. Interim CFO is project-based and time-bound — engaged to fill a specific gap (the full-time CFO departed and a replacement search is underway, a specific transition needs CFO leadership, a fundraise needs senior finance leadership). Typical commitment: 3-9 months. Hours: 20-40+ hours/week (closer to full-time). Engagement: project-driven, end-date defined.

Interim CFO is the right answer when a business genuinely needs CFO-equivalent capacity temporarily but plans to hire full-time. Fractional CFO is the right answer when a business genuinely doesn’t need full-time CFO capacity but does need strategic financial leadership. TechBrot specializes in fractional; for interim CFO engagements, we recommend specialists with the right capacity model.

Different roles, often confused. Controller: leads the operational accounting function. Owns the close calendar, manages the bookkeeping team, ensures GAAP compliance, produces accurate financial statements, designs internal controls. Backward-looking and operational. Typical full-time controller compensation: $120K-$180K. Fractional CFO: leads strategic financial leadership. Owns cash flow forecasting, budgeting, KPI design, capital allocation, strategic financial decisions. Forward-looking and strategic. Typical fractional CFO compensation: $36K-$96K annually.

Most growing businesses need both roles, but rarely full-time of either at the same revenue stage. Typical sequence: $1M-$5M revenue — outsourced bookkeeping is enough, no in-house controller, occasional advisory. $5M-$15M revenue — outsourced controller services plus fractional CFO. $15M-$30M revenue — in-house controller plus fractional CFO. $30M+ revenue — in-house controller plus full-time CFO. The right structure depends on industry complexity, not just revenue size.

A typical 20-hour fractional CFO month breaks down approximately: 4-6 hours of monthly financial review (deep dive into prior-month results, variance analysis, KPI dashboard review, leadership team call). 3-4 hours of cash flow management (weekly 13-week forecast updates, scenario analysis, financing coordination). 2-3 hours of budgeting and forecasting (rolling forecast updates, variance reviews, scenario modeling on demand). 2-3 hours of KPI dashboard maintenance (industry metrics updated, dashboard delivered, narrative commentary written). 3-5 hours of strategic and ad-hoc work (pricing reviews, contract analysis, M&A discussions, leadership team participation, investor coordination, banker meetings). 2-3 hours of CPA coordination (tax-relevant items, year-end coordination, quarterly check-ins).

Hours scale up during major transitions: fundraise prep typically requires 40-60 hours/month for 2-3 months; pre-exit prep 40-80 hours/month for 6-12 months; major M&A discussions 30-50 hours/month while active. Engagement scope adjusts in writing when intensity changes — no surprise invoices.

No requirement — but practically, fractional CFO only works on top of reliable monthly books. The discovery call assesses bookkeeping quality before scoping fractional CFO. If books are clean and timely (whether maintained by another firm, in-house team, or TechBrot), fractional CFO can engage directly. If books are unreliable, the engagement starts with cleanup or catch-up first, with monthly bookkeeping established before fractional CFO begins.

Why books-first: fractional CFO without reliable financials is useless. Cash flow forecasting requires accurate transaction data. KPI dashboards require correctly-categorized revenue and cost lines. Budgeting requires accurate baseline financials. Strategic decisions made on bad data are worse than no decisions at all. We won’t engage fractional CFO on top of broken books — honest assessment matters more than expanding engagement scope.

A 13-week cash flow forecast is the rolling weekly projection of cash inflows and outflows for the next 13 weeks — the industry-standard cash management discipline for businesses where cash position matters more than accrual profitability. Why 13 weeks: long enough to see seasonal patterns, short enough to update weekly with accuracy, aligns with quarterly business cycles. Why weekly: cash crises develop in days not months; monthly views miss the gaps. The forecast is updated every week with actual results vs forecast, rolling forward one week each time.

