Guide
Guides
Practical notes for hiring a fractional CFO.
Short, decision-focused guides for people choosing finance leadership. They are not provider rankings and do not replace professional advice.
Guide
SaaS service credits: from SLA claim to invoice application
Track SLA eligibility, evidence deadlines, submitted claims, awarded credits and invoice application without treating a support incident or unused credit as cash.Read guide →Guide
Interim CFO authority: separate reporting access from permission to commit
Define an interim CFO's authority by action, entity, amount, counterparty and expiry, then test it without making a live payment, borrowing or disclosure.Read guide →Guide
Two finance advisers disagree: define review and resolution
Resolve competing finance recommendations with a disagreement record, comparable assumptions and a named decision owner, without disguising unresolved judgement as consensus.Read guide →Guide
SaaS cancellations: notice date versus service-end date
Track requested, scheduled and effective SaaS cancellations separately, keeping active service, renewal forecasts, final invoices and cash collections on the correct dates.Read guide →Guide
Extend an interim CFO mandate without losing the finish line
Decide whether an interim CFO extension can clear its real dependency, then bound remaining outputs, capacity, cost, authority and a final review date.Read guide →Guide
A fixed CFO project fee still needs exclusions
Bound a fixed-price CFO project by entities, source periods, scenarios and review rounds, using an input and acceptance matrix before work starts.Read guide →Guide
SaaS co-termination: align renewal dates without distorting run rate
Model a short SaaS alignment period separately from full recurring charges, with a worked proration example and checks for credits, dates and collections.Read guide →Guide
A finance handover must transfer open decisions too
Use an open-decision log to preserve authority, offer expiry, supporting evidence and next actions when a CFO leaves, without implying approval or commitment.Read guide →Guide
CFO engagement expenses: approve extras without paying twice
Define included and reimbursable travel, software and specialist costs, then reconcile approvals to claims without duplicating the retainer or supplier invoice.Read guide →Guide
SaaS prepaid usage credits: purchased, consumed and remaining
Reconcile paid and promotional credit lots, expiry and usage deductions while keeping the billing wallet, product meter and cash receipts distinct.Read guide →Guide
Interim CFO reporting: record what management has confirmed
Use a claim-level confirmation register to distinguish management responses, supporting records and unresolved contradictions before releasing an interim CFO report.Read guide →Guide
Your proposed CFO is replaced: assess the substitute
Use a named-person continuity test to approve a replacement fractional CFO, preserve deadlines and expose gaps before the original lead leaves.Read guide →Guide
SaaS renewal concessions: compare scope, term and price
Compare a renewal discount, reduced service scope and a longer commitment using explicit delivery-cost and cash assumptions rather than headline contract value.Read guide →Guide
An exception register needs aging and closure evidence
Track first-open dates, reopened cases, superseded evidence and explicit closure tests so a shrinking finance exception list cannot hide unresolved exposure.Read guide →Guide
Comparing CFO fee increases on the same scope
Separate a fractional CFO rate increase from extra workload using a like-for-like retainer and variable-fee bridge, with a reproducible worked example.Read guide →Guide
SaaS reseller deals: reconcile the vendor's share
Build a reseller entitlement-to-cash worksheet that distinguishes customer billing, vendor wholesale amounts, channel deductions and bank receipts.Read guide →Guide
Taking over incomplete finance records: reconstruct without inventing history
Use an evidence register and supported, reconstructed and unresolved categories to rebuild a finance backlog without disguising missing records as certainty.Read guide →Guide
When a CFO project expands: write a change request
Separate defects from new CFO work with a change-request ledger covering deliverables, dependencies, displaced deadlines and explicit commercial approval.Read guide →Guide
SaaS implementation fees: test the delivery workload
Build an onboarding capacity and cash brief that separates signed SaaS implementation work, remaining hours, acceptance milestones and collected fees.Read guide →Guide
Interim CFO exit: can the permanent owner run the next cycle?
