How to Start a Profitable CFO Advisory Practice in 5 Steps
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How to Start a Profitable CFO Advisory Practice in 5 Steps

Adam Lean
June 25th, 2025 • 5 min read

The 5 Steps You Should Follow to Start - or Add - a CFO Advisory Service to Your Practice

As bookkeeping and tax prep continue to automize, accountants are looking for a way to stay ahead of the tech and avoid being commoditized.

This means offering a service that is future-proof (meaning an app or AI can’t do it) and not a commodity.
Enter CFO Advisory services, which has the additional advantage of drawing upon the skills accountants have already developed.

Today, we’ll cover the steps you need to take to start your own CFO Advisory service.

Watch the Full Breakdown 

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Step 1: Decide That You Actually Want to Provide CFO Advisory Services

A CFO Advisory service is where you meet monthly with a small business owner to explain (in language they can understand) what’s working and what’s not in their business.

You are guiding – not doing anything on behalf of the client each month.

CFO Advisors spend about 4 hours serving each client per month. That breaks down to:
  • 2 hours preparing for the meeting
  • 1 hour in the meeting
  • 1 hour to check in with your client and respond to any questions they have throughout the month

What Makes This Different From Fraction CFO Services?

As a Fractional CFO, you’re taking on the role of a CFO and you will be responsible for several deliverables FOR the client. With CFO Advisory services, on the other hand, you’re guiding – not doing. This is how you can spend only 4 hours per month per client but still charge around $2,000 per month.

Step 2: Have A Specific Process For Providing CFO Advisory Services 

Having specific processes for proving CFO Advisory services is what allows you to serve each of your clients in 4 hours per month.

Specific Processes allow you to:

  • Delegate all or part of the system for each client to your team members. Because everyone is using the same system, clients can seamlessly move from you to someone else on your team without disruption.
  • Sell your practice. Because you – as the practice owner – are not required. Unlike Fractional CFO work, you won’t own a stressful job, rather, you’ll own a systems-based practice that’s scalable and sellable.

Step 3: Start Getting Leads

The key to getting leads is to present this service in a way that makes sense to non-financial business owners. We cannot go up to a business owner, like someone that owns a roofing company and say “I offer CFO services, want to sign up?” When they hear CFO – they immediately think expensive accountant.

Instead, we need to present this service in a way that makes immediate sense to a business owner why they need it.

That means explaining benefits – not features.

Some examples of benefits:

  • I’ll help prevent business failure
  • I’ll show you how to get and keep more cash, and how to take home more money
  • I’ll be your go-to financial professional ready to help guide you at all times

Not only are these the benefits you provide – they’re the benefits business owners want and understand.

If you can connect the dots that your CFO Advisory service will help a business owner get what they want you’ll have a much easier time selling this service.

We recommend that over the first 3 months, you try to get 6 leads from business owners where you’re giving them a proposal for your CFO Advisory services. You should be able to land, from these 6 leads, 3 CFO Advisory engagements.

Step 4: Converting Your 6 Leads in The First 3 Months 

You should be able to convert 3 of the 6 leads to 3 CFO Advisory clients. If you charge $2,000 per month per client, you’re making $6,000 in monthly revenue – or $72,000 a year.

To successfully convert those 6 leads to 3 CFO Advisory clients, you have to be very methodical. Remember: sell benefits, not features. You have to be able to connect-the-dots that your service will help them achieve what they want.

At the end of the day, business owners just want someone they trust to tell them – in language they understand – how to have a growing and successful business. That’s what they want.

Step 5: Decide To Keep Your Day Job Or Jump Into Full-Time Business Ownership

Once you have 3 clients, you also have some great options.

You can:

  • Continue to work your day job and earn $6,000 on the side
  • Start your own CFO Advisory firm and scale up to $250,000 or more in annual revenue
  • If you already own your own firm, add a high0margin revenue stream that you can upsell your existing client to.

Whatever option you choose, you’ll find yourself with more flexibility, impact and money by offering CFO Advisory services.

Curious How Much You Could Earn Offering CFO Advisory Services?

Option #1: See for yourself with our Earnings Calculator. In less than three minutes, you’ll discover how much you could earn and how many hours you’ll need to work.

Option #2: If you want to learn how to become a highly successful CFO Advisor, explore all of our CFO Training for Accountants, CPAs, Bookkeepers, and Tax Professionals by checking out our CFO Training.

Option #3: Join an upcoming Right-Fit call to meet with an Enrollment Advisor to get a behind-the-scenes tour of our done-with-you mentorship program where we'll give you a turnkey system to start offering CFO Advisory services. Click to reserve your spot.
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