Fractional CFO CostWhat moves the cost of a fractional CFO
You're looking for why two fractional CFOs quoted you such different numbers. Tax CFO Steven Palmieri leads a practice that explains its own fee this way, and Steven and his team start with one idea. The price follows the work, and the work follows five things about your business. Revenue is not one of them, at least not by itself.
Find what moves my number
How much activity there is
The number of transactions, bank accounts and credit cards sets the size of the monthly checking. A company with a handful of entries a week and one account is a lighter month than one with thousands of entries across several accounts. This is the most direct driver, and it's the first thing a careful quote asks about.
How the company is built
One entity is simpler than three. A single location is simpler than several. A business that carries inventory has more to track than one that sells time. Each layer adds matching and judgment to the month, and a quote should reflect it.
Setups that need watching
Some arrangements need attention every month. Payroll through a provider needs its filings checked. Sales tax needs its returns matched. Selling across state lines adds more of the same. None of these is exotic, but each one is a recurring job, and a quote that ignores them is quoting a simpler company than yours.
The state of the books
This one surprises owners most. Books that are current and reconciled can be read in a conversation. Books that are months behind, or were never matched to the bank, need work before anyone can read them. That work is real, and it's usually billed on its own, with its own size.
The rhythm you want
A monthly meeting costs more than a quarterly one. A budget costs more than none. Lender reporting costs more than none. Rhythm is a choice, and it's fair for a quote to show the cost of each rhythm so you can pick.
Why equal revenue doesn't mean equal fees
Two companies can each bring in the same amount and need very different work. One has a steady set of customers, a single account and clean records. The other has several locations, a payroll to watch and books that were never closed. Quoting both the same would be unfair to one of them, and it would mean someone is covering the difference without knowing.
That's why a quote worth trusting comes after someone has looked. A figure offered before a look is either padded or underbuilt.
A short list to take to any quote
Bring five questions. How many accounts and entries did you assume? Did you assume one entity or more? Did you count payroll and sales tax? What did you assume about the state of my books? What rhythm of meetings is in the number? If the person can answer each one, the quote was built from your facts. If not, it was built from a guess.
What you can do to bring the number down
Some things are in your hands. Keeping business and personal money apart helps. So does keeping receipts and invoices organized and getting statements to the bookkeeper on time. Each habit trims the checking that needs doing, which trims the price honestly, without cutting the scope.
Inside the fee. For this page's subject, a fair quote lists the factors it used. If it reads as one unexplained number, ask which of the five it counted and which it left out. Then read what a fee should include and the extras that can hide.
Why does your quote look the way it does?
You will be talking to the Steven Palmieri practice.