Use a witnessed next-cycle rehearsal to decide whether temporary CFO responsibilities can end, with pass evidence, retained exceptions and bounded residual support.Read guide →Guide
Interim CFO first week: triage deadlines before rebuilding reports
Give an interim CFO a first-week deadline queue, evidence and authority checks, and a practical escalation test before starting a reporting rebuild.Read guide →Guide
SaaS renewals: separate price, seats and expiring discounts
Use a reproducible renewal bridge to separate SaaS seat changes, list-price changes and discount expiry before calling a higher contract value growth.Read guide →Guide
Can this fractional CFO actually serve your company? A coverage check
Verify a CFO provider's delivery people, market coverage, specialist boundaries and working windows with an evidence matrix before making a shortlist.Read guide →Guide
Gift cards: reconcile cash received with balances still available to spend
Give your fractional CFO a gift-card balance roll-forward, paid-versus-promotional issue split and redemption cash sensitivity without double-counting receipts.Read guide →Guide
Customer credit notes: separate a lower invoice balance from a cash refund
Build an invoice-linked credit-note register with receivable adjustments, future credits and refund settlement states that do not count the same cash twice.Read guide →Guide
Duplicate supplier invoices: flag candidates without deleting legitimate bills
Ask your CFO for a duplicate-invoice candidate register, preserved supplier references, confirmed-payment checks and safe false-positive acceptance tests.Read guide →Guide
Landed cost: allocate freight before comparing product margins
Give your fractional CFO a receipt-level landed-cost bridge, a freight-allocation sensitivity and a late-invoice check before comparing SKU margins.Read guide →Guide
Unbilled services: reconcile recorded time before forecasting cash
Ask your fractional CFO to bridge recorded service hours to eligible billing, explain exclusions and distinguish unbilled work from invoices and collected cash.Read guide →Guide
Supplier bank-detail changes: verify the destination before releasing payment
Build a supplier bank-change control with an independent callback, documented verification, separate change and release ownership, and a safe rehearsal.Read guide →Guide
Supplier invoice matching: resolve price and delivery exceptions separately
Give your fractional CFO an invoice exception register that separates ordered, received and billed quantities, price changes and authorised payment decisions.Read guide →Guide
SaaS cloud commitments: test utilisation before calling a discount a saving
Ask your CFO and engineering owner to compare committed cloud spend, hourly utilisation, the same-workload alternative and actual payment dates.Read guide →Guide
Rental property reporting: bridge occupancy, rent due and collected cash
Build a property-level CFO brief with an occupancy cutoff, lease-to-rent schedule, current-period collection ratio and arrears roll-forward.Read guide →Guide
Sales mix and break-even: why the same revenue can produce a different result
Ask your fractional CFO for a weighted contribution model that tests product mix, break-even sales, capacity and cash separately.Read guide →Guide
Supplier early-payment discounts: compare the saving with the cash trough
Evaluate an agreed supplier discount using payment-date alternatives, a cash-floor test and verified eligibility rather than the discount percentage alone.Read guide →Guide
Ecommerce returns: separate stock movement from cash refunds
Build a return and refund register that tracks approved amounts, actual payments, remaining obligations and stock disposition without double-counting cash.Read guide →Guide
Slow-moving inventory: ask your CFO to compare clearance cash, not old cost
Turn an inventory ageing report into a clearance decision with stock checks, incremental cash scenarios and separate accounting questions.Read guide →Guide
Chargebacks in your cash forecast: track the debit before the outcome
Build a payment-dispute register that connects processor debits, response deadlines and cash scenarios without counting a possible recovery twice.Read guide →Guide
Failed SaaS payments: reconcile subscription status with collected cash
Ask your fractional CFO for an invoice-level failed-payment bridge, recovery calendar and cash sensitivity instead of treating active subscriptions as paid customers.Read guide →Guide
SaaS CAC payback: ask your CFO when a customer cohort pays for itself
Build a SaaS acquisition-cost and contribution schedule with cohort boundaries, churn tests and a separate cash view before increasing your growth budget.Read guide →Guide
Fundraising dilution: a scenario brief for your fractional CFO
Compare a simple priced equity round using share counts, founder ownership and net cash received, with explicit exclusions for options and convertible instruments.Read guide →Guide
Loan covenant headroom: give your fractional CFO a dated monitoring brief
Turn your loan agreement into a covenant register, definition bridge and reporting calendar, with a worked headroom sensitivity and explicit review boundaries.Read guide →Guide
SaaS retention cohorts: which customers explain the change?
