Fractional CFO
Fractional CFO services for small businesses.
CFO-level judgment — cash-flow forecasting, budgeting, board and lender reporting, and financial leadership through raises, loans, and exits — without the cost of a full-time hire. Partner-led, CPA-reviewed, one fixed monthly fee.
Your partner replies within one business day. No per-question fees. Year-round — not just at tax time.
What a fractional CFO owns
A bookkeeper records what happened and an accountant closes and files it. A fractional CFO uses those numbers to steer what happens next — the forward-looking financial work most small businesses never staff for.
Cash flow & runway
A rolling 13-week cash forecast so you see shortfalls weeks ahead, time large outflows, and stop managing the business from the bank balance.
Budgets & FP&A
An annual budget and driver-based model built on your actuals, with monthly plan-vs-actual variance analysis and a clear read on unit economics.
Board & lender reporting
Board packs, investor updates, and bank/SBA-ready reporting packages that translate the numbers into decisions — not just statements.
Pricing & profitability
Gross-margin, pricing, and cost analysis to find where the business actually makes money and where it quietly leaks it.
M&A & exit readiness
Diligence preparation, data rooms, quality-of-earnings support, and clean books that hold up when a buyer, lender, or investor looks closely.
Systems & controls
Right-sized financial controls, approval workflows, and a finance stack that scales with you — without enterprise overhead you don't need.
When a small business needs a fractional CFO
- You're steering off the bank balance instead of a real cash forecast.
- Revenue is near or past ~$1M and the financial questions are getting harder than the books can answer.
- You're raising capital or taking on a loan and need board- and lender-ready numbers.
- An acquisition, sale, or exit is on the horizon and the books need to hold up under diligence.
- Your books are clean, but no one is turning them into a plan, a budget, or a pricing decision.
If you need CFO-level judgment but not a full-time executive, fractional is the right structure. Not sure yet? Read: do you actually need a fractional CFO?
How a Rubric fractional CFO engagement works
- 1
Intro call & scope
We start with a short call to understand the business, the decisions ahead, and what a CFO needs to own. You get a fixed-fee proposal scoped to your needs within 48 hours.
- 2
Onboarding & baseline
Your partner gets into the numbers — cleans up the reporting foundation, builds the forecast and budget, and establishes the baseline you'll steer from.
- 3
Monthly operating rhythm
Each month you get a close, a plan-vs-actual review, an updated cash forecast, and a working session on the decisions in front of you — with your partner reachable within one business day in between.
- 4
Strategic milestones
When a raise, loan, acquisition, or exit comes up, your CFO is already in the numbers and runs the financial workstream end to end — no ramp-up, no scramble.
Why a Rubric fractional CFO
Rubric is partner-led and CPA-reviewed. The same senior partner runs your engagement start to finish — and because we also run the bookkeeping, accounting, and tax under one roof, the CFO work is built on numbers we trust. One fixed monthly fee, fee-only, no commissions.
What you can count on
Three commitments, written down.
CPA-signed accuracy guarantee
If a Rubric-signed return triggers a math-error notice, we fix it and pay the penalty. CPA review on every filing.
One-business-day response
Your partner replies within one business day — and there's no per-question fee. Year-round access, not just tax season.
Fee-only, no kickbacks
We don't sell insurance, annuities, or investment products. Our only revenue is your monthly fee. No conflicts.
Fractional CFO — frequently asked questions
- What does a fractional CFO do?
- A fractional CFO owns the strategic finance function part-time: cash-flow forecasting, budgeting and FP&A, board and lender reporting, pricing and profitability analysis, and financial leadership through raises, loans, acquisitions, and exits. It is the senior financial judgment of a CFO without the cost of a full-time executive hire.
- How is a fractional CFO different from a bookkeeper or accountant?
- Bookkeeping and accounting tell you what already happened — accurate books, closed months, filed returns. A fractional CFO uses those numbers to drive what happens next: forecasting cash, setting budgets, pricing, and making the financial case to boards, banks, and buyers. At Rubric the same partner-led team can do both, so the CFO work is built on books we trust.
- When does a small business need a fractional CFO?
- Common triggers: you're making decisions off the bank balance instead of a forecast, approaching or past ~$1M in revenue, raising capital or taking on debt, planning an acquisition or exit, or your books are clean but no one is turning them into a plan. If you need CFO-level judgment but not 40 hours a week of it, fractional is the right fit.
- How much does a fractional CFO cost?
- It depends on scope and cadence. Market rates run roughly $200–$500/hour or a few thousand to $10,000+ per month depending on the engagement. Rubric works on a fixed monthly fee scoped to what you actually need — no hourly meter, no per-question fees. See our fractional CFO cost breakdown for how pricing works.
- Is the fractional CFO engagement remote?
- Yes. Rubric is headquartered in San Francisco at 2 Embarcadero Center and works with small businesses across the U.S., run remotely with periodic in-person meetings as needed.
- Who actually does the work?
- A partner. Rubric is partner-led — the same senior person runs your engagement start to finish, backed by CPA review. No rotating associates, no handoffs, no per-question billing.
Keep reading
Runway
How many months of operations the business can sustain at the current cash balance and net burn rate.
GuideWhen Does a Small Business Need a Fractional CFO?
Bookkeepers record. Accountants close and report. CPAs file. None of them help you make the next decision. That's what a CFO does.
GuideBuilding a 13-Week Cash Forecast
The single most useful financial tool for a small business. Not a budget, not a P&L — a weekly cash projection you actually use.
GuideBusiness Valuation Methods Explained
Three approaches — income, market, asset — and how appraisers reconcile them into a single defensible number.
Talk to a partner about fractional CFO support.
Tell us where the business is headed. You'll get a fixed-fee proposal scoped to what you need within 48 hours — one business day response to start.