Adding Finance Leadership

Stage 3 · StrategyPart of Guide 19: Building Your Team

This sheet walks through finance leadership from bookkeeper to CFO: the signs it's time, what a CFO owns, how the finance team grows with the company and what a CFO should find.

Bookkeepers report the score. A CFO helps you change it.

From bookkeeper to CFO · see Finance Team At a Glance

Every stageBookkeeper + CPA

Start-up to $15MFractional CFO

$5M+Add a Controller

$15M–$25M+Full-time CFO

Is it time?

Tick what's true for your company today

Signs it's time · check what's true today

Books close after the 15th, or not every month
There's no budget, KPI scorecard or cash forecast
Profitable on paper but always short on cash
Margins are slipping and no one can say why
A bank loan, line of credit or equipment package is coming
A sale, acquisition or partner buyout is 1–5 years out

What a CFO owns

Monthly KPI review and what to do next
Annual budget and budget vs. actual
12-month cash forecast and off-season plan
Pricing, billing rates and job-costing setup
Lender, bank and equipment financing
Valuation, add-backs and buyer-readiness

Their scoreboard

Net margin
Months of cash
BvA
Adj. EBITDA

Who you need, and what they should find

The finance team as you grow

Bookkeeper · Records and reconciles. Looks at the past.Every company
CPA · Taxes and compliance. Checks it's right and filed.Every company
Fractional CFO · Part-time strategy: plans ahead and holds the owner accountable.Start-up to $15M
Controller · Full-time manager of accounting, close and controls.~$5M and up
Full-time CFO · In-house finance leader for a larger, complex company.~$15M and up

Keep them all: a CFO doesn't replace your bookkeeper or CPA. It directs them.

Does the math work? What a CFO should find

Price at margin, not markup, on $500K of job costs+$64,286 GP
Collect 8 days faster (DSO 33 → 25)+$29,333 cash
Labor 2 points lower on $1.5M of revenue+$30,000 / yr
$10K more Adjusted EBITDA at a 4× multiple+$40,000 value
The testFinds more than it costs

Fractional first: part-time CFO help costs a fraction of a full-time salary and scales with the company.

Making the hire

Common mistake

Waiting for a crisis: a cash crunch, a lender request or a buyer's diligence list. A CFO is worth most a year or more before you need one.

How to engage

Fractional: monthly retainer with a set close date and KPI review. Controller or CFO: salary plus bonus on cash, close timing and EBITDA.

The first 90 days

Day 30: clean books and a monthly close date. Day 60: KPI scorecard and 12-month cash forecast. Day 90: budget and pricing review.

Ranges reflect common green-industry practice, not rules; complexity, lender requirements and exit plans can move the timing earlier. Dollar examples come from the EquiScape guides' example company.

Key idea: Hire finance leadership before you need it. It costs less than the mistakes it prevents.