Use a fixed customer cohort, a recurring-revenue bridge and denominator checks to ask your fractional CFO whether expansion is masking customer losses.Read guide →Guide
Compare fractional CFO candidates with a bounded work sample
Run a short, consistent CFO interview case with synthetic data, a practical scoring rubric and clear boundaries between evaluation and paid client work.Read guide →Guide
Usage-based SaaS forecasting: from consumption to collected cash
Build a contract-level usage forecast with included allowances, billable units, invoice timing and collection scenarios before committing SaaS delivery spending.Read guide →Guide
Group cash is not always available to the entity that needs it
Build an entity-level cash schedule that separates bank balances, local commitments, restrictions and proposed transfers before relying on group liquidity.Read guide →Guide
Missing operational data: scope the cleanup before buying CFO analysis
Turn missing costs, inconsistent IDs and incomplete records into a bounded data-cleanup brief with owners, acceptance checks and a decision-ready handover.Read guide →Guide
Choose your next fractional CFO project from a decision backlog
Prioritise CFO projects by real decision deadlines, missing evidence and dependencies. Use a small backlog to agree what starts, waits or leaves the scope.Read guide →Guide
Purchase commitments: see the spending before invoices arrive
Build a purchase commitments register that connects budget owners, open orders and invoices without counting the same spending twice.Read guide →Guide
A lender reporting pack: connect the borrowing request to the numbers
Prepare a lender conversation with a clear use-of-funds schedule, reconciled management information and a dated repayment scenario.Read guide →Guide
Financial forecast version control: know which numbers were approved
Use a forecast release register, controlled working copies and a restoration test to stop draft numbers replacing approved forecasts.Read guide →Guide
Unallocated costs: why profitable divisions can still produce a company loss
Reconcile division results to company profit, expose shared costs and test allocation changes without mistaking a reporting shift for an operating improvement.Read guide →Guide
Finance holiday cover: test the backup before the first missed deadline
Build a finance absence plan with named cover, tested access, approval boundaries and a practical rehearsal for payments, cash forecasts and reporting.Read guide →Guide
Bookings, invoices, revenue and cash: reconcile four different events
Follow one SaaS contract from booking to invoice, recognised revenue and collection, with a worked event table and checks that prevent double counting.Read guide →Guide
Financial model assumptions: build a register founders can challenge
Document each material financial-model assumption with evidence, an owner, a review date and a decision impact, including a worked conversion-rate example.Read guide →Guide
Seasonal cash flow: build a calendar around the lowest balance
Map pre-season payments, peak receipts and post-season obligations in a cash calendar, with a worked example showing a shortfall hidden by monthly totals.Read guide →Guide
Reviewing a fractional CFO retainer: what to keep, change or stop
Review a CFO retainer against delivery evidence, dependencies and current needs, using a service-review scorecard and a written scope-reset checklist.Read guide →Guide
Finance report automation: acceptance tests before you trust the dashboard
Test an automated finance report for missing records, duplicates, stale data and failed refreshes, with a reconciliation example and a practical release gate.Read guide →Guide
Supplier concentration risk: model the cash cost of a delayed delivery
Map critical supplier dependencies and compare a delivery disruption with a replacement order, including payment overlaps, delayed receipts and cash shortfalls.Read guide →Guide
Conflicts of interest: what to ask before hiring a fractional CFO
Ask a fractional CFO about referral payments, competing roles and self-review, then document the scope, safeguards and decisions that need another reviewer.Read guide →Guide
Foreign-currency cash exposure: test the rate and the payment date
Build a currency-by-currency cash schedule, calculate exchange-rate sensitivity and expose payment gaps that a net monthly balance can hide.Read guide →Guide
A monthly finance meeting agenda that ends with recorded decisions
Use a 45-minute finance meeting agenda, a decision register and clear follow-up rules to turn your CFO's monthly report into accountable action.Read guide →Guide
Sales pipeline in a cash forecast: separate evidence from probability
Classify signed and unsigned deals, bridge expected sales to dated receipts and test why a weighted pipeline total can hide a near-term cash shortfall.Read guide →Guide
Before approving a discount: calculate the sales needed to recover it
Test a proposed discount with contribution per unit, required sales uplift, campaign costs and a capacity limit before approving the offer.Read guide →Guide
Audit preparation: what a fractional CFO can organise, and what remains with the auditor
Give audit preparation clear boundaries: a request tracker, reconciled schedules, management approvals and version control without promising an audit opinion.Read guide →Guide
Customer deposits: test the cash needed to finish or cancel the order
Build an order-level cash schedule for customer deposits, remaining delivery costs and refunds. Test the lowest cash balance before spending the advance.Read guide →Guide
Multichannel sales reconciliation: connect orders, settlements and bank receipts
Reconcile marketplace and direct-store activity without double-counting orders. Use a settlement bridge, payout IDs and a worked two-channel example.Read guide →Guide
When finance systems disagree: choose the source for each question
Create a finance source map and exception log that distinguish definitions, timing and actual errors, with a worked bank-to-ledger reconciliation.Read guide →Guide
The first management report after an acquisition: scope before totals
Build the first post-acquisition management report with an agreed cutoff, account mapping, intercompany checks and clearly labelled comparative figures.Read guide →Guide
Repair or replace equipment: a cash decision model for your CFO
Compare equipment repair and replacement using future cash costs, downtime and a common decision horizon, with a worked example and an evidence checklist.Read guide →Guide
Cash forecast accuracy: explain the variance without rewriting history
Review a cash forecast against actual bank movements using a frozen baseline, a signed variance bridge and timing checks. Includes a worked weekly example.Read guide →Guide
How much fractional CFO availability does your reporting calendar need?
