Date Published:
Author: Joe
Most small business owners hear "CFO advisory" and picture a corner office on the fortieth floor. A suit with a spreadsheet. Something meant for companies with hundreds of employees and a finance department.
That is not what this is.
For most of the business owners we work with, CFO advisory is a monthly conversation backed by clean numbers. It is someone looking at your books with you and helping you answer the questions that actually matter. Can I afford to hire? Am I making money on this type of job? What do I need to set aside for taxes this quarter? Should I buy that equipment now or wait?
If you have ever stared at a profit and loss report and thought "I have no idea what this is telling me," you are not alone. That is exactly where advisory starts to make sense.
This part is not glamorous but it is the foundation. CFO advisory does not work if the numbers are wrong. You cannot make good decisions from bad data.
Before we get into advisory work, your bookkeeping needs to be current and accurate. For some clients, that means we start with a cleanup. Transactions need to be categorized correctly in QuickBooks. Bank accounts need to be reconciled. Revenue and expenses need to show up in the right months.
Once the books are clean, that is when advisory becomes useful. Without that step, any advice would just be guessing dressed up in a spreadsheet.
Here is what CFO advisory actually looks like once things are running:
At the beginning of each month, we close out the previous month's books. That means all transactions are categorized, reconciled, and reviewed. Nothing is sitting in "uncategorized" or "ask my accountant."
Then we put together a management report. This is not the same as the standard reports QuickBooks generates. It is a summary built around what the business owner actually needs to see. Revenue by service type or job category. Margins. Cash position. How the month compared to the previous month and the same month last year.
The goal is to make it readable in five minutes, not fifty.
From there, we have a conversation. Sometimes it is a call. Sometimes it is a quick email exchange. The point is to connect the numbers to real decisions. A contractor might want to know whether a certain type of job is worth continuing. A service business owner might want to understand why revenue was up but cash felt tight. Someone thinking about hiring wants to know what the business can actually support.
These are not complicated finance questions. But they require accurate numbers and someone willing to walk through them with you.
It is not a one-time consultation. A single meeting where someone looks at your books and gives you a list of recommendations sounds helpful, but it rarely changes anything. The value comes from consistency. Monthly rhythm. Knowing your numbers every month, not just at tax time.
It is also not the same as having a CPA. Your CPA handles tax preparation and compliance. They make sure your returns are filed correctly. CFO advisory is about what happens between tax seasons. It is the operational side of your finances. How the business is actually running, month to month, and what the numbers say about where it is headed.
A good advisory setup and a good CPA work together. We handle the monthly financial picture and make sure your CPA gets clean, organized books when tax time comes around. That alone saves most clients hours of back and forth with their accountant.
In our experience, the business owners who get the most from advisory are past the early startup phase. They have revenue coming in. They have expenses that are more complicated than a phone bill and a truck payment. And they have reached a point where the financial side of the business feels harder to keep track of.
That usually means service-based businesses with a few employees or subcontractors. Contractors, remodelers, and trades businesses are common in our client base, but it is not limited to that. We work with owners across Edmonds, Everett, Lynnwood, and the surrounding areas. Any business owner who wants to understand what the numbers mean and use them to make better decisions is a good fit.
If you are still in the phase where you can track everything in your head, you probably do not need advisory yet. But if you have caught yourself saying "I think we are profitable but I am not really sure," that is usually the signal.
CFO advisory at Plumb Financial starts at $1,000 per month. That includes the monthly close, management reporting, and the ongoing conversation about what the numbers mean for your business.
Bookkeeping is typically $800 to $1,500 per month depending on transaction volume and complexity. Many clients start with bookkeeping and add advisory once their books are clean and they want more visibility into the business.
We keep pricing flat and predictable. No billable hours that surprise you at the end of the month.
CFO advisory is not about making your business more complicated. It is about making it clearer. Knowing where you stand every month instead of guessing. Having someone in your corner who understands the numbers and can help you think through the decisions that keep you up at night.
If your books are clean and you want more from your financial setup than just filing taxes once a year, advisory might be worth a conversation.
And if your books are not clean yet, that is where we start.
