Fractional CFO
A fractional CFO is an experienced Chief Financial Officer who works for your business on a part-time or contract basis, typically a few days per month. They provide strategic financial guidance, reporting, and oversight without the cost of a full-time executive hire.
Types
Project-Based Fractional CFO
Hired for a specific engagement such as fundraising, acquisition preparation, or financial system setup.
Ongoing Fractional CFO
Regular monthly engagement covering financial reporting, board meetings, strategic planning, and KPI oversight.
Why it matters
Small businesses often reach a size where they need more financial sophistication than a bookkeeper provides but cannot justify a $200,000 or more full-time CFO salary. A fractional CFO fills that gap. However, at $8,000 to $15,000 per month, even fractional CFOs are out of reach for most small businesses under $5M in revenue.
Real-world example
A dry cleaning chain with three locations and $2.4M in annual revenue hires a fractional CFO at $6,000/month to help with route profitability analysis, lender reporting, and quarterly planning. After 18 months, they replaced the engagement with an AI CFO that handles the ongoing monitoring at $100 per month.
Ask FREM about your data
CentsOf.AI was built to give small businesses the financial intelligence of a fractional CFO at 1% of the cost. FREM answers the questions a fractional CFO would answer, in real time, from your live data.
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