Translate reporting deadlines into named CFO work windows, preparation dependencies and review capacity. Use a calendar test before agreeing a retainer.Read guide →Guide
Milestone billing: connect delivery, acceptance, invoices and cash
Build a milestone billing register that separates delivery from invoice readiness and cash collection, with a worked example of an acceptance delay.Read guide →Guide
What should a paid finance diagnostic actually deliver?
Use an evidence-based acceptance checklist for a CFO diagnostic: scope, findings, limitations, priorities and a usable handover before buying further work.Read guide →Guide
Build a finance KPI dictionary before automating reports
Define each finance KPI's formula, scope, source, owner and version, then test edge cases so different teams can reproduce the same result.Read guide →Guide
Inventory reorder decisions: check stock availability and cash together
Use a reorder decision sheet to separate available stock, existing supplier commitments and optional purchases, with a worked cash-timing example.Read guide →Guide
Adjusted profit in management reports: keep a clear reconciliation
Build an adjustment register that connects a management profit measure to the underlying accounts, with a worked bridge and checks for inconsistent exclusions.Read guide →Guide
Accounting system migration: test opening balances before going live
Use an opening-balance acceptance checklist, a customer-ledger test and a cutover log to check a finance system migration beyond the trial balance total.Read guide →Guide
Scenario planning triggers: turn a downside forecast into action
Build a trigger register linking forecast risks to evidence, decision deadlines and authorised actions, with a worked cash-planning example.Read guide →Guide
Professional-services retainer margins: spot scope drift before renewal
Review recurring service margins with a monthly scope ledger, a delivery-cost bridge and a rollover check before repricing a retainer.Read guide →Guide
An outsourced finance responsibility matrix: prepare, review, approve
Assign outsourced finance deliverables to named preparers, reviewers and authorised approvers, with example rows and evidence of completion.Read guide →Guide
Annual SaaS prepayments: cash now, delivery later
Test an annual SaaS payment offer with a customer-cohort cash schedule, discount comparison and renewal downside before committing the cash.Read guide →Guide
Wholesale credit terms: model a change before offering it
Compare 30-day and 60-day wholesale payment terms using a dated receipts schedule, a working-capital sensitivity and explicit approval conditions.Read guide →Guide
Can your team maintain the CFO's financial model? A handover test
Test a financial-model handover with an independent update, expected-result checks and a defect log before accepting ongoing ownership.Read guide →Guide
Why your monthly close slips: an ownership map
Trace a late monthly close to missing inputs, review bottlenecks and repeated corrections. Use a dependency map to scope practical CFO support.Read guide →Guide
A customer-concentration stress test before renewing a big contract
Model revenue exposure, avoidable costs and cash timing if a major customer reduces or ends its contract. Define the decisions before renewal.Read guide →Guide
A finance data-room index for due diligence
Organise financial due-diligence documents by request, period, version and approved audience. Give your CFO a clear preparation and release workflow.Read guide →Guide
How to compare fractional CFO proposals without comparing the wrong fees
Use a scope-normalised proposal scorecard to compare CFO retainers, staffing, exclusions and delivery evidence before choosing a provider.Read guide →Guide
Your fractional CFO's first 90 days: an acceptance plan
Define the first 90 days of a CFO engagement around reliable inputs, a decision-ready forecast and a repeatable management routine.Read guide →Guide
Fractional CFO project or retainer: choose by what must repeat
Decide whether to buy a fixed CFO project, recurring support or a staged engagement using ownership and update requirements.Read guide →Guide
Checking a fractional CFO's references: evidence beyond a job title
Use consent-based reference calls and anonymised work discussions to test relevant CFO experience, delivery and handover.Read guide →Guide
