Stage 1
Accurate Accounting Baseline
Clean, current historical bookkeeping data is the foundation. The owner relies on a bookkeeper or in-house admin to keep transactions categorized, reconciliations current, and the chart of accounts disciplined. There is no forward-looking financial guidance yet — the focus is on getting the past right so anything that comes next has solid ground to stand on.
Local Fractional can coordinate bookkeeping support through strategic partners if the client is moving toward Stage 2 or 3 and the books are not yet ready to support that work.
Who this fits: Newer or smaller operators where the priority is reliable historical reporting before forward-looking strategy can be useful.
Stage 2
Fractional Executive Advisory — $2,500/month retainer
High-level consultative growth checks utilizing accurate historical books. Up to twice-monthly strategic review meetings with a senior financial mind to pressure-test decisions, identify growth metrics, and provide an outside perspective on monthly results. The owner is still capable of running day-to-day financial management — the Advisor is a sounding board, not an embedded operator.
This is an advisory tier, not a fractional CFO engagement. It requires that Stage 1 is already in place — the books must be fully up-to-date and accurate for the Advisor to add value without spending the time on cleanup.
Who this fits: Operators with clean books who want senior perspective on quarterly decisions but do not yet need executive-level execution inside the business.
Stage 3 · Most common LF engagement
Embedded Fractional CFO — $5,000–$10,000/month flat retainer
Tactical, predictive financial design. Custom 13-week cash flow modeling, dynamic KPI scorecards, scenario forecasting, bank-line structuring, and active integration into the executive team's operating rhythm (EOS Level 10 or equivalent). The Fractional CFO is in the business weekly, owns financial outcomes alongside the CEO, and represents the business in lender and investor conversations.
Bookkeeping and controller-level support are available through strategic partners on higher-tier engagements at this stage — the CFO can quarterback the full finance function without the client having to source those layers separately.
Who this fits: $2M–$50M operators with active financial complexity — multiple revenue streams, employees, credit facilities, lender covenants, or strategic decisions that demand financial modeling. Most operators reach this stage when growth strain shows up in cash flow opacity or unmapped unit economics.
Stage 4
Institutional M&A & Corporate Exit Readiness
Maximizing enterprise valuation for equity liquidity. Quality of earnings preparation, EBITDA normalization, buy-side or sell-side advisory, data-room construction, diligence Q&A management, and post-close integration planning. This is project-based work, billed monthly over a 6–18 month timeline, that exists alongside (not in place of) the ongoing Fractional CFO retainer.
See Exit Planning & Sell-Side Advisory and SMB Acquisition Advisory for scope-specific detail on these engagements.
Who this fits: Owners 12–36 months from a planned sale, recapitalization, or strategic acquisition — or operators on the buy side preparing for an SMB acquisition.
