IS A FRACTIONAL CFO ACTUALLY WORTH IT?
A fractional CFO is worth it when the monthly fee is smaller than the cash it recovers through better collections, corrected overhead, and accurate job costing. For most subcontractors doing $1M to $12M in revenue, that math works in the client's favor within the first few months.
The honest way to evaluate the fee only means something measured against what the engagement recovers. An overhead rate that had been running 10 points too high without anybody catching it, a collections process that brings in $200,000 of aging AR, or a cash forecast that prevents one emergency merchant cash advance: any one of those alone can cover a year of fees. So the question isn't whether the retainer is expensive in the abstract. It's whether the specific problems in your business are already costing you more than that every month.
WHAT IT MEANS.
A fractional CFO is a part-time construction finance lead on a monthly retainer, and the engagement is worth it when the fee is smaller than the cash it recovers through better collections, a corrected overhead rate, and accurate job costing.
The reason this is hard to decide from the outside is that the fee is knowable and the return isn't, at least not until somebody looks at your books. Two contractors at the same revenue can have wildly different amounts of recoverable cash sitting in their business, because one has an overhead rate that's roughly right and the other has one that was set four years ago. That's what a diagnostic call is for.
THE SIGNS TO LOOK FOR.
You have had a near miss on payroll
A scramble to cover a short week is the clearest sign there is, because it means the business is running on whatever came in rather than on a forecast. Payroll is weekly and collections aren't, so the two fall out of step long before anybody calls it a cash flow problem. One near miss is a warning, and two in a year means the system doesn't exist yet.
Revenue keeps growing but cash never reflects it
Growth consumes cash before it produces any, because every new job mobilizes and every new job holds retention. A contractor can put up a strong year of growth and finish it with less in the bank than they started with. When the top line is up and the balance is flat, the problem is timing rather than profit.
You suspect the overhead rate is wrong and haven't checked it
Most contractors carry an overhead rate that was set once and never tested against the real financials. A verified civil client was carrying 32 percent when the corrected figure was 15 percent, which means every bid written in between inherited the error. Until somebody rebuilds that rate off the actual books, you're pricing work against a number nobody has audited.
AR is aging past 60 or 90 days with no collections process
Invoices sitting past 60 or 90 days are money the business already earned and is now financing for its customers. Without a systematic follow up schedule, collections happens when somebody remembers, which is usually the week cash gets tight. A verified electrical client recovered $365K of AR once the follow up became a routine that somebody owned.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
Four outcomes come from verified engagements: $365K of AR recovered for an electrical contractor, an overhead rate corrected from 32 percent to 15 percent for a civil contractor, net profit of $1.1M against a prior year of $24K, and $750K of new capital unlocked for a civil contractor. Each of those is recovered cash well beyond the monthly cost of the engagement. The fee is the easy part to calculate, and the return depends on what's broken in your specific business.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing, no payroll, and no add-ons.
Pricing
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually |
Range reflects the three tiers below. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions rather than a report.
Your bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop touching the books.
Everything in Core, and we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Nobody in your office is answering coding questions or chasing a reconciliation at month end.
We do the books. No payroll.
Every job shows its margin while it's still running.
Everything in Executive, plus the job costing and WIP platform set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed for you every month. You never have to learn it.
We do the job costing.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
