FREE TRAINING THIS WEEK ON BECOMING A CFO
For Employed Bookkeepers, Accountants and CPAs
Bookkeeper Side Hustle: Add CFO Advisory Services Without Quitting Your Day Job
Yes, you can build a CFO Advisory practice while you keep your job, and eventually replace it.
It's the best bookkeeper or accountant side hustle we know of because you're paid a monthly retainer instead of an hourly rate. The average CFO Advisor in our program charges $1,978 per client per month, and once you're set up and running, each client takes 2-4 hours per month. Just three clients comes to about $6,000 a month on the side.
You're Already Doing This Job for One Employer
Many bookkeepers, accountants and CPAs work for firms and companies that underutilize and undervalue them. You see your client's numbers before anyone else does. You know when the upcoming month will be tight, which costs are creeping up, and when the owner has a question about the business, you're the one they ask. You do all of that for one employer, for a salary.
You also have very little control over your pay, your hours or your future. AI and outsourcing are putting pressure on the jobs you and your colleagues depend on, and your income is capped by what one employer decides you're worth.
Meanwhile, millions of small business owners have nobody like you. They have a bookkeeper who records the past and an accountant who files the tax return, but nobody who looks at their numbers and tells them what to do next. CFO Advisory is the service that fills that gap. You charge a monthly retainer for guiding business owners toward success, and you can start offering it in the hours around your job.
Why CFO Advisory Beats a Typical Bookkeeping Side Hustle
Most side hustle advice for bookkeepers and accountants points you toward more hourly work: catch-up and clean-up bookkeeping, some monthly closes, or seasonal tax returns. That work pays by the hour or by the task, so the only way to earn more is to give up more of your evenings and weekends.
CFO Advisory is the service a CFO Advisor provides. A CFO Advisor is a trusted guide who helps a small business owner reach their own definition of success and generate consistent, positive cash flow. You run a monthly process with the owner that begins with setting targets and then reviewing actuals, creating the forecast, scoring it and building the 30-day action plan. The owner pays a monthly retainer for that guidance.
| Extra Bookkeeping Clients | CFO Advisory Clients | |
|---|---|---|
| The owner's question | Are my books done? | What should I do next to reach my goals and generate consistent, positive cash flow? |
| How it's billed | By the hour or a small monthly fee | A monthly retainer |
| Typical fee | About $300 to $500 per client per month | $1,978 per client per month |
| Time per client | Grows with every transaction | 2-4 hours per month once you're set up |
| Clients needed for $6,000 a month | 12 to 20 | 3 |
An accountant side hustle has to fit around a full-time job, so the number of clients matters as much as the fee. Three advisory clients bring in about $6,000 a month and take 6-12 hours a month to serve once you’re set up. Getting the same $6,000 from bookkeeping takes 12 to 20 clients, with hours that grow with every transaction.
Want to see the role up close? Read about what a CFO Advisor does
How Many Hours a Week Does a CFO Advisory Side Hustle Take?
Each CFO Advisory client takes 2-4 hours per month once you're set up. That covers preparation before a structured monthly meeting, the meeting with the owner, and some follow-up afterward. The process is the same with every client, so you aren't starting from scratch each month.
Here's what that looks like by the week:
| Clients | Monthly delivery time | Weekly delivery time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2-4 hours | About 1 hour |
| 2 | 4-8 hours | About 2 hours |
| 3 | 6-12 hours | About 3 hours |
Finding and signing your first clients will take more time than serving them. Amy Foeller, one of our CFO Mentors, built her practice while she was still working close to 40 hours a week for her employer. She spent about five to ten hours a week on her new business, often early in the morning or late in the evening. Today she runs her own CFO Advisory practice in Arizona, and she sets her own calendar.
Why You're Already Positioned to Offer CFO Advisory
You have the skills that matter the most.
You can read a set of financials and explain what's happening in the business behind them. Most business coaches can't explain how the advice they give will affect cash flow. You can.
