🏴‍☠️ 7 things a real CFO does (that your bookkeeper never will)

Most founders don’t know what a CFO actually does

They think they’ve “got finance covered” because they have:

• A bookkeeper

• A CPA

• A quarterly investor update

But none of those people are telling them what actually matters.

And definitely not asking the questions that force hard but valuable decisions.

What they really have is a rearview mirror.
What they need is a dashboard.

📣From a recent call:

Most sub $10M revenue small business owners are flying blind on cash, margins, and team cost.

Not because they’re careless.
Because no one ever taught them what a real CFO does.

Best Links

💰Sales: Most founders think they need more revenue. What they really need is a finance system that ties every dollar of revenue to margin, growth, and a clean sale. (Link)

🌟 Industry Trends:
Noel Ceta’s framework for finding content gaps (link) and Jovian Gautama on how to make your brand entertaining (Link)

🍏 Extra Credit:
For the next week, business owners get exclusive access to my Valuation & Roadmap App, see what company is worth and the exact steps to increase that value before an exit - in less than 3 minutes. Spots are limited while we test the private release. Hit reply.

7 things a real CFO does (that your bookkeeper never will)

Your bookkeeper closes the books.
Your CPA preps tax returns.
Your CFO translates numbers into decisions.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

1. Builds a rolling 13-week cash forecast

2. Tracks gross margin by customer, product, and segment

3. Identifies billing gaps and accounts receivable slippage

4. Models hiring and contractor costs before you scale

5. Uncovers which work is profitable vs ego-based

6. Spots pricing issues early and recommends action

7. Packages your financials for valuation

A good CFO isn’t about reconciling credit cards or cleaning up payroll.
They’re about helping you make decisions like a real CEO.

When to bring in a fractional CFO…and what to expect

If you’re at or above $3M in revenue, and still managing your company using bank account balances…

It’s probably time.

Not for a full-time $200K hire.
For a fractional CFO who can sit in your ops meetings, review financials forward, and spot risk before it eats your margin.

Here’s what they should actually do:

• Give you a forward cash forecast, not just historicals

• Identify margin levers and pricing risk

• Build dashboards you can actually use

• Coach your ops + finance leads to think like owners

• Package your financials for investors or acquirers

• Help you understand what your company is actually worth

If they’re just giving you charts your bookkeeper could produce, they’re not a CFO.

They’re a glorified spreadsheet.

This founder was doing $10M+ in annual revenue…and no profit

He had a bookkeeper, a tax CPA, and weekly reports that didn’t say anything useful.

In working together we built visibility to his financials:

• Two clients with negative margin (after delivery costs)

• Projects billing was delayed 45–60 days due to his own team

• Pricing was flat while labor costs had risen 18%

• No forward cash forecast at all

Here’s what changed:

• We built a 13-week rolling cash forecast

• Repriced 3 clients and built a long-term plan to pivot

• Set up margin visibility by project

• Tied comp to gross profit, not hours

Nine weeks later, he knew exactly which clients were profitable, what levers to pull, and where his business was bleeding.

He didn’t need a full-time CFO.
He needed clarity.

Before You Go

Curious what the opportunities in your business are? Hit reply and we’ll walk through your stats and plan together.

See you next week.

-Kinza