Fractional CFO, controller or bookkeeper: write the brief around the work

A founder asks for a fractional CFO because the board pack takes too long. On the first call, it becomes clear that last month’s bank reconciliation is unfinished, the sales forecast lives in a separate spreadsheet, and nobody has decided who explains the difference between plan and actuals.

That fictional situation contains several assignments. Buying one senior title will only solve it if the proposal also covers the work underneath it.

Start with a list of outputs that are late, unreliable or missing. Then ask firms to show how they would staff those outputs. You may need a bookkeeping service with review, a controller-led engagement, a fractional CFO alongside an existing accountant, or a firm supplying the whole sequence. The useful distinction is who produces the numbers, who reviews them, and who turns them into decisions.

Separate recordkeeping, review and planning

For commissioning purposes, think of bookkeeping as the recurring work that keeps the underlying records current: recording activity, organizing transactions and completing agreed reconciliations. Ask exactly which accounts, transaction sources and periods the service covers. A proposal called “monthly bookkeeping” leaves too much open if nobody has specified what arrives at the end of the month.

Controller work adds responsibility for the accounting process and its review. The practical buying questions concern the close, supporting schedules, exceptions and the person who can resolve an accounting question. Burkland’s accounting service illustrates that wider scope: it lists month-end close alongside controller services, financial statements and documentation of internal controls.

A fractional CFO engagement usually addresses forward-looking planning and finance leadership. Burkland’s CFO offering names modeling, forecasting and board reporting, with a dedicated CFO supported by its wider team. Those services still need an explicit connection to the accounting work. Access to a wider team does not, by itself, tell you which team members or deliverables your fee includes.

Treat these as responsibility groups. Titles and service packages vary. Ask each firm to mark what it prepares, what it reviews, what it advises on and what it expects your company to do.

Write the handoffs into the brief

A responsibility worksheet is more useful than a page of role descriptions. Fill in actual names during selection; “finance” is not a sufficient owner.

Add a fallback for each dependency. If the close is late, should the model update wait, use a clearly marked provisional input, or exclude the affected section? Have the proposed finance lead explain the choice. Otherwise a reporting deadline can conceal a chain of unreviewed assumptions.

Your company also has responsibilities. Sales owns information about the pipeline; department leads explain planned spending; the founder approves business decisions. The finance firm can challenge and organize those inputs, but the brief should name the internal people who supply them.

Three engagements that solve different problems

The following briefs are illustrative. They describe service boundaries to discuss, not a universal hiring sequence.

The books need a dependable monthly finish

A small company has a steady operating model and a capable owner, but its records drift behind. The initial engagement could cover catch-up work, a repeatable monthly close and an identified reviewer. Ask the firm to distinguish the initial cleanup from recurring service, explain how it handles missing documents, and show the output that proves a period is complete.

Adding a large planning package immediately may create another deliverable waiting on the same unfinished records. The useful first result is a dependable accounting handoff, followed by a review of what additional finance work the company actually needs.

The books are ready, but decisions are not

Another company already has an accountant. Its leadership team needs an owned forecast, regular scenario discussions and someone to prepare the financial story for board meetings. Kruze Consulting explicitly describes complementing an existing accounting team while that team keeps day-to-day operations.

For that arrangement, make the division concrete. Require a meeting between both providers, an agreed input format and a rule for resolving mismatched numbers. Ask whether the CFO engagement includes updating the model between meetings or only discussing a model your team maintains. Both can be legitimate offers; they purchase different amounts of work.

A model exists, but no one maintains it

A third company has a spreadsheet built for a past event. Assumptions have gone stale and each manager edits a separate copy. The assignment could begin with model repair and continue with a defined refresh and review cycle. Pilot describes a Foundation engagement around an operating model, forecast and monthly review cadence, which illustrates this kind of packaged planning service.

Ask a proposed firm to demonstrate how a new assumption moves through its deliverable. Who approves it? Where is the prior version kept? How will the next operator know why it changed? A polished opening model is only the first acceptance point.

Compare the recurring work and the exceptions

Before comparing fees, send finalists the same responsibility worksheet. Request separate descriptions of setup, recurring outputs and event-driven requests. Include the number and purpose of meetings, access to the named senior lead, and how work outside the package is agreed.

A proposal should also describe absences and substitutions. If your main contact is away during a board cycle, who has enough context to continue? If an urgent question exceeds the planned capacity, who decides what moves? Ask for an example of the firm’s deliverable format with client information removed, rather than treating a sales presentation as a work sample.

Do not set a universal revenue threshold for buying a title. Your missing work and existing team are a better basis for the brief. A company with strong accounting support faces a different purchase from one that needs its records reconstructed.

Keep ownership of the working system

Put the transition deliverables in the original scope: accessible working files, the latest assumptions, recurring deadlines, outstanding questions and a walkthrough with the next owner. Agree how your company retains access to the systems and records it needs.

Then end the selection call with one concrete request: “Walk us through our next monthly cycle, from the first missing input to the final management discussion.” Listen for named owners and actual outputs. That walkthrough will tell you far more about the engagement than the seniority of the title on its cover page.

Sources

• Burkland: fractional CFO services.
• Burkland: startup accounting and controller services.
• Kruze Consulting: fractional CFO services.
• Pilot: CFO services.