Typical components: opening cash balance, AR collections by week (based on aged AR and payment patterns), operating expenses (payroll on payroll dates, rent on rent dates, etc.), AP payments by week, debt service, capital expenditures, financing activity, ending cash balance, minimum cash threshold flagged. Output: forward visibility into cash gaps before they happen, working capital optimization opportunities, and the data to drive financing decisions before they’re urgent.

Working capital is the cash tied up in business operations: accounts receivable (cash owed by customers but not yet collected), inventory (cash in goods waiting to be sold), accounts payable (cash you owe vendors but haven’t yet paid). Working capital management is the discipline of optimizing each lever to keep cash position healthy.

AR optimization: shorter payment terms where possible, deposits on large orders, automated payment processing, faster collection on aged invoices, credit-quality screening on new accounts. Inventory optimization: lower carrying levels through better forecasting, faster turnover through better mix management, just-in-time ordering where feasible, dead-stock reduction. AP optimization: take payment terms vendors offer (Net 30 not Net 0), use early-payment discounts when ROI justifies, time large payments around cash availability, negotiate longer terms where vendor relationships allow. A typical business with disciplined working capital management runs 10-20% leaner on working capital than industry peers — that’s cash freed up for growth, debt reduction, or owner distributions.

Runway is the number of months a business can continue operating at current cash burn before running out of cash. Calculation: current cash balance ÷ monthly net cash burn = runway in months. Used by startups (especially venture-funded) and any cash-negative business to assess time until cash runs out vs time until cash flow turns positive.

For cash-flow-positive businesses, runway is less relevant — the business generates cash, doesn’t burn it. For cash-negative businesses (growth-stage startups, businesses in transition, seasonal businesses in off-season), runway is the critical metric. Practical runway management: monitor monthly (calculate runway every month based on actual burn), scenario plan (what does runway look like at current burn vs aggressive cost cuts vs slower growth), extend deliberately (specific actions to extend runway when needed: cost reductions, payment term renegotiation, financing). 18-24 months of runway is comfortable for growth-stage businesses; under 9-12 months requires active runway-extension work; under 6 months requires urgent financing or major restructure.

Financing decisions made under pressure cost more than financing decisions made proactively. Banks, lenders, and investors offer better terms to businesses with clean financials, accurate forecasts, and clear narratives. Cash flow advisory positions the business to access financing on favorable terms before it’s urgent.

Practical financing workstreams: bank line of credit (working capital line for seasonality or growth) — banks underwrite on financials and forecasts, both of which advisory ensures are accurate and complete. Equipment financing — advisory analyzes lease vs buy economics, identifies the right financing structure. SBA loans — advisory prepares the financial package banks require. Mezzanine or growth capital — advisory prepares the financial narrative growth-capital providers evaluate. Equity financing — advisory builds the financial model investors evaluate. Each is more accessible and at better terms with advisory in place. We coordinate with bankers and capital sources but don’t broker financing ourselves — that’s a separate role (commercial banker, investment banker, broker) we work alongside.

Cash flow distress is solvable in most cases, but requires immediate action. Distress engagement starts with 30-day cash triage: immediate 13-week forecast built from current bank balance, all known payables, all known receivables; minimum-cash threshold defined; daily cash management discipline established; vendor payment prioritization (essential vs deferrable); customer collection acceleration; payroll protection (always paid, no exceptions). Within the first 30 days, distress becomes visible and manageable rather than constantly surprising.

Next phase: structural fix — pricing review (often distress is structural unprofitability disguised as cash flow problem), cost reduction (eliminate or defer non-essential spending), vendor renegotiation (extend terms, negotiate forgiveness or partial payment on past-due), customer renegotiation (deposits on new work, faster payment terms, factoring on aged receivables), financing arrangement (line of credit if creditworthy, alternative lending if not, equity injection if growth-stage). Distress engagements are intensive (often 30-50 hours/month for 3-6 months) and priced accordingly. Most distress situations are recoverable when addressed early; the businesses that fail are typically the ones that delayed engagement until past the point of intervention.

