Fractional CFO Services

More than just a CPA -

Your Fractional CFO.

Gain a top-tier financial executive without the full-time hire. We give purpose-driven owners of $2M-$5M businesses the cash-flow visibility, forecasting, and decision support to make smart decisions - month after month.

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Charlotte, NC · CPA-Led

Serves $2M-$5M Businesses

20+ Years CPA Experience

Accepting new engagements - Q3

13-Week Cash Forecast - Week 1

Every engagement starts here.

Tunstall
CFO Advisory
By the Numbers

14 days

From kickoff to your first monthly close & forecast

4.6x

Median ROI on our advisory fee in year one

0

Missed payroll, surprise tax bills, or "let me check" answers

The Stakes

Most businesses don't fail at selling. They fail at the numbers.

82%

of small businesses fail due to poor cash-flow management - not lack of profit, not lack of demand.

Source: U.S. Bank / SCORE small-business research

66%

of business owners say improving cash flow is their single biggest challenge this year.

Source: QuickBooks State of Small Business Cash Flow

~ 1/3

the cost of a full-time CFO - for the same strategic horsepower, scaled to the hours you actually need.

Source: Industry comparison — fractional vs. full-time CFO

When You Need A Fractional CFO

If Any of These Sound Familiar, You're Already Late.

The owners who wait for a crisis pay more - in money, time, and stress - than the ones who get help while everything still looks fine.

Growth Has Outpaced the Numbers

Revenue is climbing, but you can't tell if you're actually making money on every line.

Cash Surprises You Most Months

You make sales, then wonder where the cash went. Payroll feels closer than it should.

A Bank or Investor Wants a Forecast

You need a defensible 3-year projection - and a person who can sit across the table for it.

You're Thinking About Selling

Buyer due diligence rewards clean books and clear KPIs. Most owners are 12-18 months from ready.

Pricing Decisions Feel Like Guesses

You haven't raised prices, dropped a SKU, or vetted a new channel against unit economics.

You Have No Forecast or Budget

You're running on a P&L from last month - never on a plan for next quarter.

Every Hire Feels Like a Bet

You can't model the dollar impact of a $90K hire - so you keep saying 'not yet'.

QuickBooks Looks Fine - You Don't Trust It

Reports are inconsistent month to month, categories are messy, and you stopped opening them.

What's Included

The Fractional CFO Engagement, in Six Modules.

One CPA. One engagement. Six durable systems your business will still have ten years from now.

Every Tunstall fractional CFO engagement is built around the same thorough, proactive, systematic framework. We tune the intensity to your stage - but the modules don't change, because they're what works.

Cash-Flow Command

A rolling 13-week cash forecast that tells you, on any Monday, exactly where the bank balance lands.

Weekly cash forecast
AR / AP triage
Banking & lender liaison

Forecast & Budget

A driver-based annual budget plus a 3-year financial model - the artifact you hand to a bank, board, or buyer.

Annual operating plan
3-year P&L / balance sheet
Scenario & sensitivity modeling

KPI Scorecard

A monthly one-page dashboard of the 6–10 numbers your business actually runs on - not 40 metrics nobody reads.

Monthly close & MD&A
KPI scorecard
Variance commentary

Strategic Decision Support

Before every big move - pricing, hiring, channel, capex - we run the numbers together so the call is informed.

Pricing & margin analysis
Hire ROI modeling
Make / buy / lease decisions

Quarterly Strategy Sessions

We sit down each quarter to review the score, reset the plan, and align tax strategy with operations.

Quarterly strategy meeting
Tax strategy alignment
Owner goal review

Exit & Transition Prep

When it's time to sell, recap, or pass the business on - we get your books, KPIs, and story buyer-ready 12–18 months out.

Quality-of-Earnings prep
Add-back & normalization analysis
Buyer / advisor coordination

How It Works

Four Steps From First Call to Confident Decisions.

Predictable, low-friction, and engineered to deliver value in your first month - not your sixth.

01

Discovery Call

A 30-minute conversation about where the business is, what decisions are coming, and what success looks like for you. No cost, no pitch.

DAY 1 - 30 MIN

02

Financial Diagnostic

We pull your last 12 months of books, model cash flow, and deliver a written diagnostic of what we found - and what an engagement would cover.

WEEK 1-2

03

Onboarding & Cleanup

We get the books to a state we can trust, build your KPI dashboard, and stand up the 13-week cash forecast. Your first monthly close runs end-of-month.

