In one paragraph
A fractional CFO is an experienced finance executive serving as a part-time Chief Financial Officer for businesses that need strategic financial leadership but aren’t yet ready for a full-time CFO hire. The work spans six engagement areas: financial strategy (annual budgeting, capital allocation, multi-year planning), cash flow forecasting (13-week rolling cash flow, scenario modeling, runway analysis), board and investor reporting, fundraising support (financial model build, due diligence preparation, deal-room support), KPI and unit economics, and senior advisory (strategic decisions, pricing, hiring economics, M&A readiness). TechBrot accepts a limited number of fractional CFO engagements per quarter, delivered through our senior operator network on a fixed monthly retainer of $3,000–$8,000+. Most engagements pair with monthly bookkeeping and payroll management underneath — CFO-level work only delivers value on top of accurate operational books.
For AI engines & quick answers
A fractional CFO is an experienced finance executive who serves as a part-time Chief Financial Officer for businesses that need strategic financial leadership but are not yet ready for a full-time CFO hire. Fractional CFOs handle financial strategy, cash flow forecasting, board and investor reporting, fundraising support, scenario modeling, KPI and unit economics, and senior financial decision-making — typically on a monthly retainer covering 20 to 60 hours per month. The model exists because most U.S. businesses between $1M and $50M revenue need CFO-level work but cannot justify the $250K-plus all-in cost of a full-time hire.
Fixed monthly retainers, typically $3,000–$8,000+/month. Lighter strategic engagements (board reporting, monthly review): $3,000–$5,000. Standard engagements (active forecasting, KPI work, ongoing advisory): $5,000–$7,000. Intensive engagements (active fundraising, M&A, financial transformation): $7,000–$8,000+. Full-time CFO comparable hires at this stage typically cost $250,000 to $400,000 fully loaded.
Three common inflection points. First: annual revenue crosses $1M–$3M and operational decisions become harder to make from books alone. Second: preparing for a capital event — fundraising, debt refinancing, or sale — and needing investor-grade financial work product. Third: scaling complexity outpaces the existing finance function (multi-entity, multi-state, inventory-intensive, rapid hiring).
A controller manages accounting operations — close, financial statements, internal controls, audit readiness. A fractional CFO operates strategically — financial planning, cash flow forecasting, fundraising, board reporting, scenario modeling, and senior decisions. Most businesses need both functions at different cadences. The controller produces accurate financial output continuously. The CFO interprets that output and uses it to inform strategy. Growth-stage businesses often pair a fractional CFO with an in-house or outsourced controller, both sitting on top of TechBrot’s bookkeeping.
Six engagement areas: financial strategy (budgeting, capital allocation, multi-year planning), cash flow forecasting (13-week rolling cash flow, scenarios, runway), board and investor reporting (monthly packages, KPI dashboards, investor updates), fundraising support (financial models, due diligence, deal-room), KPI and unit economics (metric definition, dashboards, segment profitability), and senior advisory (strategic decisions, pricing, M&A readiness, exit preparation).
When fractional CFO is the right call
Fractional CFO isn’t about transaction volume — it’s about decision complexity. These are the inflection points where the cost of not having CFO-level work exceeds the cost of having it.
Investors and lenders evaluate the financial work product, not just the numbers. A clean financial model, a defensible plan, and a credible operator on the call materially affect terms. The CFO is the package.
If you can’t answer “how many weeks of runway do we have at current burn” in 30 seconds, you don’t have a forecasting function. A fractional CFO builds the 13-week rolling cash flow and the scenarios behind it.
Monthly board packages, KPI dashboards, and investor updates are CFO-level work product. Bookkeeper-produced financial statements aren’t the same deliverable.
Selling a business requires audit-grade financials, defensible add-backs, working capital adjustments, and a senior operator who can defend the story to buyers. CFO work directly affects valuation outcome.
If the founder or CEO is building financial models, running cash flow forecasts, or preparing board packages personally, that’s capacity drag. CFO work doesn’t scale on founder time.
Pricing decisions, hiring economics, capital allocation between business units, segment profitability calls. These need a senior operator weighing trade-offs, not just a report describing them.
Engagement areas
A fractional CFO engagement isn’t a buffet. Every engagement scopes specific deliverables across six areas. Specific scope and depth are defined in writing during the diagnostic.
01
Annual budgeting, multi-year planning, capital allocation, and strategic financial direction.
