Fractional CFO Services have been around a while. Productized CFO Services, well, not so much.

However, if you’re even remotely thinking about offering CFO or advisory services we strongly suggest you take a look at offering Productized CFO Services over Fractional CFO Services. Here’s why…

What is a Fractional CFO?
Someone who offers a fully customized engagement for each client they work with. This allows the client to get the benefits of an executive without having to pay for one.

What is a Productized CFO?
Someone who offers the same deliverables to each client they work with. This allows the client to get the benefits of an executive without having to pay for one.

What’s the Difference?
The outcome for the client is the same: they get the benefits of an executive without having to pay for one.

However, the way you perform the service is totally different. A Fractional CFO service is not scalable, whereas a Productized CFO services is scalable.

With a Fractional CFO Service:

• Each client will feel like a part-time job. Thus, you’re limited to the number of clients you can take on.
• It’s much harder to delegate aspects of the engagement to your team because you’re performing, essentially, a job - not a systematized process.
  
• If any one client leaves, it could be major hit to your revenue.

With a Productized CFO Service:

• You’re performing the same set of deliverables for each client which means you can earn more without having to work more.
  
• You can delegate aspects of the engagement to your team (or the entire engagement!) since the processes are all documented.
• You can take on more clients without incurring substantially more costs (which is the definition of scalable).
  

The Bottom Line

The winner in this showdown is Productized CFO Services. You’ll be able to take on more clients (thus earn more) without a substantial increase in costs (your time + your employee’s time).