Fractional CFO Services
A fractional CFO is an experienced financial executive who provides high-level services in areas like financial planning, budgeting, cash flow forecasting, and risk management. They’re typically outsourced part-time or contractually, giving you the opportunity to leverage their expertise on a more cost effective and flexible basis, instead of committing to a full-time hire.
A fractional CFO is particularly beneficial for small to mid-sized companies that may not have the resources to hire someone full-time but still need financial management support. They can provide insights that will help improve decision-making and navigate complex financial landscapes, enabling you to grow efficiently and effectively.
What They Can Do for Your Business:
- Develop financial strategies aligned with your business goals.
- Explain the story behind the numbers to identify strengths and weaknesses in the current performance of the business
- Deliver actionable insights for better decision-making.
- Ensure your finances remain audit-ready and well-balanced for bank financing or sale as the opportunities arise.
Why Fractional CFO Services Are Essential for Small Business Success
Fractional CFO services can help solve some of your biggest financial challenges. Fractional CFO services are essential for:
- Expert Oversight: Gain strategic financial management tailored to your business.
- Cost-Effective: Access top-tier financial expertise without the expense of a full-time CFO or accounting team.
- Profitability Optimization: Have insight into the pockets of profitability of your business and learn how to boost it across your organization.
- Improved Cash Flow Management: With precise records and cash flow analytics, you stay in control, minimizing risks and maximizing profits.
Relieve your financial stress while positioning your business for success.
Strategic Insight Fractional CFO Meetings
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Review the story behind your business' numbers
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Prior period performance and trends over time
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Customized key performance indicator development
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Discuss financial goals and action items needed to attain them
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Focused on generating insights from financial information for actionable advice to grow your business
Fractional CFO Unleashed
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Serve as your unbiased guide and advocate in your interactions with your advisors including: investment manager, lawyer, insurance agent, banker, etc.
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Act as the glue to ensure your advisors are acting in unison to help you reach your goal
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Add strategic financial expertise as we join your conversations and meetings with your advisors
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is a Fractional CFO?
What Does “Fractional CFO” Mean?
A fractional CFO is an experienced financial leader who provides strategy, forecasting, and financial structure on a part-time basis. Instead of hiring a full-time executive, small businesses gain access to the same level of financial expertise: budgeting, cash-flow insight, profitability planning, and decision support – only when they need it.
What Is a Fractional CFO & Why Should You Hire One?
As your business grows, the financial questions go beyond bookkeeping or tax prep. A fractional CFO helps you understand the story behind your numbers, build a plan for sustainable growth, improve cash flow, and guide major decisions like pricing, hiring, expansion, or fundraising. It’s strategic financial leadership sized and priced for small businesses.
What Does a Fractional CFO Do?
What Does a Fractional CFO Do?
A fractional CFO steps in as your strategic financial leader, analyzing performance, building forecasts, developing budgets, and strengthening the way your business understands and uses its numbers. They manage cash flow, create financial reports, assess risk, and help shape long-term plans that support stability and growth. When needed, they can also handle investor and bank relations, prepare financial projections, and coordinate key advisors to keep your financial strategy aligned and moving forward.
Fractional CFO Benefits
Benefits of Hiring a Fractional CFO
A fractional CFO gives small businesses access to high-level financial leadership without the cost of a full-time executive. They bring seasoned expertise in forecasting, reporting, budgeting, and financial strategy—helping you improve margins, strengthen cash flow, and make smarter long-term decisions. You gain C-suite guidance that matches your stage of growth.
For many growing businesses, fractional support delivers more value than it costs. Better systems, clearer reporting, fewer financial surprises, and stronger planning often lead to higher profitability and more confident decision-making. When your business is navigating growth, transitions, or financial complexity, the strategic clarity from part-time CFO leadership can be a high-ROI investment.
How a Fractional CFO Helps Save Money
Hidden waste, inefficient processes, vendor pricing issues, and cash-flow gaps can quietly erode profitability. A fractional CFO identifies where money is leaking, strengthens financial discipline, negotiates better terms, and builds forecasts and budgets that keep spending aligned with goals. They help owners operate with precision—unlocking savings that can be reinvested into growth.
How Much Does a Fractional CFO Cost?
How Much Does a Fractional CFO Cost?
For most small businesses, hiring a full-time CFO (often $200K+ with benefits) isn’t realistic—so fractional support becomes the practical alternative. Pricing varies by experience, scope, and engagement model, but the range is wide: many firms charge $3,000–$15,000 per month, especially when fundraising support, advanced modeling, or complex strategy work is involved.
The Thryve Group takes a different approach. Our fractional CFO service uses a defined monthly scope built specifically for small businesses, typically $500–$1,000 per month, giving owners strategic financial clarity without enterprise-level pricing.
If your business needs stronger cash flow management, financial structure, or growth planning—but not a full-time CFO—fractional support is a cost-effective way to get high-level financial leadership at the right stage and the right price.
How to Choose the Right Fractional CFO
Finding the Perfect CFO for Your Small Business
The right fractional CFO blends strategic thinking with practical execution. Look for someone who can interpret financial data, build forecasts and plans, communicate clearly, and bring industry awareness to the table. Strong candidates offer proactive insight, ask hard questions, spot risks early, and collaborate well with your team and advisors. You want a partner who understands your goals and can translate numbers into direction you can act on.
Why the CFO Is the Guardian of the Big Picture
A great CFO connects everyday activity to long-term financial health. While you manage operations, they monitor cash flow, profitability, and capital needs—ensuring your decisions align with the future you’re building. Their objective, data-driven perspective helps you scale intentionally, avoid blind spots, and stay focused on sustainable growth rather than reactive moves.
Tax Strategy & Accounting Methods
The accounting method you choose shapes how you view cash flow, measure performance, and plan for growth. Cash accounting tracks money when it moves, offering simplicity and real-time clarity. Accrual accounting recognizes revenue and expenses when they occur, giving a truer picture of profitability and long-term obligations. A fractional CFO helps you compare both approaches, select the method that supports your business model and growth plans, and understand when it’s time to transition—or when using different methods for books vs. taxes might be strategic.
Key Tax Changes Small Businesses Must Know
Tax rules shift often, and the latest legislation brings major updates affecting payroll, deductions, depreciation, R&D costs, and reporting thresholds. A fractional CFO partners with your CPA to identify which provisions apply to you, plan ahead for credits and deductions, and time income or expenses to strengthen your tax position. This proactive approach protects cash flow, reduces surprises, and helps small businesses take advantage of opportunities instead of reacting during tax season.