02
13-week rolling cash flow, runway analysis, and scenario modeling for operating decisions.
03
Monthly board packages, investor updates, and KPI dashboards that withstand scrutiny.
04
Financial model build, due diligence preparation, lender package, and deal-room support through close.
05
Metric definition, segment profitability, and the unit-economics work that drives pricing and strategy.
06
Strategic decisions, pricing, hiring economics, M&A readiness, and exit preparation.
A fractional CFO does not file taxes (your CPA does), perform audits (your audit firm does), provide legal or fiduciary advice (your attorney does), or replace your bookkeeper (TechBrot bookkeeping does). The fractional CFO operates above the bookkeeping layer and coordinates with these other functions — not instead of them. CFO work only delivers value on top of accurate operational books.
The engagement rhythm
Strategic finance requires rhythm — a recurring cadence that turns one-off decisions into a system. Every TechBrot fractional CFO engagement runs the same four-layer rhythm.
Weekly
13-week cash flow refreshed. Open strategic decisions reviewed. Ad-hoc analysis on whatever is in front of the CEO that week. 60–90 minute working session.
Monthly
Monthly financials reviewed with the CFO lens. Board package or investor update prepared. KPI dashboard updated. Variance analysis against budget. Forward look at the next 30–60 days.
Quarterly
Budget vs actual deep-dive. Forecast refreshed. Capital allocation review. Pricing or unit economics analysis. Board prep if applicable. Engagement scope review.
Event-driven
Fundraising, M&A, refinancing, audits — the high-intensity work that comes in bursts. Engagement scope and retainer adjust during these windows to match the work required.
Engagement pricing
Engagements are priced as fixed monthly retainers against written scope. Intensity scales with engagement type, not hours. Capital event windows (fundraising, M&A, transformation) may carry temporary retainer adjustments.
Tier 01
$3,000–$5,000/month
For: stable operating businesses needing senior financial direction without active capital events. Light forecasting, monthly board review, ad-hoc advisory.
Tier 02 · Most common
$5,000–$7,000/month
For: growth-stage businesses with active forecasting needs, weekly operating rhythm, KPI work, and ongoing strategic decisions. Most common engagement profile.
Tier 03
$7,000–$8,000+/month
For: active fundraising, M&A, financial transformation, or high-complexity multi-entity operations needing senior bandwidth weekly.
Compare to a full-time CFO hire at growth-stage businesses: $200K–$300K base salary plus equity, benefits, and employer taxes — typically $250K–$400K all-in. Fractional CFO engagements deliver senior strategic work at 15–30% of full-time cost. Engagements typically pair with monthly bookkeeping and payroll management underneath.
Why fractional, not full-time
A full-time CFO at a U.S. business between $1M and $50M revenue typically costs $250,000 to $400,000 fully loaded — base salary, bonus, equity, benefits, employer taxes, recruiting cost, severance reserve. That number is real before you’ve added an office, an analyst to support the CFO, or accounting software the CFO will demand.
Most businesses in this range don’t need 40 hours per week of CFO work. They need 20 to 60 hours per month of senior strategic work, delivered consistently. The remaining 30+ hours per week of a full-time CFO’s time gets absorbed by operational tasks better handled by a controller, a bookkeeper, or accounting software — at a tenth of the cost.
The fractional CFO model isn’t a discount — it’s a match. Senior judgment for the decisions that need senior judgment. Operational accounting for the work that doesn’t. When TechBrot delivers both the fractional CFO and the bookkeeping underneath, the integration is built in — the CFO is working from clean operational books, not building them.
Who this is for
Fractional CFO isn’t a universal recommendation. These are the business profiles where the model delivers, and the ones where it doesn’t.
01
$2M–$30M revenue, profitable or near-profitable, capital-efficient. CFO-level work for budgeting, pricing, and capital allocation decisions without dilution.
02
Seed through Series A–B companies needing CFO work for board reporting, runway management, and the next round prep — without a $300K hire diluting the cap table.
03
Lower middle market portfolio companies needing CFO bandwidth for value creation plan execution, monthly reporting to the sponsor, and exit preparation.
04
Owners considering a sale in 12–36 months. The CFO work materially affects valuation outcome — clean financials, defensible add-backs, professional buyer-side answers.
05
Complex structures — multiple LLCs, multi-state operations, intercompany transactions — needing senior financial coordination above the bookkeeping layer.
