Does Your Business Need a CFO Without the Full-Time Cost?
Not every business needs a full-time CFO, but every growing business needs strategic financial guidance. Whetzel & Co. provides fractional CFO services to Houston startups, small businesses, and real estate investors who need senior-level financial leadership without the full-time cost.
A fractional CFO gives you access to the same caliber of financial strategy and oversight that large companies get from their finance departments, delivered on a part-time basis that fits your budget and your stage of growth. Whether you need help managing cash flow, preparing for a funding round, planning for expansion, or simply making better decisions with your money, a fractional CFO fills that gap.
Why Whetzel & Co. for Fractional CFO?
Many firms offer fractional CFO services as an add-on, staffed by junior team members running templates. At Whetzel & Co., our fractional CFO engagements are led by experienced financial professionals who have worked with businesses across industries and stages. You get someone who can walk into a board meeting, sit across from a lender, or advise on a complex financial decision with confidence and credibility.
We also integrate our fractional CFO service with our bookkeeping and tax capabilities. This means your CFO is not working off of stale or incomplete data. They are working with real-time financials, prepared by our own team, with full visibility into your tax position. That integration is rare, and it makes our advice more accurate and more actionable.
Most importantly, we communicate in plain language. No jargon-filled slide decks or 40-page reports that sit in a drawer. Every insight we deliver is tied to a recommendation, and every recommendation is something you can act on.
What We Deliver
Our fractional CFO services are tailored to each client, but typically include regular strategy meetings on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly cadence, financial dashboard and KPI tracking customized to your business, cash flow forecasting and management, annual budgeting and monthly variance analysis, profitability analysis by service line, product, or customer segment, pricing strategy guidance, scenario modeling for growth decisions such as hiring, expansion, and capital investment, lender and investor communication support, coordination with your tax team for year-round planning, and ad hoc financial analysis as business questions arise.
Between meetings, you have direct access to your fractional CFO for time-sensitive decisions. We do not disappear between scheduled calls. If a financial question comes up on a Tuesday afternoon, you can reach us.
Who This Service Is For
Our fractional CFO services are ideal for businesses generating $500,000 to $15 million in annual revenue that need financial leadership but are not ready or do not need a full-time CFO. This includes growing small businesses that have outgrown owner-managed finances, startups preparing for fundraising or scaling, real estate investors and developers managing complex portfolios, professional service firms looking to improve profitability, and businesses going through transitions such as ownership changes, rapid growth, or new market entry.
What to Expect From Our Process
Step 1: Discovery and Assessment
We start with a free consultation to understand your business, your goals, and your current financial challenges. From there, we conduct a financial assessment that reviews your books, your cash position, your profitability, and your current financial processes. This assessment typically takes one to two weeks and gives us a clear picture of where you are and where the biggest opportunities lie.
Step 2: Service Plan and Onboarding
Based on the assessment, we present a customized service plan that outlines meeting cadence, deliverables, and focus areas for the first 90 days. We establish your financial dashboards, set up KPI tracking, and create a baseline budget or forecast that we will manage together going forward.
Step 3: Regular Strategy Meetings
Your fractional CFO meets with you on a regular schedule to review financial performance, discuss emerging issues, and provide strategic guidance. These are not data dumps. They are focused conversations about what the numbers mean and what you should do about them. Meeting agendas are prepared in advance and follow-up items are tracked to completion.
Step 4: Ongoing Advisory and Growth Support
As your business evolves, so does our engagement. We adjust KPIs and dashboards as your priorities shift, update forecasts as conditions change, and provide support for major financial decisions such as taking on debt, hiring key roles, opening new locations, or evaluating acquisition opportunities. The goal is for you to always have a trusted financial advisor in your corner.
Pricing
Fractional CFO engagements are priced based on scope, complexity, and meeting frequency. Contact us for custom pricing. Every engagement is tailored to your business needs, and we always scope and quote before beginning work. There are no surprises and no hidden fees.
Frequently Asked Questions About Fractional CFO Services
What is the difference between a fractional CFO and a bookkeeper?
A bookkeeper records and organizes your financial transactions. A fractional CFO uses those financials to guide strategy, improve profitability, manage cash flow, and support major business decisions. Bookkeeping tells you what happened. A fractional CFO helps you decide what to do next. Many of our clients use both services together for a complete financial management solution.
How often will we meet?
Meeting frequency depends on your needs and the complexity of your business. Most clients meet biweekly or monthly. Businesses going through rapid changes, fundraising, or major transitions often start with weekly meetings and transition to biweekly as things stabilize. Between meetings, you always have direct access for urgent questions.
Do I need to have clean books before starting?
No. If your books need cleanup, we handle that as part of the onboarding process, either through our own bookkeeping team or in coordination with your existing bookkeeper. A fractional CFO can only be effective with reliable financial data, so getting your books in order is always the first priority.
Can a fractional CFO help me get a business loan or line of credit?
Yes. We regularly help clients prepare financial packages for lenders, including historical financial statements, projections, cash flow forecasts, and the narrative that lenders need to understand your business. We can also participate in lender meetings and answer financial questions on your behalf, which gives lenders confidence in your financial management.
