The Essential First 90 Days Guide to Starting Fractional CFO Services
33% of CFO positions filled in 2022 were first-time CFOs. Fractional CFO services give businesses the financial expertise they need without the full-time expense. Rapid growth, cash flow challenges, or preparing for an acquisition – a fractional CFO provides the strategic guidance to address these critical business decisions.
Fractional CFO services deliver expert financial leadership on a part-time basis. These professionals typically charge between $150 to $500 per hour, with annual earnings ranging from $240,000 to $480,000. Finance touches every department in your organization. Fractional CFOs must quickly understand responsibilities across all business units. Many work with multiple companies simultaneously – from $5 million software developers to $30 million packaging technology firms.
The first 90 days determine your success with fractional CFO services. This period builds the foundation for sound financial management and establishes how effectively you deliver value to your clients.
We’ll walk you through each phase of your initial 90-day journey. You’ll get actionable steps to ensure maximum impact from day one.
Phase 1: Your Foundation Month (Days 1–30)
Your first month sets the stage for everything that follows. This critical period means understanding the business landscape, building relationships, and spotting urgent financial issues that need immediate attention.
Understand the fractional CFO role in context
What does a fractional CFO provides high-level financial guidance actually mean for your specific client? Unlike a full-time CFO, you deliver strategic financial leadership on a part-time or contract basis. Your responsibilities include managing budgets, forecasting, cash flow management, and strategic planning across departments to align with business objectives. Many fractional CFOs also handle financial reporting accuracy, ensure regulatory compliance, and streamline processes like month-end close and tax planning.
Clarify client expectations and scope of work
Stakeholder meetings reveal what the client needs most from your services. Research shows 66% of SMEs face financial challenges, with 43% struggling to manage operational expenses. Start by preparing an inventory of key stakeholders – the CEO, leadership team, and relevant external parties. Meet with these stakeholders to understand the company’s business challenges and opportunities. Some clients know exactly what they need. Others require your expertise to identify the real problems.
Review existing financials and business model
Examine all financial statements – balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow reports. Look for trends that show the company’s financial direction. Analyze key financial metrics including gross margin, net profit margin, and current ratio. Understanding how the operating model aligns with financial targets helps you develop the right strategies.
Identify immediate financial risks and gaps
Most companies’ financial problems fall into three categories: banking relationships, processes and procedures, and cash flow management. Create weekly reports showing cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and other short-term assets or liabilities. Spot cash flow gaps, high expenses, or inefficient processes that pose immediate risks. Document and prioritize findings about the finance department’s role and impact to address key business challenges.
Phase 2: Strategic Planning and Alignment (Days 31–60)
Days 31-60 shift your focus from assessment to strategic alignment. 60% of a fractional CFO’s time gets consumed by transactional tasks, leaving only 25% for strategic activities. Your challenge is to reverse this ratio and maximize your strategic impact.
Define short-term and long-term financial goals
SMART financial goals provide the foundation for your strategic work. Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound objectives give you clear targets. Short-term goals address immediate cash flow concerns. Long-term objectives align with the company’s growth vision.
We create detailed financial models to project revenue, expenses, and cash flow under various scenarios. This forecasting helps businesses anticipate challenges and opportunities. Growth planning becomes more precise when you have solid financial projections.
Align with CEO and leadership vision
The fractional CFO role extends beyond financial stewardship to strategic enablement. Regular strategy meetings with the leadership team help brainstorm and refine the company’s direction. CEOs and CFOs working together create a favorable company image that boosts investor confidence.
We translate financial insights into actionable recommendations that accelerate the company’s path to profitability. Your expertise guides leadership decisions that drive business growth.
Build relationships with internal teams
Position yourself as a trusted advisor, not just a “number cruncher”. Successful fractional CFOs integrate themselves into the client’s team, gaining deeper understanding of the business. This integration helps department heads align their financial goals with the organization’s vision.
Your independence as a third party provides professional guidance without causing offense. We offer objective perspectives that internal teams might miss.
Create a tailored financial roadmap
Develop a financial roadmap that outlines achievable goals and strategies. This includes budgeting, forecasting, and resource allocation aligned with business priorities. Your roadmap must balance ambition with financial discipline.
A well-crafted plan enables companies to set clear goals, manage risks effectively, and make informed financial decisions that maintain competitive advantage. We provide the financial framework your business needs to grow successfully.
