The Operating Layer of Finance.
Without the Full-Time Cost.
FP&A. Management reporting. Team leadership. Cross-functional partnership on the decisions that drive the P&L. Most $15M–$50M companies don't need a full-time CFO — they need a strong Finance Director plus a fractional CFO on top. That's what we deliver.
The Gap Most Companies Don't Realize They Have
The work between "the books are right" and "here's the strategic call" is where decisions get made. That's the Finance Director seat.
Your Controller Is Drowning
Your controller built the close, keeps the statements clean, and knows every general ledger quirk. But they're being asked to do FP&A, board reporting, and cross-functional analysis on top of their real job. Neither side gets done well.
Your "CFO" Is Really a Finance Director
You hired a CFO. They're spending 70% of their week on production work — running the close, fixing reports, chasing down numbers. The strategic work isn't getting done because there's no one underneath them to handle the operational layer.
Your CEO Doesn't Trust the Forecast
The monthly forecast is a spreadsheet that gets updated when someone has time. Nobody owns FP&A. Budgets are done once a year and abandoned. Real scenario planning is something you talk about but never produce.
Functional Leaders Don't Have Their Numbers
Your head of marketing doesn't know channel-level contribution margin. Your head of sales doesn't know customer-level profitability. Your head of ops doesn't know cost-per-unit by SKU. A Finance Director's job is to fix that.
The Finance Team Isn't Scaling
You've added headcount but the close still takes 12 days. Reports are still manual. New hires are doing the same work in different spreadsheets. The function isn't getting better — it's getting bigger.
You're Growing Past Your Setup
Revenue is doubling. Your finance function was built for a $15M company and you're at $35M. You need someone who has operated at the next stage to redesign the function before it breaks.
Finance Director Scope
The operating layer — everything between controller-level production and CFO-level strategy.
FP&A
Budgets, forecasts, variance analysis, scenario planning. The "what-if" work that turns numbers into decisions.
Management Reporting
Dashboards and operating reports that functional leaders actually use. Not 30 pages of statements — the 5 numbers that matter.
Cross-Functional Partnership
Sitting with marketing, sales, ops, and HR on the decisions that move margin. Channel economics, comp structure, unit costs, headcount planning.
Team Leadership
Running and developing the finance team. Hiring, structure, tools, process. The controller reports into this seat at most companies.
Fractional, Interim, or Project-Based
Fractional Finance Director — Ongoing
15–25 hours per week
Permanent Finance Director leadership at part-time hours. We own the operating layer ongoing — monthly close oversight, FP&A, management reporting, team leadership, and cross-functional partnership. Pairs well with a fractional CFO for strategic work.
Interim Finance Director
Full-time, 3–9 months
Your Finance Director left or is on leave. We cover the seat end-to-end while you hire permanently. More on interim engagements here.
Project-Based
Defined scope
Specific build-out work: standing up FP&A from scratch, implementing a new ERP or planning tool, designing the monthly reporting package, or restructuring the finance team. Scoped start, scoped end.
Common Questions
A Finance Director owns the operating layer — FP&A, management reporting, team leadership, cross-functional partnership with sales, marketing, and operations. A CFO owns the strategic layer — capital allocation, investor relations, M&A, board leadership. At smaller companies one person often does both; at mid-market, separating the roles creates a healthier function than asking one CFO to do everything. Full breakdown here.
Most companies in the $15M to $50M revenue range are better served by a strong Finance Director plus a fractional CFO than by a full-time CFO. The Finance Director runs the function day-to-day. The fractional CFO brings strategic counsel for the decisions that justify the seniority. This structure costs less than a full-time CFO, covers more ground, and scales more cleanly.
Both. Fractional engagements are ongoing — typically 15 to 25 hours per week — for companies that need permanent Finance Director leadership but don't need a full-time seat yet. Interim engagements cover gaps when a Finance Director has left or is on extended leave, typically 3 to 9 months while you hire permanently.
The operating scope: monthly close oversight, FP&A (budgets, forecasts, variance analysis), management reporting and dashboards, finance team leadership and development, cross-functional partnership on pricing / comp / unit economics, board reporting support, and system implementation for tools like NetSuite, Sage Intacct, QuickBooks, Adaptive, Pigment, and Looker.