01of 08The Model

All of the judgment.
None of the headcount.

A fractional CFO holds the same seat a full-time chief financial officer would hold — the forecast, the margin, the reporting, the capital decisions — at the cadence your company actually needs it.

Full-time equivalent: $225,000–$400,000+ fully loaded
This arrangement: Monthly retainer, scoped to the work
Time to start: Days, not a search process
Commitment: Reviewed as the company changes

The short answer

A fractional CFO is a finance principal you retain rather than employ. The work is the same work: building the forecast, holding the margin, running the close, and sitting across the table when a decision has real money attached to it. What changes is the structure around it — you buy the judgment by the month instead of the person by the year.

For a company between a few million and a few hundred million in revenue, that is usually the correct shape. The finance questions are already executive-grade. The volume of them is not yet a full-time job.

Side by side

The same seat,
on different terms.

Consideration	Full-time hire	This practice
Cost	$225,000–$400,000+ fully loaded, before bonus or equity	A monthly retainer scoped to the work actually required
Time to start	Search, offer, notice period — commonly four to six months	First working session inside two weeks of the call
Commitment	Permanent headcount, with the exit cost that implies	Reviewed as the company changes; scope moves with it
Perspective	One career path, usually one industry	Pattern recognition across industries and stages
Attention	Full-time, whether or not there is full-time work	Matched to the decisions currently in front of you
Your existing team	Typically reorganises the finance function around the hire	Works with the bookkeeper and CPA you already trust

Engagement models

Three structures.
One of them fits.

Scope is agreed in writing before the work starts and revisited as the company changes. No annual lock-in, no equity, no benefits load.

Advisory Retainer

Monthly · ongoing

A standing CFO seat: close review, a reporting pack you can actually read, a maintained forecast, and a working session with you every month.

Best fitOwner-led companies that want a finance principal in the room on a regular cadence.

Project Engagement

Fixed scope · 4–12 weeks

One defined outcome — an operating plan, a pricing rebuild, a reporting overhaul, a set of books made diligence-ready.

Best fitA specific decision or deadline that has outgrown the current team.

Interim CFO

Weekly · embedded

Full CFO coverage through a vacancy, a transaction, or a stretch of fast change — including oversight of the finance team.

Best fitAn empty seat, or a period of work that needs daily ownership.

Fit

When it earns its keep —
and when it does not.

Worth the seat

Revenue is real and growing, and the reporting has not kept pace with it.
A decision of consequence is coming: a raise, a facility, an acquisition, a step change in headcount.
You have a competent bookkeeper and a good CPA, and still no one owns the forward view.
You are paying yourself whatever is left at the end of the month, and setting tax money aside by feel.
The finance work needs a principal, but not forty hours of one.

Not the right answer

The books are years behind and no decision is waiting on them yet — that is a cleanup engagement first, and it stands on its own.
You need tax filing and compliance opinions. That is your CPA, and should stay there.
You want a set of numbers assembled to support a decision already made.
The company genuinely needs a full-time finance leader. In that case the honest advice is to hire one.

Asked often

How is this different from my accountant?: Your CPA looks backward and downward — accuracy, filings, compliance. A CFO looks forward and upward — cash, margin, capital, and what the numbers say you should do next. Both matter. They are not substitutes.
Do you replace my bookkeeper?: Only if you want me to. The bookkeeper keeps the records; the CFO seat interprets them and owns the forward view, so in most engagements the existing bookkeeper stays exactly where they are, with clearer instructions. Where there is no bookkeeper, or the records have fallen far enough behind that nothing can be read from them, I will take the books on directly — cleanup and ongoing bookkeeping are both work I do, and neither is a reason to wait.
How much of your attention do I actually get?: You work with Jordan directly — no account manager, no handoff to a junior. A retained engagement includes a standing monthly working session and access between them for decisions that will not wait.

Next step

Thirty minutes,
and a straight answer.

Bring one question you cannot currently answer from your own reporting. If a fractional CFO is not the right answer, you will hear that on the call — there is no proposal waiting at the end of it.

Book the thirty minutes Download the intro packet Or send a note

Direct: jordynsfinance@gmail.com
Telephone: 469-248-7336
Reply: Within one business day
Calendar: Thirty minutes · no charge
Elsewhere: @jordynsfinance

The same seat,on different terms.

Three structures.One of them fits.