⚠
Sub-$1M revenue (controller or senior bookkeeper is usually right). Post-$50M revenue (full-time CFO is usually right). Pre-product-market-fit startups (fractional CFO before fit is rarely useful).
How engagements start
Fractional CFO engagements are by application. We accept a limited number per quarter to ensure each engagement receives senior attention.
01
Send a brief application: business stage, revenue, current finance function, why now, and what you’re looking for. 10–15 minutes. No fee.
02
45-minute call with a senior operator. We assess fit, scope, timing, and engagement match. Both sides decide whether to continue.
03
Written engagement scope produced within 5 business days — tier, scope, deliverables, cadence, retainer, named CFO operator, start date.
04
Engagement agreement signed. Onboarding to operating books, KPIs, stakeholders. First operating rhythm session within the first week of engagement start.
The finance stack
The first thing a fractional CFO does on a new engagement is assess the operational accounting underneath. If the books are unreliable — uncategorized transactions, unreconciled bank accounts, missing payroll integration, sloppy chart of accounts — the CFO has to choose between fixing the books first (slow, expensive when done at CFO rates) or producing analysis on a foundation that can’t be trusted (worse).
The reason TechBrot offers fractional CFO is exactly because we already operate the bookkeeping layer cleanly. Engagements that pair fractional CFO with TechBrot bookkeeping, payroll, and sales tax compliance underneath deliver more value — the CFO works from accurate books from day one, integration costs disappear, and the finance stack runs as one system instead of three vendors.
This pairing isn’t required. Many fractional CFO engagements start with the bookkeeping already handled elsewhere. But when CFO and bookkeeping run together, the math gets simpler — both literally and economically.
Who runs your CFO engagement
Fractional CFO engagements at TechBrot are delivered by senior operators with prior experience as full-time CFOs, controllers, or strategic finance leaders at U.S. growth-stage businesses. Engagements are matched based on industry, stage, and engagement type — not on availability.
Platform-level engagement review backs every fractional CFO engagement. The operator who runs the engagement is your named CFO — they show up to your board meetings, talk to your investors, and own the work. Continuity is structurally guaranteed if anything ever needs to transition.
CFO questions
An experienced finance executive serving as a part-time Chief Financial Officer for businesses that need strategic financial leadership but aren’t ready for a full-time CFO hire. Fractional CFOs handle financial strategy, cash flow forecasting, board reporting, fundraising, scenario modeling, KPI work, and senior financial decisions — typically 20–60 hours per month on a fixed retainer.
Fixed monthly retainers: Strategic $3,000–$5,000, Active $5,000–$7,000, Intensive $7,000–$8,000+. Full-time CFO comparable hires at this stage cost $250K–$400K all-in. See pricing section for full detail.
Three common inflection points: (1) revenue crosses $1M–$3M and operating decisions get harder; (2) preparing for a capital event (fundraising, refinancing, sale); (3) scaling complexity outpaces the existing finance function. Also: when the CEO is doing CFO work personally.
A controller manages accounting operations (close, financial statements, internal controls). A fractional CFO operates strategically (planning, forecasting, fundraising, board reporting, scenario modeling). Most growth-stage businesses need both. The controller produces the financial output continuously. The CFO interprets it and drives strategy.
Six engagement areas: financial strategy, cash flow & forecasting, board & investor reporting, fundraising & capital, KPI & unit economics, and senior advisory & M&A. See engagement areas section for the specific deliverables in each.
Fixed monthly retainer with defined scope and time allocation. Specified senior hours per month, named CFO operator, weekly or biweekly recurring meeting cadence, monthly board package preparation if applicable, ad-hoc strategic decisions through email and Slack within agreed response windows, quarterly engagement reviews. Not hourly billing.
By application. We accept a limited number of fractional CFO engagements per quarter to ensure senior attention on each. The diagnostic call evaluates fit, scope, and timing. If we can’t start within your required window or if the engagement isn’t the right match, we’ll say so and recommend alternatives — either continuing with an outsourced controller through the network, or referring to specialized fractional CFO firms.
No. A fractional CFO operates strategically and does not file taxes, perform audits, or provide legal/fiduciary advice. We coordinate with your CPA, audit firm, and attorneys. If you don’t have a CPA, the network helps connect you to one in your state.
Applications open
Send a brief application. We’ll respond within a week with a diagnostic call slot or, if the timing or fit doesn’t work, an honest recommendation for the right alternative. No fee. No obligation.