A budget is the planned financial outcome for the year, typically set in Q4 of the prior year and locked. It’s the commitment: what we’ll spend, what we’ll sell, what we’ll earn. Used for accountability, resource allocation, board communication, lender reporting. A forecast is the current best estimate of what will actually happen, updated continuously as conditions change. It’s the reality: what we now expect to spend, sell, and earn given what we’ve learned.

Both matter for different reasons. Budget vs actual variance shows accountability (are we delivering against commitment?). Forecast vs budget variance shows realism (is the budget still achievable, or do we need to reset expectations?). Budget without forecast leaves leadership chasing an outdated number; forecast without budget removes accountability and lets the business drift. The combination — locked annual budget plus rolling monthly forecast updated against actuals — is the FP&A discipline that turns intention into management.

A rolling forecast is the continuously-updated 12-month projection that always looks 12 months forward from the current month. Each month, the prior month closes (actuals replace forecast), a new month is added at the end (forecast extends), and the entire 12-month view is refreshed with current assumptions. Unlike a static annual budget (which becomes less useful as the year progresses and ages), a rolling forecast stays current.

Rolling forecast components: revenue by line (driver-based where possible: new customers × ASP, recurring revenue retention, etc.), cost of goods sold (driven by revenue mix), operating expenses (payroll by headcount plan, marketing by spend plan, etc.), capital expenditures, resulting cash flow, resulting balance sheet. Monthly rolling forecast review compares forecast vs budget vs actual, identifies meaningful variances, and adjusts forward forecast accordingly. The discipline takes 4-8 hours per month to maintain at quality; the visibility it provides justifies the time investment.

Driver-based forecasting models financial outcomes as functions of operational drivers, rather than just extending historical trends. Instead of forecasting “revenue $1.2M next month (10% above last month),” driver-based forecasting models: new customers added × ASP + existing customers × retention rate × expansion rate = total revenue. Each driver is a separately-modeled variable; the financial outcome is the result of driver assumptions.

Why driver-based: when results diverge from forecast, driver-based modeling shows which assumption was wrong (new customer acquisition was 30% below target, not pricing or retention). When scenarios are needed (what if we hire 5 fewer salespeople, what if we raise prices 10%), driver-based modeling answers them by adjusting drivers and seeing the result. Industry-specific drivers: SaaS uses new MRR + churn + expansion; ecommerce uses traffic × conversion rate × AOV; agencies use billable hours × hourly rate × utilization; restaurants use cover counts × average ticket. Driver-based forecasting is more work to build but dramatically more useful for decision-making than top-down extrapolation.

Variance analysis compares actual results to budget or forecast, identifies meaningful deviations, and explains why. Meaningful = material in dollar terms or significant in percentage terms. A $500 variance on $10K expense isn’t worth analyzing; a $50K variance on $200K revenue is. The output is narrative explanation: “Revenue $50K below budget driven by 25% fewer new customer adds (sales cycle extended, two large deals pushed to next quarter); margin held to budget despite revenue gap because marketing spend was reduced proportionally.”

Variance analysis matters because numbers without explanation are noise. A $50K revenue miss could be a sales execution problem, a market condition, a one-time timing issue, or a structural shift — all require different responses. Monthly variance analysis disciplines the leadership team to understand the business, not just look at numbers. The narrative is delivered as part of monthly financial review in advisory engagements.

Tool choice depends on business complexity. Small business ($1M-$5M revenue): Excel or Google Sheets with structured templates connected to QuickBooks Online data exports. Sufficient for monthly close, budget vs actual, simple rolling forecast. Mid-market ($5M-$30M revenue): dedicated FP&A platforms — Fathom, Spotlight Reporting, Reach Reporting, LivePlan, Cube, Mosaic, Jirav. These integrate with QuickBooks and add forecasting, scenario modeling, KPI dashboards, board-ready reporting. Larger mid-market and PE-backed ($30M+): enterprise FP&A platforms (Adaptive Insights, Anaplan, Vena) or custom-built models in Excel with QuickBooks integration.

