The CFO your business deserves — For $1,000/Month
Get a battle-tested Fractional CFO who gives you weekly visibility into your revenue engine, unit economics, and cash — the same system that helped our clients raise $200M+ in the last 2 years.
- Save $282K+ vs. a full-time CFO hire
- 52 financial feedback loops per year
- Board- and investor-ready reporting
- Onboarded and running in 4 weeks
John Zdanowski, CFO Strategist at San Diego CFO Group
John is an entrepreneurial CFO, investor, and business engineer with more than two decades helping founders prepare, raise, grow, and sell — across 100+ financings, dozens of venture rounds, 2 IPOs, and 16 acquisitions. He leads every engagement personally, so you're booking directly with a real U.S. CFO.
An integrated financial model, updated every week
Revenue, margins, burn, and runway — reconciled from your accounting, banking, and billing into a single live model your CFO walks you through on every call. Click any cell to see the transactions underneath.
Integrated Financial Model (FY 2024)
Click any cell for detail| Metric | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | ||||||||||||
| COGS | ||||||||||||
| Gross Margin | ||||||||||||
| Operating Expenses | ||||||||||||
| EBITDA | ||||||||||||
| Cash Balance | ||||||||||||
| Runway | ||||||||||||
| Unit Economics | ||||||||||||
| ARPU | ||||||||||||
| CAC | ||||||||||||
| LTV | ||||||||||||
| LTV : CAC | ||||||||||||
| CAC Payback | ||||||||||||
| Monthly Churn | ||||||||||||
Illustrative data shown for demonstration.
You're running a real business on last month's numbers.
Most founder-run companies between $1M and $30M in revenue hit the same wall: their books are technically correct, but strategically useless.
You're flying blind on cash
You know revenue is up (or down) — but you can't say why. Monthly reports arrive 3 weeks late, and by then the decision window is closed.
Your bookkeeper isn't a strategist
GAAP-compliant books don't tell you what to do next. You need someone who reads the numbers and translates them into action.
Hiring a full-time CFO is brutal
$300K–$450K base plus equity, benefits, and a 6-month search. Most sub-$20M companies can't (and shouldn't) justify it.
Full-Time CFO vs. Fractional CFO
For 95% of businesses under $30M in revenue, a Fractional CFO delivers the same strategic firepower at a fraction of the cost — with none of the hiring risk.
Traditional
Full-Time CFO
Recommended
Fractional CFO
Bottom line
You save $282,000+ per year — and get better decisions, faster.
Same strategic output. No 6-month search. No severance risk.
What a Fractional CFO actually does for your business.
Most founders confuse a CFO with a bookkeeper or a controller. They're not the same job. A CFO is the person who tells you what to do next — based on what the numbers are saying.
What a Fractional CFO does
- Builds a live financial model of your entire business
- Runs weekly cash, revenue & margin reviews with you
- Sets pricing, budgets, and hiring plans grounded in data
- Diagnoses which products, channels & customers actually make money
- Forecasting, scenario planning, and capital allocation
What a Fractional CFO isn't
- Categorize transactions (that's your bookkeeper)
- File your taxes (that's your CPA)
- Reconcile bank statements or chase receipts
- Just email you a PDF once a month and disappear
The difference between a bookkeeper and a CFO is the difference between a report card and a coach. One tells you what happened. The other tells you what to do about it.
10 signs your business has outgrown its bookkeeper.
If 3 or more of these sound like you, you're leaving money — and probably sleep — on the table.
You're between $1M and $30M in revenue and flying by feel
You just closed (or are about to raise) a round and need investor-grade reporting
You can't confidently answer: 'How much cash will we have in 90 days?'
Your gross margin is a mystery — or worse, you think it's fine and it isn't
You're hiring, but you're not sure what you can actually afford
You've launched a new product/channel and can't tell if it's profitable
Your bookkeeper hands you a P&L but nobody explains what it means
You're spending 10+ hours a week in spreadsheets you built yourself
You want to sell the company in the next 3–5 years and need clean, defensible numbers
Your board or investors ask questions you can't answer with current reports
A senior CFO, embedded in your business — every week.
You don't need another report. You need someone in the room who owns the forward view and helps you make the call.
Real-time visibility into your business
A connected data warehouse pulls from your accounting, banking, and billing systems so your numbers are always current — not three weeks stale.
Weekly meetings with a senior CFO
Not a junior analyst. You get a partner-level CFO who has scaled companies through the exact stage you're in.
Investor & board-ready reporting
Clean, defensible numbers and forecasts that hold up in a data room, a board meeting, or a lender conversation.
Exactly what you get, every single week.
No vague retainer. A concrete, tech-enabled finance function that shows up in your inbox and on your calendar — week after week.
Weekly financial dashboard
A live view of revenue, margins, and cash — refreshed every week and pulled straight from your source systems.
