What is a fractional CFO actually worth to your business?
Move the sliders to match your numbers. We'll estimate the profit and tax savings a CFO typically surfaces, then compare it against what the retainer actually costs you.
Your numbers
Not sure? Most service and trade businesses run between 8% and 18%.
A 3–8 point improvement is typical once job costing and pricing are corrected. Every point here is worth $25,000 in profit.
What you'd expect to budget for CFO support. We quote every engagement individually — this is your assumption, not our rate. Most engagements land under a part-time hire.
Projected annual impact
- Margin gain+8 pts
- +$200,000
- Tax mitigationest. 3.5%
- +$87,500
- Total upside
- $287,500
- Your assumed investment$3,500/mo
- −$42,000
- Net gain
- +$245,500
Return on investment
6.8×
Every $1 of retainer returns about $6.85 in gains
Estimates only. Figures are modeled from your inputs using margin and tax outcomes typical across our client base — they are not a forecast, a quote, or financial, tax or legal advice. Your results will depend on your industry, structure and execution.
Where these numbers come from
No black box. Here's exactly what the calculator assumes — and what it deliberately leaves out.
Margin gain
Revenue × (target − current margin)
The profit unlocked by closing the gap between where your margin is today and a realistic target. This is usually the single largest line — and the one job costing and pricing work drives.
Tax mitigation
Revenue × 3.5%
A conservative estimate of what year-round planning recovers through entity structure, depreciation timing, owner compensation and multi-state positioning. Well-run planning often exceeds this.
Investment cost
Your assumed monthly figure × 12
We don't publish rates — every engagement is scoped to your revenue, entity structure and how much work you hand over. The investment slider is your own assumption, so the return figure stays honest to your situation.
What this model leaves out
It doesn't account for financing you secure at better terms, time you get back from not doing the books yourself, or the cost of a decision you make badly without a CFO in the room. Those are real — they're just not reducible to a slider. On the other side, we don't assume every business can reach its target margin in year one; most take two to three quarters to get there.
The estimate is the easy part
Any calculator can produce a big number. The useful question is which of these gains actually exist in your books — and in what order to go after them.
That takes about thirty minutes on a call, looking at your actual P&L, cash cycle and job costing. You'll leave with three specific opportunities, ranked, whether or not you ever hire us.
Book My Free CFO CallWhere we usually find the money
- 1
Unprofitable work you didn't know about
Job or client-level costing exposes the 10–20% of revenue that's breaking even or losing money. Usually the fastest fix.
- 2
Pricing that hasn't kept pace
Costs rose; prices didn't. Rebuilding your pricing model often moves margin more than cutting anything.
- 3
Tax decisions made in April instead of October
Depreciation timing, entity structure and owner compensation are worth far more when planned during the year.
- 4
Cash trapped in the working capital cycle
Faster collections and renegotiated vendor terms release cash without borrowing a dollar.
- 5
Overhead that grew quietly
Subscriptions, insurance, vendor contracts and software that nobody re-bid after the business doubled.
Want to know what your real number is?
This estimate uses averages. Your business has its own. Thirty minutes with your actual numbers will tell you more than any slider can.
Free · 30 minutes · No obligation and no pitch deck