We don’t prescribe specific tools at engagement start — tool selection happens based on the business’s reporting requirements, board/investor needs, team capabilities, and budget. Tool implementation is a separate scope item if needed. Most small-to-mid-market advisory engagements use a combination of QuickBooks reports, Excel models, and one mid-market FP&A platform for board-ready presentation.

Industry-specific KPIs vary widely. SaaS needs MRR, ARR, CAC, LTV, gross margin, gross retention, net revenue retention, ARR per FTE. Restaurants need prime cost percentage, average ticket, table turns, food cost percentage, labor cost percentage, weekly comparable sales. Agencies need utilization rate, realization rate, AGI per FTE, project margin, AR days, billable hour ratio. Home services need revenue per truck per day (RPTD), close rate, average ticket, recurring revenue from service agreements. Construction needs WIP, cost-to-complete percentage, backlog months, gross margin by project type. Healthcare practices need collection ratio, days in AR, no-show rate, payer mix, provider productivity.

Generic financial statements don’t surface these. KPI design requires CoA structure that captures the operational data, integrations to non-financial sources (CRM, POS, FSM platforms), and dashboard tools that present the right metrics to the right audience monthly. See /accounting/industries/ for industry-specific KPI depth.

KPI design follows a structured process. Phase 1: Discovery — understand the business model, the levers leadership uses to drive performance, the decisions KPIs need to inform, what reporting currently exists, what’s working and what’s missing. Phase 2: KPI selection — identify the 5-12 KPIs that matter most for this specific business (industry-standard ones + business-specific ones), define each KPI precisely (formula, source data, frequency), set target ranges. Phase 3: Data architecture — ensure source data exists in clean form (CoA structure, integration completeness, data quality), build calculation logic, automate where possible.

Phase 4: Dashboard build — design the visual presentation appropriate to the audience (leadership team, board, investors, lenders), build in the chosen FP&A platform, validate against source data. Phase 5: Reporting cadence — monthly dashboard delivery, narrative commentary on movement, quarterly review of KPI relevance. KPIs are not static — as the business evolves, the right KPIs evolve. Annual KPI review keeps the dashboard aligned with current strategy.

A quarterly business review (QBR) is the structured quarterly meeting where the business leadership team reviews the past quarter’s performance, the year-to-date trajectory, the forward forecast, and the strategic priorities for the next 90 days. The QBR connects monthly bookkeeping data, KPI dashboards, and advisory analysis into actionable strategic decisions.

QBR agenda typically covers: financial performance vs budget and prior quarter; KPI performance vs targets; cash flow and working capital review; strategic initiatives status; competitive landscape and market changes; capital allocation decisions; team and hiring priorities; risks and mitigation; quarterly OKRs/priorities for the next 90 days. The output: documented decisions, defined accountability, and a forward plan everyone in the room owns. Fractional CFO engagements typically include quarterly QBRs as a deliverable.

Board-ready reporting is a structured monthly or quarterly package designed for board members and investors who aren’t in the business day-to-day. Standard components: executive summary (1-2 pages: what happened, what matters, what we’re doing about it), financial statements (P&L, balance sheet, cash flow with comparison to budget and prior period), KPI dashboard (key operational metrics with trend lines, target ranges, and commentary), cash flow forecast (13-week or 12-month forward view), variance analysis (meaningful deviations from budget with narrative explanation), strategic initiatives status (key bets, progress, risks), specific decisions or approvals requested (if any).

Quality matters: board-ready means the report stands alone (the board can understand the business from the report without asking questions), the narrative is honest (problems are surfaced, not hidden), and the format is consistent (board members can compare across quarters). Fractional CFO engagements typically produce board-ready reporting; the work to produce it is part of the engagement scope, not a separate fee.