Unit economics breakdown
Contribution margin, CAC, payback, and LTV by product and channel, reconciled to your actuals.
13-week cash flow forecast
Know exactly how much cash you have and where it's going — 90 days out, updated continuously.
Annual budget & scenario plan
A driver-based model so you can pressure-test hiring, pricing, and spend before you commit.
Direct access to your CFO
A weekly working session plus async access — your CFO is a message away when a decision comes up.
Board & fundraising strategy
Investor-ready decks and a data room that stands up to diligence, with your CFO on the call.
Not hiring a CFO isn't “saving money.” It's the expense.
The cost of a Fractional CFO is visible and fixed. The cost of not having one is invisible — right up until it isn't.
The hidden cost of waiting
- Mispriced products quietly bleeding margin every month
- Cash crunches you saw coming only after they hit
- Over-hiring (or under-hiring) against a plan that never existed
- Raising at a worse valuation because the numbers weren't ready
What you'd have instead
- A pricing model that protects margin as you scale
- 90-day cash visibility, so surprises stop being surprises
- Headcount tied to a budget you can actually defend
- A data room that helps you raise faster and cleaner
A Fractional CFO from San Diego CFO Group typically pays for itself in the first 60 days — usually on the first pricing or hiring call.
400+
Founder-run companies served
$200M+
Raised by our clients in 2 years
$18B+
In client revenue managed
52x
Financial feedback loops per year
Purpose-built for founder-run businesses.
We've run finance inside companies across every model below. You get a CFO who already speaks your industry's language.
SaaS & software
ARR, net revenue retention, and burn multiple — modeled the way investors expect.
E-commerce & DTC
Blended CAC, contribution margin, and inventory cash cycles that actually reconcile.
Healthcare & services
Utilization, payer mix, and capacity planning built around real margin drivers.
Professional services
Utilization, realization, and project profitability so you price and staff with confidence.
Manufacturing & trades
Job costing, COGS, and working capital visibility for asset-heavy operations.
Venture-backed startups
Runway, scenario planning, and board reporting that keeps your next round on track.
From first call to live CFO — in under a month.
No drawn-out procurement. A clear, fast path from “let's talk” to a CFO working inside your business.
1Free assessment
A 60-second questionnaire and a short call with a senior CFO to understand your business, your numbers, and what decisions are coming.
2Custom CFO plan
We map your systems, identify the biggest financial gaps, and show you exactly what your first 90 days with us will look like.
3Onboard & connect data
We wire your accounting, banking, and billing into one reconciled data warehouse and build your first live model and forecast.
4Weekly CFO rhythm
Your CFO goes live — weekly reviews, always-current dashboards, and a partner in the room for every big decision.
Trusted by the founders who raised $200M+.
Real operators, real numbers. Here's what changes when a senior CFO is finally in your corner.
“For the first time I can walk into a board meeting knowing exactly what the next two quarters look like. The weekly rhythm changed how we make every decision.”
Sarah K.
Founder & CEO · SaaS · ~$12M revenue
“We closed our Series B faster because the data room was already clean. Diligence took days, not weeks, and the forecast held up under every question.”
Marcus D.
Co-founder · Consumer brand · ~$28M revenue
“I finally understand our unit economics by channel. We cut two unprofitable lines and doubled down where the margin actually was.”
Priya R.
CEO · Multi-location services · ~$6M revenue
“It felt like adding a $400K CFO to the team for a fraction of the cost. Within 60 days we'd already found the savings that paid for the whole year.”
James T.
Founder · E-commerce · ~$9M revenue
“The weekly cash forecast alone is worth it. We stopped lurching from surprise to surprise and started planning three months ahead.”
Elena M.
COO · Professional services · ~$15M revenue
“Our investors noticed the difference immediately. The reporting is sharp, the answers are fast, and the numbers always tie out.”
David L.
CEO · Healthtech · ~$22M revenue
Month-to-month. Cancel anytime. Zero long-term contracts.
We don't hide behind lengthy contracts. If we're not making you smarter about your business, you shouldn't keep paying us.
Month-to-month
Simple, flat pricing billed monthly. No annual commitment required to get started.
Cancel anytime
If it's not delivering value, cancel with 30 days' notice. We earn the relationship every month.
Zero long-term contracts
No multi-year lock-in, no exit fees, no fine print. Just a CFO who has to keep proving it.
Questions, answered.
No. We sit on top of your existing bookkeeping and tax work and turn it into a forward-looking finance function. If your books need cleanup first, we'll tell you and help get there — but we're not here to replace your CPA.
GET STARTED
Get a fractional CFO for $1,000/month.
Answer a few quick questions and a senior CFO from San Diego CFO Group will build a custom plan for your business — free.
- A senior CFO reviews your numbers before you ever talk
- A clear plan for cash, margins, and your next 12 months
- No obligation, no long-term contract, cancel anytime