Partnering for Profit: Accounting Firms and Fractional CFOs

In today's business landscape, many accounting firms are looking to expand their services to include budgeting and forecasting but find themselves overwhelmed by the demand for their current services. Similarly, dedicated Fractional CFOs have the experience to implement effective budgeting and forecasting processes but lack the knowledge and resources to handle accounting app implementation and bookkeeping.

In this article, we explore how specialized accounting firms can partner with dedicated Fractional CFOs to create profitable and complementary partnerships. Through our PlanGuru Partnership Program, we offer a way for these two types of advisors to connect and find mutually beneficial opportunities.

Recently, most of the discussion around Fractional CFO (Chief Financial Officers) services is geared towards creating a fully integrated firm that offers everything from QuickBooks implementation to a full budgeting/forecasting cadence. While this should be the goal of all larger accounting firms, it is simply impossible for some smaller, more specialized firms.  

We meet thousands of experts in the QuickBooks ecosystem at events like Scaling New Heights and through the online CPE that we provide; all of them appreciate the value in budgeting/ forecasting, but most are so overwhelmed with demand for their current services that they simply don't have the bandwidth to bolt on a Fractional CFO offering. 

At the other end of the spectrum, we work with hundreds of dedicated Fractional CFOs (Chief Financial Officers). While they have the experience to design and implement an effective budgeting and forecasting process, they typically have no desire (or lack the application knowledge) to do a proper implementation of accounting apps or ongoing bookkeeping. When they do find a viable prospect, it is highly likely that the prospect does not have accurate, timely, sufficiently detailed financial data (the prerequisite for a meaningful budgeting/forecasting process), and they struggle to get the engagement off the ground. 

I think you can see where this is going, as the synergies are obvious.  

That is why we’ve created the PlanGuru Partnership Program, a way for you to find complimentary business advisors. Any business advisor can issue an RFM (request for meeting) by answering a handful of questions on our website.  You can issue your own RFM or just sign-up to get on the email list to receive RFMs from other advisors. There is no charge to participate in this community, and you do not need to be a PlanGuru customer.

You can issue an RFM for a particular client, or you can issue a general RFM for networking purposes. We will have separate RFM submission forms for each situation. You do not need to reveal your firm name (or a client’s name) or precise location if you want to issue an RFM but remain anonymous. This RFM will be sent to all relevant advisors in the program. You will be provided a list of all firms that replied to your RFM.

There is virtually no overlap in the services that these two types of advisors provide, so there is little chance that you will butt heads over who is going to do what. Dedicated Fractional CFOs are looking for a reliable accounting partner who can get their client/prospect’s house in order based on the specifications defined during an initial review. Critically, they don’t want to fear that their accounting partner will eventually take the Fractional CFO business.  

Many of these Fractional CFOs come from a corporate finance environment where they've never had to sell anything, and they often struggle to find/close prospects. You could be sitting on a huge reservoir of opportunity because your clients have accurate, timely, sufficiently detailed financial data. It’s a matter of getting together and forging a partnership framework where both sides feel comfortable handing over the keys to the car.

A business implementing a meaningful budgeting and forecasting process typically needs more from the accounting side than one that is primarily concerned with compliance and tax. The most common example of this is an income statement with a single revenue account label “Sales.” Adding a few new revenue accounts in QuickBooks is easy, but getting the results to hit those accounts appropriately might not be.

Supporting the Fractional CFO work will create more business for you. You can charge for that based on your standard billing rates, but we recommend a revenue share model if you introduce your client to the dedicated Fractional CFO. You are the one with the established business relationship that you could potentially jeopardize if the fractional CFO’s work is not satisfactory from the client's perspective. Revenue shares could range from 15% to 50%, depending on how much of the burden you bare during the monthly closing and review process. 

As we have discussed, specialized accounting firms and dedicated Fractional CFOs have unique expertise and resources to offer in a business setting. By forming partnerships, these two types of advisors can complement each other's services and create profitable opportunities for both parties. Our PlanGuru Partnership Program makes it easy for these advisors to connect and find mutually beneficial opportunities. By leveraging each other's strengths and working together, specialized accounting firms and dedicated Fractional CFOs can help their clients achieve their financial goals and achieve success for themselves as well.