Owners of businesses doing between $500,000 and $5 million in annual revenue need someone who understands their numbers and can help them decide what to do next, and very few of them have that person. There are more than 36 million small businesses in the US, and about half of them won't reach their fifth birthday. These owners need your CFO Advisory service.
You won't start with a client list the way a practice owner does, so your first clients come from our proven lead generation systems. These systems find clients through the associations where owners already gather and through strategic partners like bankers, attorneys and insurance advisors who serve the same owners you want to reach. Amy's first client came through a strategic partner.
What a CFO Advisory Side Hustle Can Add to Your Income
The average CFO Advisory client in our program pays $1,978 a month, which comes to about $23,736 a year.
Three clients bring in about $6,000 a month on the side.
Five clients at about $2,000 a month is $120,000 a year in recurring revenue. If you get 8 CFO Advisory clients through our program and charge the average our members charge, you would earn around $16,000 a month, or about $192,000 a year. For many of our members, that is life-changing income that more than replaces their full-time salaries.
How to Start a CFO Advisory Side Hustle While Working Full Time
So many of our members started exactly this way. Before you take on your first client there are a few things to work through.
- 01
Check your employment agreement.
Read your agreement and employee handbook for anything on moonlighting, outside work, non-competes or non-solicitation. If you're unsure what a clause means, an employment attorney can help you interpret it.
- 02
Stay clear of conflicts of interest.
Don't serve your employer's clients or compete for the work that your employer sells. CFO Advisory for small business owners is usually a different service from the work your employer does anyway, which makes this easier to keep clean.
- 03
Decide whether to tell your employer.
Some policies require you to disclose outside work. Even when yours doesn't, many members find a simple heads-up can save trouble down the line.
- 04
Set up your business when you're ready to sign.
You can go through the training before you form a company. Amy joined The CFO Project in November 2022 and set up her business the following January, as she got ready to start serving clients.
- 05
Know how this differs from extra bookkeeping hours.
Extra bookkeeping adds hours in lockstep with every new client and every new transaction. CFO Advisory runs on a fixed monthly process with a few clients, so it can fit around a full-time job and grow into a practice of its own.
You also don't have to quit first. Ryan Kimler joined us in July 2021 while working full time in corporate and left eleven months later once his retainers covered his salary. Amy ran her old job and her new practice side by side for about six months.
Already running your own practice? See the page for practice owners
CFO Advisor Training That Fits Around Your Job
The CFO Project is a done-with-you mentorship program. You get the systems, the training and the tools on the day you join, and then you get people helping you put them to work in your own practice.
Systems
You get three proven systems to find, sign and serve your CFO Advisory clients, with six self-paced courses that train you to put them in place and the tools you'll use with every client.
Support
For your first six months, you'll meet weekly with a roundtable of peers led by an executive coach and a CFO Mentor.
Community
You'll join 500+ active members, with weekly and monthly live events that include NASBA CPE-eligible masterclasses.
Certified CFO™
You earn the certification by completing the training and landing your first client, and the program is backed by a money-back guarantee.
Members Who Made the Move to CFO Advisory
“I was still spending close to 40 hours a week working for my previous employer, and then maybe five to ten hours a week building my business, early in the morning or late in the evening.”
Amy FoellerFormer W-2 office manager and bookkeeper for 12 years, now a CFO Mentor
“Clients have told me, 'Amy, since working with you, you have single-handedly revolutionized the way I think about my finances. I went from being scared to look at my numbers to excited to look at my numbers.' And that's not just one client.”
Amy Foeller
“I joined the program after leaving the corporate accounting world in October 2023. I knew I wanted to offer more than bookkeeping and accounting services, and The CFO Project has truly allowed me to see all the possibilities. Their system works, and now I don't have to spend years creating a process.”
Kelly G.
