// engagements & what they cost

the work, the price, and what's not in the box

Four things growth-stage companies hire us for, each with a real starting number on the page — not a "contact us for pricing" wall. Everything is billed per engagement. No retainer that auto-renews while you forget about it.

book a scoping call jump to the prices
scope.md A ledger, a printed forecast and a simple dashboard on a warm desk priced per scope

// the menu, plainly

pick what you need. we'll talk you out of the rest.

Prices below are honest starting points. The final quote moves with your stage and how tidy your books are when we open them — messy data costs more because it takes longer, and we'll say that on the call instead of hiding it in a surprise invoice.

01

cash flow forecasting

An 18-month model that ties to your bank, not a hope. Base, upside and downside scenarios, with burn and runway you can defend in a board seat. Built and walked through with you line by line — never handed over as a sealed black box you can't edit.

  • 3 scenarios
  • bank-linked
  • runway you can defend
  • line-by-line review
one-time build $3,200most people start here scope this
02

monthly reporting

Books closed on a schedule, a one-page dashboard that fits on a phone, and a 30-minute call where I explain what moved and why — in English, not accounting. Same date every month so it stops being a fire drill.

  • monthly close
  • one-page dashboard
  • 30-min review call
recurring · monthly from $2,400cancel with 30 days' notice scope this
03

budget modeling

Headcount plan, hiring sequence and department budgets that survive contact with reality. We build it so you can answer "can we afford that hire?" without a three-day spreadsheet panic — and so a board member can't poke a hole in it.

  • headcount & hiring plan
  • department budgets
  • "can we afford it?" tool
one-time build $2,650flat, per build scope this
04

fundraise prep

The data room, a cap-table sanity check, and the model investors will actually pressure-test in diligence. We sit in the room for the finance questions you don't want to wing — and tell you which numbers won't hold up before someone else does.

  • data room build
  • cap-table check
  • diligence-ready model
project · round-based $6,800flat for the round scope this
00

the scoping call

Thirty minutes, free, no slide deck. You tell me what's broken; I tell you which of the above you actually need — and sometimes the honest answer is "a bookkeeper, not me." You'll leave with a plan whether or not you hire us.

  • no pitch deck
  • a plan to keep either way
always free30 minutes book it

// no quote roulette

you'll know the number before the work starts, not after.

every engagement is scoped and priced up front · in writing

get a scoped quote

// the honest boundaries

what every engagement includes — and what it doesn't

in the box

  • The same advisor every month — not a rotating pool of analysts.
  • Read-only access to your books and bank, set up together on the first call.
  • A walkthrough of every model — you see the assumptions, you can edit them.
  • A seat in the board or investor meeting when the finance questions land.
  • A straight answer when something looks wrong — flagged before it spreads.

not in the box

  • Tax filing or returns — we work alongside your CPA, we don't replace them.
  • Day-to-day bookkeeping or AP/AR — if that's all you need, you need a bookkeeper.
  • Audit or legal opinions — outside our lane, and we'll tell you where to get them.
  • A 40-slide deck nobody reads — you get one page and a plain explanation.
  • Selling you work you don't need — when you outgrow fractional, we'll say so.

// how billing actually works

per engagement, in writing, no auto-renew surprises

One-time builds are a flat fee, quoted before work starts and invoiced when delivered. Monthly reporting is a fixed amount you can cancel with 30 days' notice — no 12-month handcuffs, no "minimum commitment" buried on page four. If the scope grows mid-project, we re-quote before doing the extra work, never after.

// the terms, said plainly

  • flat fees on builds — invoiced on delivery
  • monthly: cancel with 30 days' notice
  • scope changes re-quoted before, not after
  • invoiced via ACH, card or wire
  • serving Lakeelsinore, CA & remote across PST

// before you ask

the questions we get on every first call

Straight answers to the things founders are too polite to ask up front. If yours isn't here, just call.

is fractional actually enough for us?
If you're raising, scaling headcount, or a board is asking questions you can't answer fast — yes, that's exactly the lane. If you're pre-revenue and just need clean books, you need a bookkeeper, and we'll point you to one rather than take the engagement.
why a starting price and not a flat one?
Because the work scales with your stage and your data. A clean QuickBooks file builds fast; a year of miscategorized transactions takes longer. We quote the real number on the scoping call — in writing — so there's no surprise invoice later.
how fast until the first deliverable?
A typical forecast build runs about three weeks from the scoping call to the first dashboard — scoping, access and tidy-up, the build, then the monthly rhythm if you stay on. Fundraise prep moves faster when a round is live.
do you replace our accountant?
No. We don't do taxes or bookkeeping — we work with whoever already does. Think of us as the strategic finance layer that sits on top of your books: the forecast, the board prep, the "what does this mean" call.
can we start with just one engagement?
That's how most people start — usually a forecast build, then monthly reporting if it's working. There's no bundle you have to buy and nothing renews unless you choose the monthly. One thing at a time is completely fine.
who actually does the work?
The person you talk to on the scoping call is the person who builds your model and sits in your board meeting — the same advisor every month, not a handoff to a junior analyst you've never met.

// ready when you are

tell me where the numbers hurt. i'll tell you what it'd cost to fix.

free 30-minute scoping call · no pitch, no pressure

book a scoping call call (951) 233-1580
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