Virtual CFO
Fractional CFO
A fractional CFO gives your Canadian business senior finance judgment part time: a monthly review of cash, margin and variance against budget, help preparing board or lender material, and a second opinion before a pricing, hiring or spending decision, without carrying a full time salary.
13-week cash forecast
Illustrative client · August 2026
CAD
- Cash today
- $244,220
- Lowest week ahead
- 239,800
- Largest outflow
- Payroll, 46,300
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
What the role actually does
A fractional CFO does not replace a bookkeeper and does not work the close faster. The role starts once your QuickBooks Online, Xero or Sage 50 file is closed for the month: reading the profit and loss and balance sheet together with cash on hand, and connecting that to the decision sitting in front of you, whether it is a new hire, a price change, a second location or a bank facility.
A typical month
Each cycle opens with a review call once the month closes: what moved, what drove it, and what it means over the next 30, 60 and 90 days. Between calls the fractional CFO is available for the questions that arrive without warning, a supplier price increase, a large customer asking for extended terms, or an opportunity that will strain cash before it pays back.
Built around the Canadian calendar
The T2 corporate filing deadline, six months after your fiscal year end, and the balance owing deadline that lands two to three months after year end, are both built into the cash calendar behind the CFO relationship, alongside GST/HST remittance timing. None of that changes the underlying finance work; it just means the calendar behind it reflects Canada Revenue Agency deadlines rather than a generic schedule.
Who this suits
Businesses that have outgrown informal, gut feel decisions but are not ready to carry a full time CFO on payroll: growing past the point where one owner tracks everything personally, or heading into a raise, a loan application or a sale where the numbers need to hold up under a lender's or investor's questions. A named finance lead, backed by a team preparing the underlying analysis, means senior attention without a full salary. See pricing for how fractional CFO time is scoped, or how it works for onboarding.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Fractional CFO
How many hours a month does a fractional CFO engagement usually take?
It depends on your stage. A steady state business might need only a few hours a month; one heading into a raise, a sale or a bank renewal typically needs more. Hours are scoped to what is actually in front of you.
Can a fractional CFO help with a bank facility renewal?
Yes. We prepare the financial statements, forecasts and narrative most Canadian lenders ask for at renewal, and can join the lender conversation directly if that helps close it.
Does this replace the accountant who files our T2?
No. Fractional CFO work is forward looking planning. Your T2 corporate return still needs a Canadian resident EFILE registrant to transmit it.
What size of business fits this service?
Most fractional CFO clients have moved past a single owner tracking everything informally. Fit depends more on complexity and pace of change than revenue size alone.
What exactly is included in fractional CFO?
Monthly finance review call covering cash, margin and the month's variances, and a rolling cash position and runway view. This work runs inside QuickBooks Online or Xero, whichever your business already has in place, and it rolls into your regular monthly close rather than sitting off to the side as a separate, unreconciled process.
How is this different from a bookkeeper?
A bookkeeper records what already happened. A fractional CFO uses those records to help you decide what happens next: pricing, hiring, cash timing, fundraising.
How many hours a month does this take?
You can start with a standing monthly review plus ad hoc questions between calls. The scope is agreed up front and can flex with your stage.
Do you replace my controller or accountant?
No. A fractional CFO sits above the day-to-day close and works alongside whoever keeps your books, whether that is us or your existing team.
What is included in fractional CFO?
Fractional CFO covers monthly finance review call covering cash, margin and the month's variances and a rolling cash position and runway view. The exact scope is agreed and set out in writing before work starts, so you know precisely what is and is not covered before the first deliverable arrives.
Related services
- Virtual CFOFP&AOngoing financial planning and analysis: budget-to-actual tracking, margin and cost analysis, and the monthly pack that explains why the numbers moved.
- Virtual CFOBudgetingAn annual budget built from your real numbers, broken out by month and department, that becomes the baseline every later report is measured against.
- Virtual CFOKPI designA short list of the numbers that actually run your business, defined once and tracked consistently, instead of a dashboard nobody opens.
Industries
- Startups and VC-backed companiesBookkeeping and reporting for early-stage, venture-backed companies watching burn, runway and investor reporting closely.
- SaaSBookkeeping and reporting for subscription software businesses tracking recurring revenue, deferred revenue and burn.
- Ecommerce (Amazon and Shopify)Bookkeeping for online sellers on Amazon, Shopify, Etsy and their own storefronts, built around clean payout and sales tax data.
- Agencies and consultanciesBookkeeping for marketing agencies, design studios and consulting firms billing clients on retainers and project fees.
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.