What Should a Fractional CFO Deliver in Your First 12 Months?

By Douglas Kohn, MBA, CPA

If you brought in a fractional CFO today, what should be measurably better a year from now? It shouldn't be more spreadsheets, a monthly call that just recaps last month, or a full-time CFO salary. It should be a business that runs better and makes decisions with numbers it trusts.

I work as a CPA and fractional CFO for real estate owners and operators, medical and dental practices, and owner-led businesses in Boca Raton, South Florida and New York. Here is the 12-month roadmap I hold myself to, along with what success looks like at each stage.

What is a fractional CFO?

A fractional CFO is an experienced finance executive, often a CPA, who works part-time or on retainer to give a business CFO-level leadership without the cost of a full-time hire. You may also hear outsourced CFO or, for more hands-on accounting oversight, fractional controller.

For most businesses doing roughly $2 million to $50 million in revenue, a full-time CFO is more than they need, but a bookkeeper alone isn't enough. A fractional CFO fills that gap with strategy, while a fractional controller makes sure the accounting underneath is accurate.

What should a fractional CFO fix in the first 60 days?

Clean, timely books. The month should close within 10 to 15 days, every account should be reconciled, and revenue and expenses should be categorized consistently.

Everything else depends on this. If the books are three months behind or the chart of accounts lumps property expenses together, any forecast built on them is guesswork. In the first 60 days I usually:

• Reconcile bank, credit card, loan and escrow accounts

• Restructure the chart of accounts so it reflects how the business actually earns and spends

• Set up a written month-end close checklist with owners and deadlines

• For real estate, separate reporting by property or entity; for practices, by location or provider

Success looks like this: numbers you trust, on time, every month.

Why does a 13-week cash forecast matter by month 3?

Because most small businesses run with less than a month of cash cushion. A rolling 13-week forecast shows you a crunch weeks before it arrives, not on payroll day.

The JPMorgan Chase Institute studied 597,000 small businesses and found the median one held only 27 "cash buffer days," meaning enough cash to cover 27 days of typical outflows if money stopped coming in. A quarter held 13 days or fewer. (Source: JPMorgan Chase Institute, "Cash is King: Flows, Balances, and Buffer Days," https://www.jpmorganchase.com/institute/all-topics/business-growth-and-entrepreneurship/report-cash-flows-balances-and-buffer-days)

A 13-week cash forecast ties real payables, receivables, payroll, rent, debt service and tax payments to specific weeks. For a dental practice, that means modeling insurance reimbursement lag. For a property owner, it means seeing a vacancy, capital expense or rate reset coming before it hits.

Success looks like this: no more surprises on payroll week or a loan covenant.

How does a fractional CFO improve margins by month 6?

By finding where margin is leaking and assigning someone to fix each leak. The usual suspects are pricing, overhead creep, vendor contracts, payer mix and property-level operating expenses.

With clean books and a cash view in place, the next step is a line-by-line look at profitability. That can mean renegotiating a service contract, revisiting fee schedules, reviewing staffing against production, or comparing operating expenses across properties to spot an outlier.

Success looks like this: specific savings, each with someone accountable for it.

What does lender and investor readiness look like by month 9?

A lender-ready package you can send the same day it's requested, plus ongoing tracking of DSCR and loan covenants so nothing catches you off guard.

Banks and investors want consistent financial statements, a clear debt schedule, property or practice-level performance and evidence that management watches its numbers. A fractional CFO keeps debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) and covenant calculations current every month, not just at renewal. If an audit, refinance, sale or capital raise is on the horizon, reporting is already in shape for due diligence.

For more on financing real estate, see our articles at https://www.ultramarrealestate.com/blog.

Success looks like this: faster financing on better terms.

How should a fractional CFO support decisions by month 12?

By modeling the scenarios before you commit: before you sign a lease, hire, buy a property, add a location or raise capital.

By the end of the first year, the finance function should look forward rather than back. Should you buy the building or keep leasing? Can the practice support another associate? What happens to cash flow if rates stay where they are at refinance? These questions get answered with a model in front of you, not after the fact.

Success looks like this: major decisions made with the numbers in front of you.

What is a realistic scope for a part-time CFO?

A fractional CFO or outsourced controller works part-time, so targets should match your starting point, your data quality and how much access they actually have.

A business with years of unreconciled books will spend longer on step one. A practice with a strong office manager may move faster. The right approach is to set a baseline in the first month, agree on realistic goals and measure progress every quarter. The real question isn't how many reports your CFO produces. It's how much better the business performs because of them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is a fractional CFO in South Florida and New York?

Douglas Kohn, CPA, MBA, is a fractional CFO and outsourced controller serving real estate owners and operators, medical and dental practices, and owner-led businesses in Boca Raton, South Florida and New York. You can reach him at 212-464-7324.

How much does a fractional CFO cost compared with a full-time CFO?

A fractional CFO is typically engaged on a monthly retainer for a set number of hours, which costs a fraction of a full-time CFO's salary and benefits. The scope is matched to what the business needs now and can grow over time.

What is the difference between a fractional CFO and a fractional controller?

A fractional controller oversees the accounting itself: the close, reconciliations and accurate financial statements. A fractional CFO uses those numbers for forecasting, financing, strategy and decisions. Many businesses need both, and one CPA can often cover both roles.

Do real estate owners need a fractional CFO?

Many do, especially those with multiple properties or entities, bank debt with DSCR covenants, or plans to refinance, buy or raise capital. Property-level reporting and covenant tracking are core parts of the work.

How quickly will I see results?

Most owners see cleaner, faster monthly reporting within the first 60 days and a working 13-week cash forecast by month three. Larger gains in margins, financing and decision-making build over the rest of the first year.

Ready to see what a fractional CFO could do for your business?

If you're a real estate owner, practice owner or business operator in Boca Raton, South Florida or New York, I'd be glad to talk through where your finances stand and what the first 90 days could look like. Call 212-464-7324 to schedule a conversation.

About the author: Douglas Kohn, CPA, MBA, is a fractional CFO and outsourced CFO and controller based in Boca Raton, serving clients across South Florida and New York. He works with real estate owners and operators, medical and dental practices, and owner-led businesses.