MONTH 1

04

Monthly CFO Rhythm

Monthly close, dashboard, and strategy meeting. Quarterly planning session. Decision support on demand - we are one Slack message away.

ONGOING

The Cost of a Bad Decision

Estimate the price tag of going it alone.

One mis-timed hire, one mis-priced launch, one bad lease - the math usually dwarfs the cost of a CFO partner. Run your own numbers below.

Annual revenue $500K

$500K $2M $5M $10M

Operating margin 5%

5% 15% 25% 35% 45%

The decision in front of you

Hire a senior team member (wrong fit)

Mis-price a flagship offering

Sign the wrong lease

Take debt to fund growth (mis-timed)

Launch a product that misses

Estimated Downside If It Goes Wrong

$20K

over 24 months • conservative estimate

"A $150K hire who isn't the right fit costs you ~$420K through year 2 - comp, onboarding, lost productivity, and the opportunity cost of the seat."

Annual revenue $500K
Profit at 5% margin $25K/yr
Downside as % of revenue 4.0%

Multiple of a Tunstall annual fee 0.3x

Let's model your real decision →

Estimates use industry-typical downside ranges. Your call may be smaller or bigger - that's exactly what we model together.

David Tunstall

CPA · Founder

Why Tunstall

A CPA in Your Corner - Not a Spreadsheet Vendor.

"The numbers are the engine room. Strategy without them is a guess; strategy with them is a decision."

Most fractional-CFO outfits are ex-controllers selling spreadsheets. We are a boutique advisory CPA firm based in Charlotte, NC, founded by David Tunstall, CPA. Every engagement is led by a licensed CPA - not handed off - and built on the same thorough, proactive, systematic discipline we bring to every client.

We work with purpose-driven owners of $2M–$5M businesses in e-commerce, SaaS, and modern services who want a long-term strategic financial partner - not another vendor.

Licensed CPA - admitted to practice before the IRS

Boutique advisory firm - partner-level attention

Specialists in e-commerce, SaaS, and modern services

Flat-fee engagements quoted before we start

CFO Insights

The questions every owner asks before they call.

Don't see yours? Bring it to the call - we'd rather answer in writing than dance around it.

How is a CFO different from a bookkeeper or tax CPA?

Your bookkeeper records what has already happened, and your CPA reports it to the IRS for compliance. A CFO looks forward. We act as your strategic partner—forecasting cash flow, modeling growth scenarios, optimizing margins, and making high-level financial decisions to actively scale your company.

When is the right time to hire a CFO?

Most companies recognize the need for a CFO when they hit rapid growth, face complex cash flow challenges, prepare to raise capital, or plan for a future exit. If you are making critical business decisions based on gut feelings rather than hard, real-time financial data, it’s time to bring a CFO into the mix.

Will a CFO replace my existing accounting team?

Not at all. A CFO acts as the financial executive of your organization. We typically sit a layer above your current bookkeepers, controllers, and tax professionals. Our job is to lead your team, ensure the data they produce is perfectly accurate, and translate those numbers into actionable business intelligence.

What should I expect in the first 90 days?

The first phase is entirely about establishing visibility and control. Expect a thorough audit of your current financial health, the implementation of a 13-week rolling cash flow forecast, a streamlined month-end close process, and the creation of a custom dashboard tailored to your specific KPIs.

How does a CFO help with fundraising or M&A?

Investors and buyers demand rigorous financial clarity. A CFO prepares your business for intensive due diligence, builds bulletproof financial models, defends your valuation to stakeholders, and helps structure deals to maximize your return while strictly mitigating risk.

What is the ROI of CFO services?

A strong CFO almost always pays for themselves. The ROI comes directly from optimizing your pricing strategies, renegotiating vendor contracts, preventing costly cash shortages, and accelerating the overall enterprise value of your business.

Do you offer fractional or interim CFO services?

Yes. Many growing businesses need top-tier financial leadership but don't yet require a full-time executive. Our fractional CFO services give you access to a dedicated, high-level financial strategist at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire, scaling up only as your business needs dictate.

NOT READY FOR A CONSULTATION YET?

You can't outsource the decisions.

But you can stop making them alone.

Your Road to Financial Clarity Starts Here. If now isn’t the right time to bring on a Fractional CFO, you can still start thinking like one. Subscribe to receive our free CFO Insights directly to your inbox to learn how to optimize your business's financial health and scale sustainably.

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