What does a fractional CFO and COO do for a small business?

A fractional CFO and COO gives an owner-operated business senior financial and operational judgment without a full-time executive salary. In practice that means someone who knows your numbers, sits in on the big decisions, and is available when an important question comes up, for businesses that have outgrown basic bookkeeping but don’t need a full-time CFO.

Will you work with my CPA, attorney and banker?

Yes. Running a business can involve a CPA, attorney, banker, insurance professional, payroll company, bookkeeper and other specialists. We help make sure the right people are involved, the financial side stays organized, and you understand how the pieces fit together, so you’re not the one relaying messages between them.

How do I know if I can afford to hire another employee?

Look at the numbers before hiring. We review what the role costs fully loaded, what it has to produce to pay for itself, and what it does to cash in the months before it does. Sometimes the answer will be yes. Sometimes there will be questions you haven’t considered. And sometimes the numbers may say it isn’t the right time.

Construction / commercial contracting

From a four-person crew to a multimillion-dollar operation

Provided financial and operational guidance that helped a growing construction company develop into a multimillion-dollar operation while managing the complexities of union payroll, prevailing wages, and project accounting.

dollar operation, from a four-person crew: Multimillion
payroll across multiple trades: Union
wage reporting built in: Prevailing

The situation

~25 years ago, we were referred to the owner of a four-person painting and drywall company. The work was mostly residential.

The owner wanted bigger jobs: commercial projects and retail build-outs. That move would transform the company. It would also make the back office far more complicated.

A retail storefront build-out under construction: metal stud walls, fresh drywall and blueprints open on a table

What we found

A four-person residential contractor can run on simple systems. A multi-million-dollar commercial contractor can’t.

The bigger jobs brought union labor, and with it different wage rates, benefit obligations and reporting for every union on site.

The systems built for small residential jobs were not going to survive at commercial scale.

What we did

We restructured QuickBooks® and the accounting system around multiple projects, larger contracts and job-level costs.

We built payroll processes that could handle each union’s wage and benefit rules. Labor was the biggest cost on every job, so getting payroll wrong meant not knowing whether a job made money.

We set up repeatable systems for the paperwork behind every project, from contracts and AIA billing to change orders and prevailing-wage reporting.

And we stayed alongside the owner through the whole transition.

Project contracts
AIA billing
Change orders
Prevailing-wage work
Union benefits
Payroll
Project expenses
Financial reporting
Job-related documentation

The outcome

A four-person residential crew grew into a multimillion-dollar commercial operation.

Through the whole transition, the owner had the financial and operational side handled while the company took on bigger work.

More case studies

E-commerce / direct-to-consumer

Multimillion

dollar operation, from an Instagram shop

From an Instagram shop to a multimillion-dollar operation

Helped an emerging e-commerce business navigate rapid growth, develop stronger financial controls, and expand into a multimillion-dollar operation.

Read the case study

Hospitality

Hands-on restaurant accounting and operational experience, helping owners understand the financial side of their businesses.