Most organizations under $50M in revenue do not need a full-time CFO. They need a full-time CFO’s judgment, about four days a month, at the moments that matter — and a controller’s discipline the rest of the time.
That is the gap this fills.
What you actually get
A reporting package your board can read. Not a QuickBooks export with the logo changed. A monthly package that opens with what happened, why it differs from plan, and what it implies for the next two quarters — written in sentences, backed by statements that tie. It is produced from PlanVector, so the numbers behind it are the same ones your team sees every day.
A cash forecast you can act on. Thirteen weeks out, updated on a schedule, built from real commitments rather than last year’s average. The point is not precision. The point is knowing which month gets tight and having eight weeks of warning instead of two.
A close that ends. A documented calendar with owners and dates, so the close finishes on day ten instead of trailing into the following month. This is usually the first thing I fix, because nothing else works until the numbers arrive on time.
Someone to call. The pricing question, the covenant question, the “should we hire now or in the spring” question. Often the highest-value part of the engagement, and the hardest to put on an invoice.
How the engagement is shaped
A typical arrangement is a fixed monthly retainer covering a set number of days, with a defined scope and a standing meeting. No hourly billing surprises, and no ambiguity about what is included.
Engagements usually start at three to six months, because anything shorter is diagnosis without treatment. Many continue indefinitely at a reduced level once the foundation is stable — by that point I am mostly a sounding board, which is the right end state.
When this is not the right fit
If you need someone in the building every day, you need an employee, and I will tell you that on the first call. If your books are genuinely broken — not messy, broken — that is a cleanup project first, and I would rather scope it honestly than bill a retainer against a foundation that cannot hold it.