How is this different from hiring a full-time CFO?
A full-time CFO typically costs $150,000 to $300,000 or more in total compensation. A fractional CFO gives you access to the same strategic capabilities at a fraction of that cost, typically appropriate for businesses that need financial leadership but do not yet have the volume or complexity to justify a full-time hire. As your business grows, a fractional CFO can also help you determine when it is time to bring that role in-house and support the transition.
What industries do you work with?
We work with businesses across a range of industries, with particular depth in professional services, real estate and property management, construction, healthcare practices, technology startups, and retail and e-commerce. The core financial principles and strategic frameworks apply across industries, and our experience across sectors allows us to bring best practices from one industry into another.
Houston Fractional CFO Services
Growing businesses reach a point where they need more than bookkeeping and tax preparation. They need financial leadership — someone who can analyze the numbers, forecast cash flow, build budgets, and provide the strategic guidance that drives better business decisions. But hiring a full-time CFO at $150,000 to $250,000 per year is not realistic for most small and mid-sized companies.
Whetzel & Co provides fractional CFO services that give Houston businesses access to experienced financial leadership on a part-time basis, at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. You get the strategic insight your business needs without the overhead you do not.
What a Fractional CFO Does for Your Business
Financial Forecasting and Budgeting. We build financial forecasts and annual budgets that give you a roadmap for the year ahead. These are not static documents that sit in a drawer. We update your forecasts monthly based on actual results and help you adjust your plans as conditions change. You always know where you stand relative to your goals.
Cash Flow Management. Cash flow problems are the number one reason small businesses fail, even profitable ones. We monitor your cash position, project future cash needs, and help you plan for seasonal fluctuations, large purchases, and growth investments. If your business is growing fast, cash flow management becomes even more critical, and we help you navigate that growth without running out of working capital.
KPI Development and Tracking. We help you identify the key performance indicators that matter most for your business and build dashboards to track them. Whether it is gross margin, customer acquisition cost, revenue per employee, or days sales outstanding, we give you the metrics you need to manage your business by the numbers rather than by gut feeling.
Bank and Investor Relations. When you need financing, we prepare the financial packages that banks and investors require. This includes historical financial statements, projections, cash flow analyses, and the narrative that ties it all together. We can also attend meetings with lenders and investors to present your financial story and answer their questions.
Pricing and Profitability Analysis. Are your products and services priced correctly? Are some customers or projects more profitable than others? We dig into your numbers to answer these questions and help you make informed decisions about pricing, product mix, and customer focus. Many business owners are surprised to learn that their highest-revenue customers are not always their most profitable ones.
Strategic Financial Planning. Whether you are considering opening a new location, hiring additional staff, acquiring another business, or planning an exit, we provide the financial analysis and modeling to help you evaluate your options. We stress-test scenarios so you can make big decisions with confidence rather than uncertainty.
Who Benefits From Fractional CFO Services
Our fractional CFO services are designed for businesses generating $500,000 to $10 million in annual revenue that have outgrown basic bookkeeping but are not ready for a full-time CFO. Common situations include businesses experiencing rapid growth that need help managing the financial complexity that comes with scaling, companies preparing for a bank loan or line of credit that need professional financial packages, business owners who want to understand their numbers better and make data-driven decisions, and companies going through transitions such as ownership changes, mergers, or major expansions.
How Our Fractional CFO Engagement Works
Step 1: Assessment. We start by reviewing your current financial operations, accounting systems, and business goals. This helps us understand where you are today and where you want to go.
Step 2: Foundation. We clean up any accounting issues, establish proper financial reporting, and build the dashboards and tools you need to manage your business effectively. This phase typically takes 30 to 60 days depending on the current state of your books.
Step 3: Ongoing Partnership. On an ongoing basis, we provide monthly financial reviews, update forecasts, monitor KPIs, and serve as your strategic financial advisor. Most clients meet with us weekly or biweekly, with additional availability as needed for time-sensitive decisions.
Fractional CFO vs. Full-Time CFO
A full-time CFO costs $150,000 to $250,000 in salary plus benefits, bonuses, and overhead. Our fractional CFO services provide the same strategic value at 20 to 30 percent of that cost. You get senior-level financial expertise without the commitment of a full-time executive hire, and you can scale the engagement up or down as your needs change.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours per month does a fractional CFO typically work?
Most of our fractional CFO engagements involve 10 to 20 hours per month, depending on the complexity of your business and your specific needs. During initial setup or special projects like fundraising, hours may be higher temporarily.
Do I still need a bookkeeper if I have a fractional CFO?
Yes. A fractional CFO focuses on strategic financial leadership and analysis, not day-to-day transaction recording. The good news is that we provide both bookkeeping and fractional CFO services, so everything works together seamlessly under one roof.
Get the Financial Leadership Your Business Needs
Stop flying blind with your business finances. Whetzel & Co provides experienced fractional CFO services for Houston businesses that are ready to take their financial management to the next level. Call (832) 983-7080 for a free consultation, or contact us online to learn more.