Can you afford the next hire?The bigger ad budget? The next location?
An outsourced CFO answers those before you commit, not after. You’ll know exactly what you can pay yourself, when to hire and when to push on growth, with your books and your tax plan already in the same picture.
From $5,000/month · Published pricing · No onboarding fee
What does an outsourced CFO do for a $3M–$50M company?
An outsourced CFO gives you senior financial leadership without a full-time hire: a rolling cash forecast, an annual budget, an owner pay plan, and a standing review of the decisions in front of you, such as pricing, hiring, spending and expansion. At Core, CFO advisory is part of the outsourced finance department, so the forecast, the books and the tax plan come from one team working from the same numbers.
Is a fractional CFO worth it? Depends what you get.
Plenty of owners hire a fractional CFO and get a pretty monthly report they nod along to. Then nothing changes. That usually happens for one of two reasons: the CFO is working from books someone else keeps (and nobody checked them), or the tax side lives at another firm and never makes it into the plan. Here’s what it looks like when neither is true.
You know what you can take out
An owner pay plan sets your salary, your distributions and what stays in the business, with the tax effect already included. No more guessing, then nervously checking the bank.
Hiring stops being a gamble
Before you add a person, you know what the role costs fully loaded, what it has to produce, and how long until it pays for itself.
Growth spend gets a payback number
Before you raise the ad budget or add a salesperson, you know what it costs to land a client, how long until that spend pays back, and how much cash you need to float it in the meantime. Nobody else on your team is doing this math.
Pricing gets a reason
Margin by client and by service shows where to raise prices and what to stop selling. The answer often isn’t the one you’d guess.
Profit finally shows up as cash
When the P&L says you made money and the bank says otherwise, a rolling cash forecast shows where it went: receivables, loan principal, distributions, equipment, taxes. And it shows the tight month while it’s still weeks away.
You build something a buyer would want
Clean monthly numbers and steady profit growth are what lenders and buyers pay for. And it’s the honest answer to “what is this business without me?”
Most fractional CFOs advise from someone else’s books and leave tax to another firm. So you end up as the middleman. Here the forecast, the books and the tax plan come from one team, and the answer you get already includes the tax.
What’s included
- A rolling cash forecast, updated every month
- An annual budget, compared with actual results every month
- An owner pay plan: salary, distributions and what stays in the business
- Help with the big calls: pricing, hiring, spending and expansion
- A monthly CFO review call (about an hour)
- Email access between calls for questions that can’t wait
How the monthly review works
The books close by the 15th. Your financial package and cash forecast get updated. Then we get on a call, walk through last month, where cash is heading and the decisions on your list, and agree on next steps. After the first month, the whole thing takes under three hours of your time a month.
Already have an accounting team? (Above $50M)
If you’re over $50M and your team keeps the books, we can provide CFO advisory on its own. Those engagements are priced individually.
Common questions about outsourced CFO services
Why is my business profitable but I have no cash?
Profit and cash split apart for a handful of predictable reasons: money tied up in receivables, loan principal (which never shows on your P&L), owner distributions, equipment purchases, and taxes due on profit you’ve already spent. A monthly cash forecast shows which ones are hitting you, weeks before they hurt.
Can I afford to hire?
Run three numbers first: what the role costs fully loaded, how much revenue or capacity it has to produce, and how many months of cash you need to carry it until it does. If the forecast can carry it, hire. If it can’t, you’ll know what has to change first.
Outsourced CFO vs. part-time CFO vs. fractional CFO: what’s the difference?
Mostly the label. All three mean senior finance help without a full-time hire. The real difference is what comes with it. Most give you advice on top of books someone else keeps. Core’s outsourced CFO comes with the bookkeeping, controller work and tax done by the same team.
Is a fractional CFO worth it?
It is when it changes what you decide. That takes clean books underneath and the tax side in the same plan. That’s why Core’s CFO advisory comes with the bookkeeping, controller work and tax built in, for one monthly price.
When should I hire a CFO?
Usually when the decisions get bigger than your bookkeeper and your CPA can answer: you’re past $3M, you have a team, you’re unsure what to pay yourself, or you’re planning growth or an eventual sale. A full-time CFO usually makes sense much later. An outsourced one fills the gap.
How is this different from hiring a fractional CFO?
Most fractional CFOs advise but leave bookkeeping and tax to other firms. Core’s own team handles the books, controller work and tax alongside CFO advisory, for one monthly price.
Why not hire a full-time CFO?
A full-time CFO is a six-figure hire before benefits, and still needs a bookkeeper, controller and tax preparer underneath. The finance department gives you all four.
Do you work with companies over $50M?
Yes, on a CFO-only basis. Your team keeps the books and handles tax; we provide CFO advisory. Those engagements are priced individually.
Make the next big call with real numbers.
Tell us your revenue, your role and what’s keeping you up at night. In a 30-minute call you’ll know whether we fit.
Apply for a fit call →Two-minute application · 30-minute call · If we’re not a fit, we’ll say so