“I signed up for the program on Christmas Eve. I thought I would utilize my paternity leave to jump start! I got through 90% of the material, have participated in 4 events, have 6 more scheduled this week and next, and had my first right fit call yesterday with a prospective client. FOLLOW THE PROGRAM. It truly does work!”
Scotty P.
Meet Ryan Kimler, Certified CFO
Lead CFO Mentor at The CFO Project
Ryan Kimler is a Certified CFO and CFO Mentor with The CFO Project, and the founder of Net Profit CFO. When he joined The CFO Project in 2021, he was working full time in corporate accounting with a few accounting clients on the side. His clients kept asking him how to make their businesses better, and his employer didn't offer that work. He built his CFO Advisory practice around his job and left corporate eleven months later. Today he runs a CFO firm with a team of four.
Ryan is our Lead CFO Mentor. When you join The CFO Project, you can learn directly from him and our other CFO Mentors, who have built CFO Advisory practices of their own, through office hours, the member forum and the weekly roundtables they help lead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I really do CFO Advisory work as a side hustle while employed full time?
Yes. Each client takes 2-4 hours per month once you're set up, so one to three clients fits into a few hours a week. Many of our members built their practices around a full-time job. Ryan Kimler kept his corporate role for eleven months, and Amy Foeller ran her job and her practice side by side for about six months.
How much can I realistically earn starting out?
The average CFO Advisor in our program charges $1,978 per client per month. Three clients at about $2,000 a month is about $6,000 a month, and five clients is $120,000 a year in recurring revenue. Your first client takes some time to land, so plan for a few months of building before the income starts.
Do I need a CPA license or certification?
No. CFO Advisory is not tax, audit or attest work, and you don't need a license to help a business owner understand their numbers, set targets and decide what to do next. Members can earn Certified CFO™ by completing the training and landing their first client.
How is this different from just taking on extra bookkeeping clients?
Extra bookkeeping pays by the hour or a small monthly fee, so your income grows only as fast as your hours do. CFO Advisory pays a monthly retainer averaging $1,978 for 2-4 hours of work per month. Three advisory clients earn about what 12 to 20 bookkeeping clients would.
What if my employer has a non-compete or moonlighting policy?
Read the policy first and know exactly what it covers. Most policies focus on serving your employer's clients or competing with its services, and CFO Advisory for small business owners is often a different service. If the language is unclear, have an employment attorney review it, and disclose your outside work if your policy requires it.
Business owners don't need a CFO Advisor.
You're right, but they do need someone they trust to help them make more money. Whether you call yourself a CFO Advisor or something else almost doesn't matter.
I'm not qualified to be a CFO Advisor.
You may not be qualified to be Coca-Cola's next CFO, but you're probably qualified to guide a business doing between $500,000 and $5 million in annual revenue.
Business owners can't afford this.
If someone wants or needs something badly enough, they'll find a way to afford it. Owners pay for guidance that helps them make more money, and a CFO Advisory service is built to do exactly that.
All I know is tax and accounting. I've never run a business before.
You don't need more experience to launch this service. You need a system. Your technical background already lets you read a business owner's numbers and understand what's driving their business, which most outside advisors can't do. The CFO Project gives you the rest: a repeatable system to find, sign and serve your clients, so you can sit down with any business owner and run the same monthly process every time.
I don't really know how to sell this service.
This is tricky. You can't walk up to a business owner and pitch your CFO Advisory service, because they don't know what a CFO Advisor is and won't think their small business needs one. Inside The CFO Project, the Four-Step Conversion Process shows you how to offer it in a way that gets owners to take action.
Two Ways to Start
Start with a free training, or, if you've already watched one of our trainings, book a call with one of our Enrollment Advisors.
Free training
Learn the Strategies to Become a CFO for Small Businesses
Discover how to earn $192,000 per year as a CFO for small businesses.
Join the Free TrainingEnrollment Advisor call
Book a Right-Fit Call
To see if our program is the right fit for you, book a call with one of our Enrollment Advisors.
Book a Right-Fit Call