KPI dashboards serve multiple audiences, each with different views of the same data. Founder/CEO: top-level performance dashboard (5-8 metrics), reviewed weekly or monthly for executive decision-making. Leadership team: functional dashboards (sales metrics for sales leadership, operations metrics for COO, etc.), reviewed monthly in leadership meetings. Department managers: tactical dashboards (specific KPIs for specific roles), reviewed weekly with their teams. Board/investors: strategic dashboard (board-ready format), reviewed quarterly. Lenders: covenant compliance reporting (specific metrics required by loan agreements), reviewed quarterly or annually.

Dashboard design varies by audience: executive dashboards emphasize trend and direction; tactical dashboards emphasize specific targets; board dashboards emphasize narrative and strategic positioning. Same underlying data, different presentations. Advisory engagement scope defines which audiences are served — smaller engagements might serve just founder/CEO; comprehensive fractional CFO engagements typically serve all five audiences.

Dashboard theater is the pattern of building elaborate dashboards that nobody actually uses to make decisions. Common signs: dashboards exist but the leadership team can’t articulate the last decision they drove; metrics are tracked but targets aren’t set; performance variances appear but no follow-up actions are documented; dashboards proliferate but management discipline doesn’t improve. The dashboard becomes a vanity artifact, not a management tool.

Avoiding dashboard theater requires: fewer metrics, not more (5-12 KPIs that actually drive decisions, not 50 metrics that fill screens). Targets for every metric (an unconstrained metric tells you nothing — you need to know what “good” looks like). Narrative commentary (raw numbers without explanation are noise; what changed and why is the signal). Decision linkage (every monthly review should produce specific decisions or actions; if it doesn’t, the dashboard isn’t useful). Quarterly KPI relevance review (as the business evolves, dashboard composition should evolve; metrics that no longer drive decisions get removed). Our engagement model enforces this discipline — we build dashboards that get used, not dashboards that decorate.

Financial strategy is the multi-year financial planning that connects today’s operations to the business’s 3-5 year intent. While budgeting and forecasting handle the current year, financial strategy handles the longer horizon: revenue and profit trajectory, capital structure (debt vs equity, growth funding), capital allocation (where to invest, where to harvest), strategic options (M&A, exit, expansion).

Financial strategy outputs: 3-5 year financial model with scenarios (base case, growth case, downside case), capital allocation framework (how to evaluate investment decisions consistently), capital structure plan (debt levels, equity dilution, growth funding strategy), strategic options analysis (M&A readiness, exit positioning, expansion economics). Financial strategy is forward-looking and consequential — it informs the biggest decisions a business makes (hire a controller vs CFO, acquire vs build, raise capital vs bootstrap, sell vs continue). Strategy work typically happens annually or at major transitions, not monthly.

Capital allocation is the discipline of deciding where to deploy the cash and equity the business generates: reinvest in growth (sales, marketing, product, team), invest in operational improvements (technology, automation, capacity), pay down debt, distribute to owners, hold reserves, acquire other businesses, return to investors. Every business makes these decisions implicitly; few make them explicitly with frameworks.

Capital allocation framework components: required reserves (cash buffer for operating safety + planned investments + debt service), committed investments (already-decided initiatives that need funding), discretionary capital (what’s left for new decisions), evaluation criteria for new uses (return thresholds, payback periods, strategic fit). Strong capital allocation distinguishes the best-run businesses from average ones — the same revenue and margin produce dramatically different returns depending on what gets done with the cash. Advisory engagement includes capital allocation framework design and ongoing application.

