What Does a Fractional CFO Do?

Core responsibilities

• Cash flow forecasting (13-week and 12-month)
• Budget creation and variance reporting
• Pricing and unit economics analysis
• KPI dashboards and board reporting
• Fundraising prep (financial model, data room, investor calls)
• Banking relationships and credit facility negotiation
• M&A diligence — buy-side or sell-side

What a fractional CFO is NOT

A fractional CFO doesn't keep your books, file your taxes, or process payroll. They work above the bookkeeper and CPA, using the data those roles produce to make strategic recommendations.

When you need one

• Raising a seed, Series A, or growth round
• Crossing $1M ARR and feeling blind on cash
• Preparing for an exit or acquisition
• Multiple revenue streams or business units
• Investor or board reporting requirements
• Cash crunch or runway optimization needed

Typical engagement structure

Most fractional CFOs work on a monthly retainer of 10–40 hours, billed at $200–$500/hr or a flat $1,500–$8,000/mo. Some take equity instead of or alongside cash for early-stage startups.

Fractional CFO vs full-time CFO

A full-time CFO commands $250k–$500k base plus equity. Fractional CFOs cost a fraction of that and bring pattern recognition from working with multiple companies, but they have less context on your day-to-day operations. Most companies use fractional from $1M to $20M revenue, then hire full-time.

How to find a good one

• Look for industry-specific experience (SaaS, ecommerce, services, real estate)
• Ask for two recent client references
• Confirm they actually build the model — some delegate to junior staff
• Match their reporting cadence to your decision-making cycle
• Make sure they're comfortable in your stage (pre-revenue vs growth vs PE-backed)