Exit Planning Isn’t a Moment. It’s a Process.
Strong exits aren’t created during a sale process. They’re built over years through consistent financial discipline, clear reporting, and a business that doesn’t rely on the owner to function.
Our Fractional CFO Exit Planning service integrates directly into our core CFO work. It’s designed to help you prepare early, reduce buyer risk, and support a clean, defensible valuation when the time comes.
See the companies we’ve served.
Fractional CFO Exit Planning
Built for Owners Planning Ahead
Exit planning works best when it’s integrated early—inside the financial systems you already rely on. This service is designed for owners who want to prepare deliberately, not react under pressure.
Who this service is built for
This service is designed for owners of established service businesses—agencies, consultancies, and B2B professional services—who expect to sell in the next two to five years.
Most clients come to us with strong revenue but owner-driven operations, inconsistent reporting, or unclear earnings. We work exclusively with existing U.S. C-corps and partner with owners who want an engaged, long-term CFO relationship—not last-minute exit cleanup.
What exit planning looks like inside the CFO service
Exit readiness is not a separate project—it’s built into how we run your financial function.
We help you move from owner-discretionary reporting toward institutional EBITDA, improve the quality and consistency of your financials, and develop a clear, buyer-friendly growth narrative supported by real numbers. Over time, this creates the proof buyers expect: repeatable revenue, predictable margins, and a business that can operate without key-person risk.
“Bennett Financials has been a huge part of Eden Data’s growth. We started in early 2021 with no revenue, and with Aaron acting as our CFO, we scaled to about $300K MRR. He’s helped with taxes, forecasting, and countless decisions that put us on the map. It doesn’t feel like ‘fractional’—it feels like having a true finance leader on the team.”
Taylor Hersom
Eden Data, Chairman
Fractional CFO Exit Planning
Preparing for Buyers Without Crossing Lines
Buyers reward clarity and penalize uncertainty. Our role is to reduce friction before diligence begins—while staying firmly in a strategic, non-transactional role.
Why buyers discount businesses
Buyers rarely lower price because of growth potential. They lower price because of uncertainty.
Inconsistent financials, unclear add-backs, owner-dependent delivery, and weak reporting all create friction during diligence. We identify and remove these risks well before a broker is involved, so your business enters a sale process prepared—not exposed.
How we prepare you for diligence
We begin with a value gap assessment to understand where your business stands today and what may be limiting its marketability. This includes reviewing your earnings structure, reporting quality, and operational dependency.
From there, we build a clear exit readiness roadmap—prioritized, practical, and aligned with how buyers evaluate service businesses. Execution happens through a monthly CFO cadence that produces consistent reporting, forecasting, and documentation over time, making your financial story easy to understand and easy to trust.
Ready to Maximize the Value of Your Business for Sale?
Stop hoping for a good exit—start engineering one.
Your eventual sale is the single most important financial event of your career. Don’t leave your legacy to chance. Our specialized Fractional CFO Exit Planning Services ensures every dollar of profit is visible, repeatable, and ready to demand the highest possible multiple.
Begin your valuation assessment today.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does CFO Exit Planning cost?
The investment for this strategic service is covered by our Strategic Finance Retainer, which is $4,999/m. The cost is always justified by the expected multiple uplift at the time of sale.
What multiple increase is realistic for my type of firm?
While every firm is different, cleaning up the P&L (QoE) and proving owner independence typically moves a service business from a 2–3x SDE multiple to a 4–6x institutional EBITDA multiple. We assess your realistic potential in the initial Value Gap Assessment.
When should I bring in a broker?
You should bring in a broker only after you have completed the Value Creation Roadmap (Phase 2), or roughly 12–18 months before you intend to go to market. Bringing in a broker too early while your financials are messy signals desperation and can lead to a lower offer. We ensure you are ready before the introduction.
What is Quality of Earnings (QoE) and why is it so important?
QoE is a forensic analysis conducted by the buyer’s team to verify the true, sustainable profitability (EBITDA) of your business. Buyers use it to adjust the final price. Our service prepares your books for this process years in advance, minimizing adjustments and protecting your valuation.
How does this service differ from a standard business valuation?
A standard valuation is a snapshot of current value. Our service is a Value Creation Roadmap. We assess the gap between your current value and your target value, and then implement the specific monthly CFO disciplines required to close that gap over 2-5 years.
How does tax planning fit into the exit process?
Tax planning is crucial to maximizing your net proceeds. We ensure that the entity structure of the sale itself is tax-efficient, and we advise on how to manage the proceeds post-sale to minimize your capital gains and income tax liability.
Case Studies
“He’s more than just a CFO—he brings creative ideas, deep experience, and valuable insights from different industries that have transformed our business.”
Daniel Passarelli
Co-Founder, RHFL