Fundraise prep (whether bank debt, growth capital, private equity, or venture) requires substantive financial work. Typical fundraise prep workstream: (1) Clean financials (last 3 years of clean GAAP-compliant statements, often requiring cleanup or restatement work). (2) Investor-grade financial model (multi-year projections with driver-based logic, scenarios, sensitivities). (3) KPI dashboard appropriate for the investor audience (the metrics specific to your industry that investors will probe). (4) Use-of-funds analysis (where the capital goes, what it produces, what milestones it unlocks). (5) Diligence preparation (data room organization, expected questions answered in advance, supporting documentation organized).

Timeline: 3-6 months of intensive prep before going to market. Engaging fractional CFO 6-12 months ahead of a planned raise dramatically improves outcomes — the same business with clean books and a clear narrative raises at meaningfully better terms than the same business showing up unprepared. We coordinate with investment bankers, attorneys, and investors during the raise but don’t broker capital ourselves.

Exit prep is more substantial than fundraise prep — the buyer underwrites everything. Typical exit prep workstream: (1) Multi-year clean financials (5+ years of GAAP-compliant statements; many businesses require cleanup engagements covering prior years before exit). (2) Quality of earnings (QoE) preparation (working with QoE providers, normalizing earnings, defending adjustments). (3) KPI dashboard tailored to the buyer audience (PE buyers care about different KPIs than strategic buyers; we tune accordingly). (4) Working capital normalization (target working capital levels for the close mechanism). (5) Audit readiness if buyer requires (some PE buyers require audited financials; coordinating with CPA audit firm). (6) Data room organization (operational, financial, legal, HR, customer, vendor documentation organized for diligence).

Timeline: 12-24 months of prep work is ideal; 6 months is the minimum for serious outcomes. Sellers who engage exit prep early get better terms (higher multiple, cleaner close mechanism, less escrow), close faster (less diligence pushback), and have less post-close re-trade risk. The cost of exit prep ($75K-$300K+ over the prep period) is dwarfed by the value differential it produces on a $5M-$50M+ sale.

Buy-side M&A (acquiring another business): financial analysis of target (revenue quality, margin sustainability, working capital normalization), valuation modeling, deal structure analysis (asset vs stock, earn-outs, seller financing), diligence support (alongside attorneys and accountants), post-close integration financial planning. Sell-side M&A (being acquired): see exit prep above — the work is largely the same regardless of whether the seller initiates or is approached.

Our role in M&A is financial advisory and analysis — we don’t broker deals, don’t provide legal counsel, don’t replace investment banking representation. We work alongside investment bankers, M&A attorneys, and tax advisors as part of the deal team. M&A engagements are intensive (often 30-50 hours/month for 3-9 months) and scoped separately from ongoing fractional CFO retainers. For businesses considering M&A on either side, engagement timing matters: starting financial prep 6-12 months ahead of going active produces materially better outcomes than starting once a process is already underway.

Fractional CFO pricing at TechBrot is typically $3,000-$8,000+ per month, by application, fixed-fee. Pricing depends on hours required per month, complexity of the engagement, industry, and current business stage. Typical ranges:

• Light engagement (10-15 hours/month, established business, mostly monthly review and quarterly strategy): $3,000-$4,500/mo
• Standard engagement (15-25 hours/month, growing business, monthly review + budget cycle + KPI design + ad-hoc strategy): $4,500-$7,000/mo
• Intensive engagement (25+ hours/month, pre-fundraise or pre-exit prep, M&A readiness, major transitions): $7,000-$15,000+/mo

Engagement-specific projects (acquisition diligence, fundraise prep, exit prep) are scoped separately. Fixed-fee aligns incentives: we’re paid for the outcome and the seat at the table, not for hours logged. The discovery call assesses whether fractional CFO is the right fit at all — sometimes the answer is to wait, sometimes to engage an interim CFO instead, sometimes to start with advisory at a lower scope.

