What fractional CFO services actually are
A fractional CFO is a senior finance leader you rent by the month. Same person who would run finance at a $50M company — just doing it across two or three smaller ones instead of one big one. You get the judgment without the W-2.
Most engagements run 10–30 hours a month on retainer. Scope is the strategic work: cash forecasting, capital structure, pricing, board reporting, exit and raise prep. Day-to-day bookkeeping stays where it is.
When the math actually works
You're a candidate when three things are true at once:
- Revenue between roughly $2M and $50M.
- Your bookkeeper or controller can close the books, but can't tell you what to do with them.
- You're sitting on a real decision — refinance, raise, acquisition, exit, big capex — and you don't have the seat at the table to think it through.
If you're under $2M, a great bookkeeper and a quarterly CPA review usually covers it. Over $50M with a complex capital stack, you probably need full-time. The fractional band is the messy middle, which is most SMBs.
See how your data matches our experts.
Sobo's diagnostic engine reads your actual P&L, workflows, and operations.
Get Your Free DiagnosisWhat it costs, in plain numbers
Retainers cluster in three bands. Pick by hours, not by title:
- Light ($3K–$5K/mo, 8–12 hrs): Monthly close review, cash forecast, one strategic call. Good for under $5M revenue or post-launch startups.
- Standard ($5K–$8K/mo, 15–25 hrs): Weekly cadence, full reporting build, debt and vendor work, board materials. Most SMB engagements live here.
- Embedded ($8K–$12K/mo, 30–40 hrs): Near-daily presence, leading finance team, running raise or sale process. Bridge to a future full-time hire.
For comparison, a full-time CFO at the same caliber lands at $250K–$400K all-in once you load benefits, equity, and bonus. See how the same math plays out for fractional HR — the structure rhymes.
vs. the alternatives you're already considering
| Metric | Sobo Fractional CFO | Full-Time CFO |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $5K–$10K retainer | $25K+ fully loaded full-time |
| Time to start | Days after diagnosis | 3–6 month search |
| Match basis | Your P&L, your bottleneck | Resume + recruiter pitch |
| Cash visibility | 13-week rolling forecast | Monthly close, 30 days late |
| Debt + tax review | Refinance + structure audit in Q1 | Touched at renewal or year-end |
| Exit / raise prep | Continuous diligence-ready posture | Scramble when the deal appears |
What a good one actually does in the first quarter
The work that pays for the engagement, in roughly this order:
- Cash forecast. 13-week rolling. You stop guessing whether payroll clears.
- Debt audit. Re-rate every facility. 1–2 points off interest expense is normal in this market.
- Tax structure. Entity, state nexus, owner comp. 8–15% is the typical surface area.
- Top-vendor renegotiation. Five contracts, three concessions. 5–10% out.
- Reporting that a board would accept. So when the raise or sale conversation starts, you're not building from zero.
How Sobo matches you to the right CFO
Most fractional firms send the next available person. We don't. The Sobo diagnostic engine reads your P&L, balance sheet, and operating data first, then names the actual bottleneck — cash, capital, pricing, M&A readiness, or reporting. We match a CFO who has resolved that exact bottleneck in your stage and industry.
Same logic we apply to fractional COO matches in manufacturing and across every other function. Diagnose first, then match.
The next step
Run the free diagnostic. It pulls your numbers, names the bottleneck, and shows whether a fractional CFO is actually the right move. If it isn't, we'll tell you. If it is, you have a matched CFO in 48–72 hours.
Want to see the ROI math on your own numbers first? Use the fractional expert ROI calculator.
What this looks like in two real engagements.
Financial Clarity Without a Full-Time CFO
Savant Engineering gained financial leadership through fractional CFO expertise, cutting reporting time from 45 to 10 days and transforming operations in 90 days.
Building a Business That Could Run Without the Owner
A family-owned petroleum distributor installed financial visibility, KPI reporting, and a leadership cadence. Days later the owner was hospitalized and the business kept growing.
