Do You Actually Need a CFO?

The answer, for most of you, is no.

You are running a business doing $3M to $10M in revenue. You have a bookkeeper, an outside accounting firm, and a spreadsheet that is never quite right. Someone told you that you need a CFO. You have been half-believing them for two years.

This book exists because that answer is almost always wrong - and the people best positioned to tell you the truth have a financial interest in not doing so.

What this book delivers:

• A Finance Stack Audit you can complete before you finish the first chapter


• The real difference between a bookkeeper, controller, fractional CFO, and full-time CFO - and which one your business actually needs at your revenue stage


• The three scenarios where a full-time CFO is genuinely warranted - and the specific signals that tell you you are not in one of them


• The org chart your business needs at $5M, $10M, and $20M in revenue - with costs


• Five questions to answer before you post a job description. If you cannot answer them, do not post it.

Casper Zhao spent 13 years at PwC, BDO, and CFGI working alongside the finance executives you are considering hiring. He watched, across dozens of engagements, what a CFO at a $5M business actually does with their time. Most of it is not strategic. Most of it is not what the job description says. Most of it can be done differently.

This is the book he wished existed before those conversations started.

Part of the StackedCFO Series. Each book is a standalone read.