Frequently asked questions

No. I sell engagements, not availability. One anchor part-time CFO client at a time plus one concurrent AI build. Engagement letter defines a flat on-site cadence (typically 2–3 days per week on site), additional on-site time only by pre-approval and written amendment. No hourly billing.

Yes. The AI architecture & implementation ($75–150K flat, 6–12 weeks) can be a standalone engagement working alongside your existing finance, accounting and IR team. The part-time CFO and the build are also commonly combined — same principal, no handoff.

Larger assignments scale through experienced contract specialists — data engineers, prompt engineers, QA — that I direct. You still manage one person. Velarion was built this way: one principal, distributed execution. The SOW defines scope regardless of headcount.

Custom code, prompts, and pipeline architecture developed for the engagement remain mine; you receive a perpetual, royalty-free license to use the deliverables internally. Generalized components I create are reusable. This is stated in every SOW.

Fractional CFO firms staff you with a bench — I am the bench. AI vendors sell you a tool and leave you to implement it. I do both: I can run the finance, accounting and IR function and build the automation that makes it leaner, with the judgment of someone who has done both at institutional scale.

Read access to finance systems (ERP, CRM, HRIS, banking, expense), last 12 months of board decks / investor reports / lender packages / close checklists, data dictionary, process flowcharts/narratives, and 30-min confidential interviews with each team member.

Five control layers: AI never executes (only drafts/flags), deterministic validation gates, immutable audit trail, segregation of duties, and weekly drift monitoring. See Controls for the full matrix — AI never touches journal approval, reconciliation sign-off, or disbursement.

Default is cloud frontier models (Claude/GPT-4) under enterprise API agreements that contractually prohibit training on your data. That covers 99% of portfolio companies. A local LLM path is available when regulation or LP agreements explicitly require data to stay on-prem for that flow. The diagnostic recommends the right architecture per process.

Board and investor deck assembly, close and variance narratives, lender covenant packages, contract key-term extraction, AP invoice coding and routing, and IR updates. The scorecard in Results ranks each process for your company.

Two one-time fees that buy recurring annual savings. Diagnostic $35–50K (3–4 weeks, board-ready roadmap; credited if you proceed to the build within 60 days) + AI Build $75–150K typical range (6–12 weeks, production system on your data with parallel-run proof, runbooks, trained team, and monitoring). The AI Build is modular and bespoke — final fee depends on how deep you want to go, including process count and integration scope, tailored to the company-specific situation and priced in the SOW after the diagnostic. The illustrative waterfall in Results shows $155K one-time → $219K recurring savings per year = ~8-month payback. You keep the savings every year after — plus the system, the runbooks, and the audit trail. LLM/token costs ($500–2,000/mo typical) and any SaaS you already license are pass-through, not in the flat fee. The fractional CFO retainer is not modular — $50–60K/mo capped, as quoted.

A $10–15K assessment is an interview summary. This is a dollarized, board-ready case: shadowed closes, lineage maps, AI Readiness scoring, tool choices per process, and a Wave 1 SOW with timeline, cost, success criteria, and risk assessment — built from your templates and system access, not a questionnaire. If you proceed, the fee is credited to the build, so the roadmap is free when you act on it.

Treat $75–150K as fee ranges for AI assignments, not a single fixed price. Each engagement is bespoke and modular — final fee depends on depth of implementation, number of processes, and integration scope, and is set in the SOW after the diagnostic. The illustration in Results uses one depth; yours may be shallower or deeper. The flat in the SOW covers architecture, pipeline, validation gates, parallel-run, cutover, monitoring, and handoff for that scope. It does not include third-party SaaS you already pay for, or LLM API usage (typically $500–2,000/mo at mid-market volumes). If local deployment is required, hardware/cloud is yours. Every SOW lists inclusions, exclusions, and the parallel-run accuracy gate that must be met before cutover. The fractional CFO rate has no such caveat — it is flat and capped.

Yes — firm and capped, not modular. Mid-market fractional CFOs typically transact at $10–20K/mo ($250–350/hr) and PE-grade interim CFOs at $2,500–3,500/day. A full-time mid-market CFO is $300–400K base plus cash incentive, 30–40% benefits load, plus a 25–30% search fee, equity, and severance — $550–750K all-in for one person who then needs contractors to build the automation. My anchor rate is a premium for a 4× NYSE CFO who also architectures and ships the AI (you would otherwise hire both). It's a flat monthly fee for a defined on-site schedule — typically 2–3 days per week on site — month-to-month, no equity, no benefits, no search fee, one client at a time. No depth caveat applies to the CFO. The AI Build is the only modular element — see that FAQ — and when it runs concurrently, fully-utilized months (CFO retainer plus amortized build) typically run $80–100K+/mo, then settle to the CFO retainer.

I don't have one — and I don't quote one. Every fee is tied to engagement objectives and to the ROI the diagnostic proves, not to hours. The fractional CFO is a flat $50–60K/mo for a defined on-site schedule — typically 2–3 days per week on site, month-to-month — and the AI Build is a flat $75–150K typical range set in the SOW after the diagnostic. Overages, if any, only by pre-approval and written amendment, not a rate card. That's intentional: I leverage AI heavily, so the hour count is supposed to collapse — billing by the hour would penalize the very efficiency I'm hired to create. You pay for the outcome (a run function, a production system with parallel-run proof, recurring savings that repeat every year) while I absorb the leverage. Day/hour math is the wrong denominator, and it creates the apples-to-oranges gap you flagged — I'm not on site full-time selling 40 hours, I'm selling a finite engagement that leaves you leaner.

Because you wouldn't hire me for 12 months — and you shouldn't annualize the number. This is a finite engagement: I step in to run finance, wire in the automation that makes it leaner, prove it in parallel-run, and hand you the system, runbooks, and monitoring. A full-time CFO at $300–400K base plus cash incentive is $550–750K loaded year-one with search (25–30%), benefits load (30–40%), equity, and severance — and they still don't bring an AI process-improvement toolkit or ship the build. Mine is month-to-month with a defined on-site schedule (typically 2–3 days per week on site), one anchor at a time, no cash incentive, no equity or severance, and it ends when the function is stable and leaner. What you paid once ($75–150K build + $35–50K diagnostic, credited) buys recurring annual savings you keep — the math in Results shows ~8-month payback, then the savings repeat every year without the fee repeating. If you need a permanent CFO after, I help you hire them into a role that's already been fixed.

Illustrative math in Results shows ~8 months on a $110K build + $45K diagnostic at mid-market volumes ($288K current → $69K target = $219K annual savings). Your diagnostic replaces every number with your actual hours and loaded rate. If payback is >12 months at your volumes, the roadmap will say Monitor — not Wave 1. No build is proposed that doesn't clear its own hurdle. That's why you shouldn't annualize a month — the savings annualize, the fees don't.

Dallas, TX. Embedded on-site or remote, per portfolio company preference. I travel as needed. One anchor CFO client at a time — on-site cadence is defined in the engagement letter. Engagements outside Dallas: client pays reasonable travel and lodging.

Book 15 minutes. If there's a fit, we start with the diagnostic ($35–50K flat, 3–4 weeks). You can stop there with the roadmap, or proceed to the build — diagnostic fee credited if within 60 days.