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# Do I need a bookkeeper, an accountant, or a CFO?

The plain answer

Three different jobs. Many owner-led businesses have the first two and assume that covers it.

Your bookkeeper records what happened – the transactions coded, the accounts reconciled, the month closed. Your accountant or CPA takes that record, files it, and tells you what it means for tax. Both matter. Both look backward, which is what they are for.

**Accountant.** A professional who prepares, reviews and interprets a business's financial records – producing the statements, handling tax filings, and advising on how the numbers should be treated. [Full entry →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/glossary/#accountant)
**Bookkeeper.** A professional responsible for recording a business's financial transactions. [Full entry →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/glossary/#bookkeeper)

A CFO works forward: what the numbers say about next quarter, which decisions the cash position will and will not support, where margin is quietly leaking, and what the business should do about any of it. That is a different question from “are the books right?”, and having excellent books does not answer it.

**CFO (Chief Financial Officer).** A senior executive responsible for managing a company's financial actions – financial planning, risk management, record-keeping, and financial reporting. [Full entry →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/glossary/#cfo)

The gap shows up in a particular way. The books are immaculate, the taxes are filed on time, and the hire, the price change, the loan and the acquisition still get decided in the dark – because nobody is doing the financial thinking.

A fractional CFO holds that seat for the share of the week the business genuinely needs, and works alongside the bookkeeper and CPA you already have. We don’t replace what works.

When you don’t need one: if the books just need keeping, that is a bookkeeping need rather than a leadership one. Under about $1M, the honest answer is usually a good bookkeeper and one clear pricing decision – and we will say so.

Answered by Kristina Walls, who leads the financial practice. More on [the finance seat and how it runs](https://stoneforgegroup.com/financial-leadership/).

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[See Where You Sit →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/financial-scorecard/)

Sense it’s the selling rather than the numbers? [The 30-second test sorts it →](https://stoneforgegroup.com/where-its-stuck/)