Giving a fractional CFO system access without sharing every password
Plan named accounts, read-only access, approval boundaries and offboarding before connecting an external CFO to finance systems.Read guide →Guide
A board reporting pack your fractional CFO can maintain
Specify a board pack around decisions, cash, forecast changes and accountable follow-up rather than a growing collection of charts.Read guide →Guide
Budget versus rolling forecast: what to ask your CFO to own
Separate spending approval from the latest forecast and use an assumptions log to keep business planning useful as conditions change.Read guide →Guide
Hiring a fractional CFO for an agency: project margin and capacity
Build an agency CFO brief around project economics, scope changes, staff capacity and the gap between delivery and collection.Read guide →Guide
Fractional CFO for manufacturing: test the economics of a new order
Scope manufacturing CFO work around material commitments, production capacity, order contribution and cash before accepting a large order.Read guide →Guide
Fractional CFO for restaurants: compare locations before expanding
Ask a restaurant CFO to separate site contribution, central costs and opening cash commitments when reviewing a new location.Read guide →Guide
Overdue invoices: what a fractional CFO should fix beyond reminders
Define a CFO collections project around invoice accuracy, disputes, ownership and forecast updates instead of chasing every customer alike.Read guide →Guide
Can you afford the next hires? A fractional CFO scenario brief
Connect hiring dates, ramp time, cash commitments and decision thresholds before approving a new team or headcount plan.Read guide →Guide
Hiring a cross-border fractional CFO: the Europe–US reporting brief
Define entity ownership, currencies, reporting cut-offs and adviser hand-offs for a business operating across Europe and the United States.Read guide →Guide
Moving from a fractional CFO to a full-time CFO without losing continuity
Use a responsibility inventory and overlap plan to decide what transfers when you hire an internal CFO and what support should remain.Read guide →Guide
Changing fractional CFO providers: a handover checklist
Protect reporting continuity when switching CFO providers with an output inventory, open-issues register and access handover.Read guide →Guide
Fractional CFO vs accountant vs controller: which do you need?
Separate accounting, financial control and CFO work before hiring. Use three business scenarios and a responsibility checklist to define the role.Read guide →Guide
Hiring an ecommerce fractional CFO: a profitability brief
Define an ecommerce CFO project around product margins, returns, payment reconciliation and inventory commitments, with a worked contribution example.Read guide →Guide
Fractional CFO company or solo CFO: how to compare the work
Compare a fractional CFO firm with an independent CFO on named delivery, capacity, cover, specialist support and handover—not the format alone.Read guide →Guide
13-week cash flow forecast: what to ask a fractional CFO to deliver
Scope a 13-week cash flow project: inputs, weekly updates, payment scenarios and questions to ask a fractional CFO before hiring.Read guide →Guide
Fractional CFO for SaaS: what should your monthly reporting include?
A hiring brief for SaaS finance: recurring revenue, retention, cash runway and a monthly reporting process that connects metrics to decisions.Read guide →Guide
Fractional CFO for fundraising: a finance readiness checklist
Define a fundraising CFO project with a reconciled financial model, clear assumptions, organised documents and ownership of investor questions.Read guide →Guide
How to hire a fractional CFO
A practical checklist for defining the work, comparing providers and starting a fractional CFO engagement.Read guide →Guide
Fractional CFO vs interim CFO
Understand the difference between a fractional CFO, an interim CFO and a finance director before you hire.Read guide →Guide
Questions to ask a fractional CFO
A straightforward set of questions to use before choosing a fractional CFO provider.Read guide →Guide
How much does a fractional CFO cost?
Understand the factors that shape fractional CFO pricing before you compare providers.Read guide →Guide