Phase 3: Implementation and Results (Days 61–90)
Month three shifts your focus to implementation and measurable results. 82% of business failures are due to poor cash management, making this phase critical for long-term success.
Set Up Financial Systems and Automation
Your financial infrastructure determines how effectively you can support business decisions. Assess current systems to identify gaps and inefficiencies that waste time and resources. Implement tools that provide real-time insights into the company’s financial health. These systems must ensure accurate data collection while eliminating manual work that serves no strategic purpose. Focus on creating a foundation that supports sound business decisions and maintains compliance with tax regulations.
Establish Cash Flow and Performance Tracking
Cash flow mismanagement is among the top reasons startups fail. Develop systems to monitor and manage cash flow, ensuring liquidity for current obligations while planning for future growth needs. Establish performance tracking that focuses on:
- Core metrics that reflect actual business performance
- Rolling budgets that adapt to real-time data
- Customized dashboards for leadership visibility
Lauren, an experienced fractional CFO, emphasizes, “The best thing you can do is get ahead of the problem—forecast, set up proper systems, and ensure you always have visibility into your liquidity”.
Train Internal Teams on New Processes
Sustainable financial management requires training internal teams on new processes and systems. Create clear documentation, conduct hands-on training sessions, and establish ongoing support systems. This training directly affects organizational profitability. Group training sessions prove more effective than individual instruction for developing financial skills.
Refine Reporting for Better Decisions
Strong fractional CFOs ensure “the right people are looking at the right numbers, on the right cadence”. Simplify reporting to focus on meaningful metrics that leadership will actually use for business decisions. Turn reporting into a habit that keeps everyone aligned with company goals and growth objectives.
Building Long-Term Value with Your Fractional CFO Services
Your initial 90 days establish the foundation, but lasting success with fractional CFO services requires ongoing commitment to excellence. We help you create frameworks that deliver sustained value to your clients year after year.
Communication That Drives Results
Fractional CFOs work remotely or part-time, making regular check-ins and reporting structures essential for maintaining alignment with business goals. We recommend weekly video conferences for financial updates and quarterly strategic planning sessions. Set clear agendas that cover financial performance, strategic initiatives, and action items. These structured routines turn raw financial data into actionable insights through real-time reporting and customized dashboards.
Document Everything for Seamless Transitions
The best fractional CFO relationships evolve over time. Smart documentation creates lasting value that extends well beyond your engagement. Start by documenting essential processes like client onboarding, financial analysis workflows, and monthly close procedures. Keep it simple – write processes that any competent professional can follow and store them on accessible platforms like Google Drive. This documentation preserves critical knowledge and ensures smooth operations between you and your client’s internal team.
Measure Success and Adapt Your Approach
Demonstrate your value through clear KPIs for measuring success. Track both quantitative results like margin improvements and cost reductions, plus qualitative factors such as strategic partnership quality and leadership confidence. Use a 1-10 scale to measure subjective elements. Regular performance evaluations keep your efforts aligned with business objectives. When results fall short, conduct root cause analysis – are you spreading yourself too thin across too many responsibilities, or do you simply need more time to deliver improvements?
Business environments change rapidly. Financial plans must adapt accordingly. Regular performance reviews and strategy adjustments ensure continued growth for your clients.
Your Path to Fractional CFO Success
Your first 90 days as a fractional CFO set the trajectory for long-term client relationships. We’ve outlined how this critical period shapes your ability to deliver expert financial leadership while providing the flexibility growing businesses need.
Days 1-30 focus on assessment – understanding existing financials, identifying immediate risks, and clarifying what clients expect from your services. Days 31-60 shift toward strategic alignment with leadership vision and building financial roadmaps that drive growth. Days 61-90 concentrate on implementing systems and training teams to sustain the improvements you’ve created.
Your success extends well beyond these initial 90 days. Structured communication, thorough documentation, and regular performance evaluations create lasting client partnerships. Our ultimate goal is turning financial challenges into strategic advantages that help businesses grow.
The fractional CFO model fills a crucial gap between bookkeepers and full-time financial executives. Companies get high-level expertise without full-time salaries and benefits. We get diverse challenges across multiple organizations. This creates value for everyone when executed properly.
Building trust takes time. Meaningful financial improvement rarely happens overnight. Your expertise combined with thoughtful implementation during these first 90 days positions both you and your clients for sustained success.
Invest your time in building these foundations. Your clients will benefit from the sound financial guidance that helps take their companies to the next level.
