[Home](https://stoneforgegroup.com/) · Fractional CFO Sarasota Sarasota · Bradenton · Lakewood Ranch # A fractional CFO in Sarasota, for owner-led businesses. Kristina Walls leads the financial practice at Stoneforge, working with owner-led businesses from $1–20M across Sarasota, Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Venice and North Port. Engagements are heavily scope-dependent and typically run $2,000 to $8,000 per month, on a thirty-day notice. 01 The problem this solves The business is profitable on paper and cash still feels tight. Pricing was set years ago and nobody has revisited it because the work keeps coming. There is a decision waiting – a hire, a lease, a piece of equipment, a line of credit – and no clear read on whether the business can carry it. None of that is a bookkeeping problem. The books may be immaculate. It is that nobody is doing the financial thinking: looking forward instead of back, and turning the numbers into something you can actually decide on. That is the seat a [fractional CFO](https://stoneforgegroup.com/financial-leadership/) fills, and it is the one owner-led businesses your size almost never have filled, because a full-time finance leader is a salary the business cannot justify yet. 02 What the work covers Cash-flow forecasting and scenario planning. Unit economics and margin clarity – which clients, which services and which jobs actually pay. Pricing. Budgeting, and the discipline to keep it live rather than filed. KPI dashboards that report the handful of things that move the business rather than everything that can be counted. Capital strategy, SBA loan readiness and M&A support when those are on the table. All of it in plain language. If an expert has to be clever to explain something, nobody understands it and no progress gets made – so plain language is the discipline here, not a nicety. 03 Owners here, in their own words Two of these are neighbours – Ace Electric in Sarasota and Pike Law Firm in Bradenton. “This is my first Business Coach and I am very happy we met. Kristina and James have been very helpful in direction of our business and understanding our financials. Also they have been instrumental in preparing myself for winding down my hours from 60 hrs to and a start of 50 hrs with further reduction of hrs coming. Highly recommend! Thank you Stoneforge” **Bob Friedman · Owner, Ace Electric, Sarasota** “Two months later, Kristina and James have helped me to institute protocols allowing me to see where my time is being wasted, how I can leverage technology and people to do the jobs that I should not be doing, and how to set up my marketing to reach the people that can help me grow my business. If this is what they have accomplished in just two months, I am excited to see where I am in one year!” **Peter Pike · Owner, Pike Law Firm, Bradenton** More outcomes, and the rest of the words, are on [the proof page](https://stoneforgegroup.com/proof/). 04 See where you actually are, before you talk to anyone The [financial scorecard](https://stoneforgegroup.com/financial-scorecard/) is a free seven-area read on how the numbers are being run – whether the business is instinct-led, insight-driven or outcome-led. It takes a few minutes, no email is asked for, and nothing you answer is saved or sent. If the block might be in the selling rather than the numbers, [the 30-second test](https://stoneforgegroup.com/where-its-stuck/) sorts that in about half a minute. And [the Anatomy of a Well-Run Business](https://stoneforgegroup.com/anatomy-of-a-well-run-business/) runs the whole business across eleven areas if you would rather see everything at once. 05 Questions owners ask ## What does a fractional CFO in Sarasota actually do? A fractional CFO leads the financial side of the business rather than recording it. Cash-flow forecasting so you can see what is coming rather than what already happened, unit economics so you know which work actually pays, pricing that stops being guesswork, and the read on what the numbers mean for the decision in front of you. It is senior financial leadership, part-time, embedded in the business – and it sits above bookkeeping and above the annual tax return rather than replacing either. ## How is that different from my bookkeeper or my CPA? Your bookkeeper records what happened and your CPA files it. Both matter and neither is the same job. A fractional CFO works forward: what the numbers are telling you about next quarter, which decision the cash position will and will not support, and where margin is quietly leaking. In practice the three roles work best together, and we are happy to work alongside the bookkeeper and CPA you already have. ## What does it cost? The financial practice is heavily scope-dependent, and typically runs between $2,000 and $8,000 per month. What moves it is how much of the seat you need filled and how much is going on – a straightforward monthly rhythm sits at the lower end, a loan application or an acquisition at the higher one. You will get a plain number in the first conversation, once we have both seen what the work actually is. ## Do you meet in person? When it matters, yes. The standing rhythm runs remotely because that is what keeps it regular, but there are conversations that are simply better had across a table, and Sarasota, Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch are a short drive. Clients further afield work with us entirely remotely and it works well. Proximity is a convenience here, not the point. ## Who is this wrong for? Businesses under about $1M in revenue, where the honest answer is usually a good bookkeeper and a clear pricing decision rather than a CFO. Pre-revenue startups looking for fundraising support. And any owner who wants someone to take the numbers away rather than make them legible – that is not what this is. If that is the read, we will say so in the first conversation and point you to someone better suited. 06 Talk to Kristina The first conversation is forty-five minutes on your business, with the person who would hold the seat. You will get a plain read at the end of it: what we would look at first, and whether this is the right fit. If it is not, we will say so and point you to someone who is. [Talk to Us](https://stoneforgegroup.com/contact/) Sarasota, Florida · [(941) 231-1971](tel:+19412311971)