A Fractional CFO Is Only One Piece of the Puzzle

When I first started offering Fractional CFO services, I assumed the value was self-evident.

Strategic insight. Forecasting. Decision support. Helping founders make better decisions with better information.

All of that is still true. But a few months into building and operating a Fractional CFO firm, I have come to a humbling realization:

A Fractional CFO cannot be effective without accurate bookkeeping and a forecast the business can truly rely on.

That realization did not come from theory. It came from working inside real businesses, with real constraints, and seeing where even good CFO work starts to break down.

Strategy Depends on Trustworthy Data

The CFO role assumes something important already exists: a solid financial foundation.

In practice, that foundation is often missing.

Many growing companies technically “have books,” but the data underneath is unstable. Accruals are inconsistent. Margins fluctuate without clear drivers. Forecasts exist, but no one is fully confident in them.

When that happens, strategic conversations become fragile.

You can discuss hiring plans, capital allocation, or runway, but every decision rests on numbers that feel approximate rather than dependable. Over time, I have learned that strategy does not fail because founders lack vision. It fails because the inputs cannot support the decisions being made.

In other words, a CFO is only as effective as the data beneath them.

The Unrealistic Expectation of One Perfect Hire

That insight led to another realization.

Most companies implicitly look for a single person who can:

• Clean up and maintain accurate books

• Build and maintain a robust financial model

• Operate as a strategic CFO to founders and boards

Those are three distinct skill sets. They require different strengths, different training, and different ways of thinking.

It is possible to find someone who can do all three, but it is rare. And when it does happen, that person is usually already overextended or extremely expensive.

Expecting one individual to excel across accounting execution, FP&A modeling, and executive-level strategy is not how strong finance functions are actually built.

Finance Is a Function, Not a Title

What has become increasingly clear to me is that finance works best when it is viewed as a function, not a role.

In a mature organization, that function typically includes:

• Accurate bookkeeping and disciplined close processes

• FP&A, forecasting, and financial modeling

• Strategic financial leadership

  
  

When fully built out with full-time hires, this often means a Controller, an FP&A lead or analyst, and a CFO. All in, the cost can easily approach $600K per year or more once compensation, benefits, and overhead are included.

For many growing companies, that investment does not make sense yet. But the need for those capabilities still exists.

Why Part-Time Functions Work

This is where part-time finance functions become powerful.

Instead of forcing one hire to do everything, companies can access the full spectrum of finance capabilities at the right level:

• Bookkeeping that is accurate and well-maintained

• Models and forecasts that reflect how the business actually operates

• Strategic guidance grounded in numbers that can be trusted

The work is still done. The standards are still high. But the structure is flexible.

When those pieces are coordinated properly, something important happens. Finance stops being reactive. Forecasts become tools rather than guesses. Conversations shift from “What happened?” to “What should we do next?”

A Personal Reflection

Running a Fractional CFO firm has been clarifying in ways I did not fully anticipate.

I have realized that I cannot do this job alone. Not because the strategy is difficult, but because strategy without execution and data integrity is incomplete.

The real leverage comes from alignment: clean data feeding reliable forecasts, which in turn support thoughtful decision-making.

When that alignment exists, finance becomes a true partner to the business rather than a reporting function.

The Bigger Takeaway

If there is one lesson I would leave founders with, it is this:

Do not think in terms of hiring a CFO.

Think in terms of building a finance function.

Whether full-time or part-time, the objective is the same:

• Numbers you can trust

• A forecast you can rely on

• Decisions grounded in reality

Everything else flows from there.