Strategic Financial Leadership—When You’re Not Ready for a Full-Time CFO

Hiring a Fractional CFO through Founding Principals gives you access to a high-level financial strategist without the cost or commitment of a full-time executive. This part-time partner will help you move beyond basic bookkeeping—bringing clarity to your numbers, guiding strategic decisions, and supporting your long-term financial goals.

When to hire us for a Fractional CFO role

• You’re planning to grow or raise funding and need financial modeling to support your case

• You want someone to translate your numbers into actionable insights and strategies

• You need a clear, data-backed plan for hiring, pricing, or expanding

• You want your leadership team to think like a CFO—even if you don’t have one full-time

What this role includes

• Monthly financial strategy sessions

• Budgeting and forecasting tied to your growth goals

• Cash flow management and profitability planning

• Investor and lender readiness (decks, models, data rooms)

• Decision support: pricing, hiring, marketing, capital investment

Case Study: Transforming Financial Operations for a Thriving Law Firm

Client Overview

A growing law firm was managing multiple disjointed financial processes—ranging from customer acquisition tracking and budgeting to payroll, performance reporting, and tax planning. Recognizing the need for an integrated approach to financial management and operational efficiency, the firm engaged our services to revamp and streamline their processes.

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Project Goals

The engagement focused on three key areas:

• Fragmented Data and Systems: The firm relied on several disparate tools that made it difficult to have a comprehensive view of key financial metrics such as customer acquisition cost and weekly cash flow.

• Inefficient Processes: Existing methods for budgeting, payroll, and performance tracking were not only time-consuming but also prone to errors, complicating the decision-making process.

• Lack of Strategic Financial Planning: Without a unified dashboard or clearly defined KPIs, forecasting staffing needs, establishing incentive plans, and planning for future tax strategies remained challenging.

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Our Approach and Implementation

Integrated Financial Dashboard:

• Objective: To consolidate key financial data into one real-time view.

• Implementation: Developed a comprehensive dashboard in Jirav that integrated customer details, customer acquisition cost, and weekly cash flow analysis. This allowed the firm to monitor its financial health on a weekly basis.

• Budget Integration: Incorporated the firm’s existing budget into the dashboard, ensuring all financial data was centralized for easier tracking and reporting.

Streamlined Payroll and Performance Tracking

Payroll Management:

• Objective: Ensure timely and accurate employee payments.

• Implementation: Ran payroll for employees starting in January, automating the process to reduce manual errors.

Gusto Platform Optimization:

• Establishing Goals & KPIs: Set clear goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) within the Gusto platform, and assigned responsibilities to the correct parties to ensure accountability.

• Process Documentation: Documented the process flow for reporting and available reports, which streamlined operations and enhanced transparency.

• Hourly Shift & Calendar Pay Dates: Detailed documentation of the hourly shift processes and calendar pay dates ensured consistency in payroll execution.

 Financial Strategy and Capacity Planning

Incentive and Bonus Planning:

• Objective: Align employee performance with financial goals.

• Implementation: Conducted in-depth financial analysis to design incentive and bonus plans that motivate performance and reward achievement.

Capacity Planning:

• Objective: Forecast staffing needs to support growing operations.

• Implementation: Used the Finance Dashboard to forecast people requirements, ensuring the firm was well-prepared for future growth.

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Financial KPIs Development:

• Determined weekly, monthly, and quarterly KPIs to keep the firm on track to meet its annual goals, providing a clear framework for performance assessment.

Establishing a Robust Accounting/Finance Department

Shadow System Implementation:

• Objective: Overcome limitations from the existing service provider (1-800-Accountants), which did not offer refunds beyond 30 days.

• Implementation: Set up a shadow system for deeper financial analysis, ensuring continuity and flexibility in accounting operations.

Departmental Structure and Policy Development:

• Prepared comprehensive finance and accounting policies, and defined the number of individuals needed for the accounting staff along with associated KPIs.

• Established an in-house collections process, creating a structured approach to managing receivables.

Forward-Looking Tax Planning

Tax Planning for 2025:

• Objective: Develop a proactive tax strategy to optimize the firm’s financial position in the upcoming fiscal year.

• Implementation: Arranged a meeting with a tax expert to discuss and strategize tax approaches for 2025, ensuring the firm was well-prepared for future tax obligations.

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Results & Business Impact

✔ Enhanced Visibility: The integrated dashboard provided a real-time overview of critical financial metrics, empowering the firm's leadership to make data-driven decisions.

✔ Streamlined Operations: By centralizing budgeting, payroll, and KPI tracking, operational efficiency improved significantly, reducing the risk of errors and redundancies.

✔ Strategic Preparedness: Proactive capacity planning and tax strategy sessions positioned the firm to handle future growth and financial challenges effectively.

✔ Accountability and Transparency: Clear documentation and assignment of KPIs ensured that every team member understood their responsibilities, leading to improved performance across departments.