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Fractional CTOExecutive Network

CFO

Executive mandate

Financial planning, fundraising readiness, cash discipline, and board-grade reporting.

Vetted Fractional CFO network

Fractional CFO services for decisions that move the business.

A fractional CFO provides recurring executive finance leadership when bookkeeping and historical reporting are no longer enough, but a permanent CFO seat would be premature. The mandate should connect cash, forecast quality, unit economics, funding choices, controls, and board decisions to an operating plan management can actually use.

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When to hire

Signals the CFO gap has become a business constraint.

  • Cash forecasts change unexpectedly or are not tied to operating decisions
  • Fundraising, debt, acquisition, or board scrutiny raises the evidence standard
  • Leaders disagree about unit economics, margins, hiring capacity, or runway
  • The controller or accounting team needs executive direction rather than more transaction processing

What they own

A defined mandate with visible decisions.

01

Forecasting

Scoped against current constraints, decision rights, and a measurable 90-day result.

02

Fundraising readiness

Scoped against current constraints, decision rights, and a measurable 90-day result.

03

Unit economics

Scoped against current constraints, decision rights, and a measurable 90-day result.

04

Board reporting

Scoped against current constraints, decision rights, and a measurable 90-day result.

Evidence to verify

Ask for decisions, context, and an observable change.

  • Forecasts used to make hiring, pricing, investment, or runway decisions
  • Fundraising, lender, board, or transaction materials personally led
  • Unit economics and management reporting rebuilt around the business model
  • Finance teams, controls, close processes, and operating accountability strengthened

A credible first 30 days

  1. 01

    Reconcile cash, forecast assumptions, revenue quality, obligations, and reporting

    The output is an owned decision or operating change—not a decorative strategy deck.

  2. 02

    Define the decision calendar for runway, hiring, pricing, board, and capital

    The output is an owned decision or operating change—not a decorative strategy deck.

  3. 03

    Prioritize control gaps and build a management model with named owners

    The output is an owned decision or operating change—not a decorative strategy deck.

Good fractional work

When the mandate is urgent, important, and not yet permanent.

  • You need senior CFO judgment now, before a permanent search can close.
  • The outcome is clear enough to score, but the long-term organization is still changing.
  • The leadership gap creates material delivery, risk, capital, or customer exposure.
  • A credible operator must both decide and leave the team stronger.

Direct hiring answers

Questions to settle before choosing a Fractional CFO.

How fractional executives workCompare the marketplace model

What does a fractional CFO do that an accountant does not?

Accounting records and reports financial activity. A CFO uses financial evidence to shape forward decisions about cash, capital, pricing, margins, risk, hiring, and company strategy while leading the finance operating model.

When should a startup hire a fractional CFO?

Common triggers include institutional fundraising, complex revenue, rapid hiring, tight runway, lender or board requirements, acquisitions, and a need for decision-grade forecasting beyond founder spreadsheets.

How should fractional CFO services be scoped?

Name the decisions, reporting cadence, model ownership, team responsibilities, transaction support, data dependencies, capacity, and handover. Separate executive finance leadership from bookkeeping, tax, audit, and legal work.

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See the shortlist logic before you commit.

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