Advisory engagements at a lower scope than fractional CFO are scoped per-service. Typical ranges:

• Cash flow management: $1,500-$3,500/mo (13-week forecast maintained, weekly check-in, working capital advisory)
• KPI reporting: $1,500-$4,000/mo (industry-specific dashboard designed, maintained monthly, narrative commentary)
• Budgeting and forecasting: $2,500-$5,000/mo (annual budget plus rolling forecast maintained monthly, variance analysis)
• Quarterly business review (QBR): $2,500-$7,500 per quarter (preparation, facilitation, follow-up documentation)
• Project-specific advisory: $5,000-$25,000+ per project (pricing review, expansion modeling, capital structure analysis, specific decision support)

Smaller advisory engagements are entry points; many businesses graduate to full fractional CFO over time as advisory value becomes clear. Each engagement is scoped with written terms before work begins.

Fixed-fee pricing aligns the firm’s incentives with the client’s outcomes. Hourly billing creates an incentive to extend engagements — the longer the work takes, the more the firm earns. Fixed-fee creates the opposite incentive: efficient delivery directly benefits the firm because we’re paid for the outcome regardless of hours invested.

From the client side, fixed-fee provides predictability — you know the cost before any work begins, can budget against it, and don’t get surprise invoices for scope creep. For advisory specifically, fixed-fee also encourages the seat at the table: when you’re not watching the clock, you call your fractional CFO when you should, not just when you’ve budgeted for billable hours. See /trust/ for the full engagement model.

Yes — coordinated regularly. Advisory work intersects with CPA work at several points: tax-relevant decisions (entity structure changes, distribution timing, capital expenditures with tax implications) require coordination with the CPA on tax impact. Year-end work requires CPA-ready books we deliver to the CPA for tax preparation. M&A and exit work requires CPA coordination on tax structuring, gain calculations, and deal-specific tax issues. Audit support (when external audit is required by lenders or investors) requires coordination with the CPA audit firm.

We don’t replace the CPA — we coordinate. Specific touchpoints typically include: quarterly tax check-in between fractional CFO and CPA (estimated tax payments, projection adjustments, planning opportunities). Year-end planning meeting (Q4 strategy session with CPA, fractional CFO, and business leadership). Major decision review (entity changes, significant transactions, financing decisions reviewed for tax implications before execution). The honest scope boundary protects both sides: regulated tax work stays with the CPA; operational accounting and strategic financial leadership stays with TechBrot. See /legal/disclaimer/ for the scope boundaries.

Two patterns we see and address honestly. Too early: bookkeeping isn’t reliable, financial statements aren’t produced consistently, the business is too small to justify advisory cost ($3K-$8K/month is meaningful expense at sub-$1M revenue). Recommendation: start with monthly bookkeeping, get the foundation right for 6-12 months, then revisit advisory. Not ready to use it: the business has bookkeeping but the leadership team doesn’t use financial data to make decisions, doesn’t run on KPIs, doesn’t do monthly reviews. Advisory at $5K/month is wasted when leadership doesn’t act on the analysis.

We say so honestly. The discovery call assesses engagement-readiness; if advisory wouldn’t produce ROI for your specific situation, we’ll route to bookkeeping foundation work or a different engagement type. The worst outcome would be selling advisory to a business that won’t use it; the second-worst would be selling fractional CFO to a business that needs full-time CFO instead. Honest scoping protects both sides.

Book a 30-minute discovery call. The call covers your business stage and complexity (revenue, employee count, industry, growth trajectory), your specific financial challenges (cash management, KPI clarity, budget discipline, strategic decisions ahead), the advisory engagement type that fits (fractional CFO, project-based advisory, or specific service like cash flow or KPI reporting), and any questions about how we work. Within 3 business days of the call, we deliver a written scope with fixed-fee pricing — no surprises, no hourly billing.

If advisory engagement fits, work begins on a defined start date. If it doesn’t fit — for example, the business is too early-stage and needs bookkeeping foundation first, or too complex and needs a full-time CFO instead — we’ll say so and route honestly. The discovery call is complimentary; the scope is non-binding; engagement starts only when you commit in writing.

Book the discovery call →