Small businesses with big aspirations need strategic financial foresight into where their organization is heading and how they can get there, especially when they’ve outgrown their internal financial processes.
It’s something a chief financial officer (CFO) can help them with. Yet, we also know that hiring a full-time CFO comes with a steep price.
In the United States, CFOs receive an annual median pay of $313,000. That’s equivalent to $26,083 per month, which can be a huge blow to a small business’s cash flow.
So what do you do when you’re not yet ready to hire a full-time CFO but you need strategic financial guidance?
The answer: Getting a fractional CFO service.
To give you a quick background, fractional CFO services are high-level accounting solutions offered by professional services firms. It lets you work with an external CFO who can then provide your business with its much-needed financial oversight in interpreting financial data, optimizing cash flow, and structuring accounting processes.
If it piques your interest, let me share with you why it’s a feasible solution for small businesses. I’ll also give specific examples of how actual business owners benefited from this approach.
What’s in It for You? Benefits of Fractional CFO for Your Small Business
1. Get cost-effective access to CFO-level expertise
Working with a fractional CFO addresses the number one reason why most small businesses put off hiring a full-time CFO: cost.
Let’s get the numbers talking.
On average, a fractional CFO service costs around $3,000 to $5,000 per month, which is about 80 percent lower than the monthly salary of an in-house CFO. Aside from getting strategic guidance, fractional CFO services also come with complementary accounting solutions like month-end financial statement preparation, budget and variance analysis, and cash flow monitoring, among others.
Its value doesn’t end with the cost-saving you get. It’s only the start; something we can consider as the capital or the investment.
“There’s something incredibly valuable about knowing you have someone in your corner who gets it. Someone who not only understands finance at a deep level — but who can also bring clarity and calm when you’re navigating business complexity,” a CEO from a Miami-based company shares.
Initially, this client faced a challenging internal process that’s beyond accounting. But upon bringing in a fractional CFO who helped them “see the issue from a strategic angle”, they “were able to realign the process in a way that made real operational impact.”
2. Receive strategic redirection when you need it most
It’s easy to feel lost when you’re running a business, more so when you’re eyeing a new goal but you have no idea how to reach it.
When you’re at this point, a fractional CFO can give you more than direction. They can provide you with clarity and strategy.
“If you want to win long-term, you need a partner who knows how to pace you, guide you, and align every move with the bigger picture,” explains one of our clients who was able to scale, exit, and reinvest through the strategic guidance they received.
“That clarity alone was a total game-changer.”
A fractional CFO brings in an objective, outsider’s perspective to identify blind spots and realign your business toward profitable growth. Their lack of emotional ties to your business makes them the ideal strategists to weigh in on the financial viability of your strategies — and redirect you to the right path when needed.
3. Take advantage of flexible and scalable solutions
Fractional CFO services give you the freedom to adjust the level of engagement you get.
It’s because in essence, you’re availing the service of a third-party vendor. Their services are also mostly scalable. You can either dial up or down their involvement based on your current needs.
Another thing is you’re not tied to any employer-employee responsibility, which gives you the option to exit on your terms.
Ready to Transform Your Business Finances?
The benefits of fractional CFO for small businesses extend far beyond cost savings. It’s about building a financial foundation that supports sustainable growth, strategic decision-making, and long-term success.
That’s our goal at Bennett Financials. We help $1–$10M service businesses get strategic financial clarity through our fractional CFO services. See for yourself how our solutions work or read our case studies to find out what our clients say about the work we do.
Interested to keep things going? Take the first step toward financial clarity and strategic growth. Book your free consultation with our experts today.