Fractional CFOs near you

Most engagements open with a diagnostic: reviewing the current reporting, the state of the books, cash position and runway, banking and lending arrangements, and the deadlines the business is facing. The output should be a short list of what is broken, what is urgent and what can wait, agreed with the owner before any building starts.

The build phase follows: a cash flow forecast with a rhythm for updating it, a monthly reporting pack with a fixed close date, and whatever controls the diagnostic said were missing. Expect the fractional CFO to work through your existing bookkeeper or controller rather than around them, since the monthly numbers still have to be produced after the engagement ends.

By the end of the first quarter there should be something concrete you keep: a forecast you can update yourself, a reporting pack the bank or board accepts, and a written view of what happens next. Ask for that deliverable list up front, and make sure it names the files, models and documentation handed over.

A bookkeeper records what happened. A controller owns the accuracy and timeliness of the accounting: the close, the reconciliations, the internal controls and the routine filings. A fractional CFO works ahead of the numbers, on forecasting, funding, pricing, structure and the decisions the owner and board face.

An accounting firm is a different axis again: it handles the year-end, the tax filings and, where required, engagements that only an authorised CPA can issue. Many businesses need a bookkeeper and an accounting firm, and add a fractional CFO when decisions get more expensive than the cost of good advice. Hiring a CFO to fix late bookkeeping is the most common mismatch, and it is an expensive way to do the wrong job.

The title CFO is not a protected professional designation the way the accounting designations are. Fractional CFOs come from varied backgrounds, and many hold a CPA designation while others do not. That is not automatically a problem, but it changes what the person can do: the practice of professional accounting, including audit, other assurance and compilation engagements, is restricted to CPAs authorised by the provincial body, so a fractional CFO who is not one cannot issue those reports for your business.

Some obligations stay with the company no matter who advises it. Corporations Canada notes that directors may be held responsible for up to six months of unpaid employee wages and for source deductions, and that approving financial statements is a board decision that does not require shareholder approval. Payroll obligations run in parallel: the CRA requires employers to calculate deductions and contributions, remit them and file information returns. Getting help does not transfer those duties.

Treat documentation as a deliverable, not a courtesy. The forecast model, the reporting pack template, the close checklist and the list of key assumptions should be yours, in your systems, in a form your bookkeeper or controller can maintain without the CFO in the room.

Agree the offboarding when you sign, not when you finish: a handover session, the file inventory, access transferred back, and an agreed period of availability for questions. If the plan is to replace the fractional arrangement with a permanent hire, the CFO is often the right person to define that role and help assess candidates, but say so early so it is part of the mandate.

A written engagement should state the days or hours per month, the deliverables, the decision rights, notice on both sides, confidentiality, and what happens to the models and documentation at the end. Where the CFO holds a professional designation, ask which body regulates them and whether the engagement falls under those rules. Ask about professional liability cover, and about any interest they have in products or providers they might recommend.

Fractional CFO work is not a restricted profession, so LokalMatch runs its normal model here: you describe what you need once, and finance professionals who serve your area can respond. Pros pay LokalMatch to connect with a request, businesses pay nothing to send one, and paying does not change the order pros appear in. Compare more than one before you commit, and treat this guide as general information, not accounting, tax or legal advice.