Many CPA firms are expanding their services to include bookkeeping, accounting, advisory support, and access to a fractional CFO. Bundling these services can sound convenient, but business owners should understand exactly what they are receiving.
In many bundled models, the company’s day-to-day financial work is handled by bookkeepers or accountants, while a senior-level “CFO” participates for only an hour or two each month. That may be enough to review financial statements, discuss recent results, or answer a few questions. It is generally not enough to serve as a true strategic financial partner.
A fractional CFO should do much more than review the numbers after the month has ended. The right CFO helps leadership understand what the numbers mean, identify risks and opportunities, anticipate cash needs, evaluate important decisions, improve profitability, and build the financial infrastructure needed to support growth.
To do that effectively, the CFO needs to be actively engaged in the business.
Access Is Not the Same as Engagement
A company may technically have “access to a CFO,” but limited monthly access does not necessarily provide meaningful CFO leadership.
An effective fractional CFO should have enough involvement to understand:
- How the company makes money
- What drives profitability and cash flow
- Where operational challenges are affecting financial performance
- Which decisions are keeping the owner or leadership team up at night
- What opportunities the company is considering
- What information leadership needs to make better decisions
- Where the business is headed over the next one, three, and five years
That level of understanding is difficult to develop during a brief monthly call.
At Rankin McKenzie, our CFO Partners are typically engaged with clients every week. Depending on the company’s needs, that may mean working with the leadership team one to three days per week. They participate in leadership discussions, build relationships across the organization, and become part of the team responsible for moving the business forward.
Private-Company Operating Experience Matters
CPA firms play a critical role in tax planning, compliance, audits, and other specialized accounting matters. We work closely with CPA firms and view them as important partners to our clients.
However, the experience required to advise a business from the outside is different from the experience required to help operate one from the inside.
Some professionals providing fractional CFO services through CPA firms have spent most or all of their careers in public accounting. They may have strong technical accounting knowledge, but may not have held an operating role inside a privately owned company.
A seasoned fractional CFO should understand the daily realities facing a CEO and leadership team, including:
- Managing cash flow while investing in growth
- Improving margins without disrupting the business
- Building and managing a budget
- Holding leaders accountable for financial results
- Evaluating pricing, hiring, and capital investments
- Strengthening systems, processes, and internal controls
- Working through acquisitions, fundraising, or ownership transitions
- Preparing the company for a future sale
- Translating financial information into practical business decisions
These challenges require more than technical accounting expertise. They require judgment developed through real-world operating experience.
Rankin McKenzie’s CFO and Controller Partners each bring at least 15 years of experience, including meaningful leadership experience within private industry. They have sat in the CFO seat, worked alongside owners and management teams, and navigated many of the same challenges our clients face.
Ask What You Are Really Getting
Before selecting a fractional CFO provider, business owners should ask:
- How much time will the CFO personally spend with our company?
- Will the CFO participate in leadership meetings?
- Has this person served in a financial leadership role inside private industry?
- Who will perform the work after the initial assessment?
- Will we have consistent access to the same CFO?
- How will the CFO learn our business, people, and goals?
- Will the CFO help implement recommendations or simply provide advice?
- Does the provider have someone whose experience and leadership style fit our organization?
The issue is not whether a CPA firm or fractional CFO firm is universally better. The real question is whether the company needs occasional financial guidance or an experienced financial leader who will become part of the business.
The Right Professionals in the Right Roles
For many privately owned companies, the best solution is not choosing between a CPA firm and a fractional CFO. It is having both.
The CPA firm provides valuable tax, audit, and compliance expertise. The fractional CFO serves as the company’s internal financial leader, working with management throughout the year and acting as the liaison with the outside CPA firm.
At Rankin McKenzie, we often describe this as a healthy separation between the company’s internal financial leadership and its external accounting advisors. Each professional brings a different perspective, and together they provide the owner with stronger support.
A true fractional CFO should not feel like someone the company speaks with for an hour at the end of each month. The CFO should know the business, understand the people behind it, and have a seat at the table when important decisions are being made.
Not sure whether your current arrangement gives you a financial leader or a monthly reviewer? Schedule a consultation with Rankin McKenzie to talk through the level of engagement your business actually needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
My CPA firm already offers fractional CFO services. Is that the same thing?
Not necessarily. Many CPA firms have expanded into advisory work, and what sits behind the label varies widely from firm to firm. The questions that settle it are how much time the CFO personally spends with your company, whether they sit in leadership meetings, and whether they have held a financial leadership role inside a privately owned business. An arrangement that provides an hour or two a month is a review relationship. A fractional CFO engagement is a leadership relationship. Both can be worth having, but one does not substitute for the other.
How much time should a fractional CFO spend with our business?
It depends on your size, your complexity, and what is happening in the business, but meaningful engagement is usually measured in days per week rather than hours per month. Rankin McKenzie’s CFO Partners are typically engaged with clients every week, often one to three days per week depending on need. That level of presence is what allows a CFO to understand how the company makes money, where cash is going, and which decisions need attention before they turn into problems.
Do we have to leave our CPA firm to bring in a fractional CFO?
No. The two roles are complementary, and most companies are better served by having both. Your CPA firm handles tax planning, compliance, audit, and specialized accounting matters. The fractional CFO serves as your internal financial leader throughout the year and acts as the liaison to the CPA firm. Many clients keep their existing CPA relationship and find it works better once someone inside the business is preparing for those conversations.
What should we ask before choosing a fractional CFO provider?
Ask how much time the CFO will personally spend with your company, whether they will attend leadership meetings, and whether they have served in a financial leadership role inside private industry. Ask who performs the work after the initial assessment, whether you will have consistent access to the same person, and how the CFO will learn your business and your people. Ask whether they will help implement recommendations or only advise. The answers separate providers quickly.
What is the difference between a fractional CFO and a fractional controller?
A fractional controller owns the accuracy and rhythm of the accounting function: the close, the reporting, and the controls that keep the numbers trustworthy. A CFO works forward from those numbers on cash planning, margin, capital decisions, and financial strategy. Companies often need both. The right starting point depends on whether your immediate problem is that the numbers are not reliable, or that the numbers are reliable and no one is using them to make decisions.
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed and edited by Beth Mullaney, Managing Partner, Business Development. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, investment, or legal advice.
