Senior financial leadership and strategic decision-making support — delivery standards, engagement structure, and service scope.
This playbook is a placeholder — the service overview and delivery framework are documented below. Full SOP detail covering engagement workflow, deliverable templates, and client communication standards will be expanded in the next phase.
Collective's Fractional CFO service provides senior financial leadership and strategic decision-making support to organizations that need CFO-level thinking without a full-time hire. The Advisor (Seat 1) serves as the CFO lead — embedding at the leadership level to bring financial clarity, capital strategy, and forward-looking insight into how the client runs their business.
This service is distinct from bookkeeping and controllership. Where those services focus on accurate historical financial records, the Fractional CFO engagement is forward-looking — helping ownership and leadership teams understand what the numbers mean, what decisions they should drive, and how to build financial infrastructure that supports growth.
Early-stage financial infrastructure design — building the models, projections, and reporting frameworks that allow founders to make decisions with financial confidence and communicate clearly with investors or lenders.
Equity structure design, cap table modeling, and advisory support through funding rounds, employee equity programs, and ownership transitions.
Annual budget development and ongoing forecasting cadences — comparing actuals against plan, identifying variances early, and helping leadership understand what the numbers are telling them.
Building multi-scenario revenue models that test growth assumptions, pricing changes, or new service line launches against financial outcomes — giving leadership a data-driven foundation for strategic decisions.
Financial due diligence support, deal structure advisory, and integration planning for acquisitions, mergers, and business sales. Includes coordination with legal and transactional advisors.
| Function | Seat 1 — Advisor/Coach | Seat 3 — Accounting Supervisor |
|---|---|---|
| Client relationship & CFO advisory lead | Owns | — |
| Financial modeling & scenario planning | Owns | Data support |
| Budget & forecast development | Leads | Financial data & reporting |
| Cap table & equity advisory | Owns | — |
| M&A due diligence & advisory | Owns | Financial data support |
| Client financial reporting | Reviews & interprets | Prepares |
| Integration with bookkeeping/controllership | Coordinates | Executes |