Services / Fractional CFO
Fractional CFO services
A fractional CFO gives you senior financial leadership — forecasting, budgeting, board reporting, fundraising support — for 4 to 30 hours a month, at $3,000–$15,000/month instead of the $350K+ a full-time CFO costs. Focused.Financial matches you with a vetted CFO from your industry, typically within one to two weeks.
What your fractional CFO owns
- Cash-flow forecasting — a 13-week cash model, updated on a rhythm, so runway is never a surprise
- Budgeting & FP&A — an annual operating plan with monthly budget-vs-actual reviews that actually change decisions
- KPI dashboards & management reporting — the five numbers that run your business, on one page, every month
- Board & investor reporting — decks and financial packages that hold up to partner-meeting scrutiny
- Fundraising support — the model, the data room, and a finance leader in the room during diligence
- Pricing & unit economics — margin analysis that finds where you're leaking money and what to charge instead
Who hires a fractional CFO
You're raising a round
Investors will stress-test your model and your numbers. A fractional CFO builds the model, defends it in diligence, and makes sure the story the deck tells matches the story the books tell.
You're at $2M–$20M and flying blind on margins
Revenue grew, complexity grew faster, and nobody can answer "which customers are we actually making money on?" This is the classic fractional-CFO trigger — real financial leadership need, no full-time-CFO workload.
You're PE-backed or preparing to transact
New reporting cadence, lender covenants, add-on diligence. A fractional CFO installs the discipline without the executive-comp package.
Engagement tiers
| Tier | Hours | Monthly | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advisory | 4 – 8 hrs/mo | $3,000 – $5,000/mo | Monthly financial review, KPI check-ins, sounding board for major decisions |
| Standard | 8 – 15 hrs/mo | $5,000 – $9,000/mo | Owned forecast and budget, monthly reporting package, leadership meetings |
| Embedded | 15 – 30 hrs/mo | $9,000 – $15,000/mo | Fundraising, board management, weekly cash discipline, team oversight |
Typical 2026 market ranges. Your exact quote depends on scope, seniority, and industry — we confirm pricing in your intro call, before any commitment. Last verified: August 2026.
The math vs. a full-time CFO
| Fractional CFO | Full-time CFO | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost | $60K – $180K/yr | $350K – $450K/yr ($200 – 300K base + equity, benefits, and recruiting fees) |
| Time to start | 1–2 weeks | 3–6 month executive search |
| Commitment | Month-to-month after 90 days | Severance, equity, recruiting fees |
| Breadth | Pattern-matching across many companies | Full-time depth in yours |
Honest caveat: past roughly $30M revenue, or when finance needs a daily executive presence, a full-time CFO wins. Many clients use a fractional CFO as the bridge — and we help run the full-time search when they get there.
How we vet CFOs
Every CFO on our bench has held senior finance leadership roles — CFO, VP Finance, or equivalent — and passes credential verification, a live case interview built on a real company's financials, and reference checks with former CEOs or boards. Read the full pipeline on our vetting process.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a fractional CFO cost?
Most engagements run $3,000–$15,000 per month depending on hours and scope, or $250–$500 per hour. That compares to $350K–$450K per year fully loaded for a full-time CFO. Exact pricing is confirmed in your intro call — see our pricing page for all ranges.
What’s the difference between a fractional CFO and an interim CFO?
A fractional CFO works part-time on an ongoing basis — usually 4–30 hours a month, indefinitely. An interim CFO works full-time for a defined gap, typically covering a departure or a transaction. We place both; most growing businesses need fractional.
How is this different from an outsourced CFO firm?
With a CFO-services firm you buy the firm — work is spread across a team you don't choose. With Focused.Financial you get a specific person: you meet them before you commit, they learn your business, and they're yours for the duration of the engagement.
How quickly can a CFO start?
Typically one to two weeks from intro call to first working session. We match from a pre-vetted bench, so there is no recruiting cycle.
Is there a minimum commitment?
Engagements are month-to-month after an initial 90-day term. We'd rather earn the renewal than lock you in — and every placement carries a replacement guarantee.
How does matching work?
We shortlist two to three CFOs whose industry background matches yours — a SaaS company gets a CFO who has owned ARR models and board decks, not a generalist. You interview them and choose; if neither fits, we go again at no cost.
Meet two or three vetted CFOs this week
One intro call. We'll scope what you need, quote it exactly, and shortlist CFOs from your industry — or tell you plainly if a controller is the better buy.
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