Pricing
Two businesses with the same sales can have very different room in the budget. We size every engagement from your net operating profit and the complexity of your business, and you get a written scope and fee before any work starts.
How we size your fee
Our Net Profit & Complexity Model keeps the fee in proportion to what your business can carry.
Where Fractional CFO engagements start.
Entities, accounts, customers or payers, how current your numbers are, and the track you choose set where you land above the floor.
Your yearly CFO fee stays at or below 15% of your trailing-twelve-month net operating profit.
Service tracks
Monthly retainer
Numbers you can trust and read, every month.
Monthly retainer
Governance plus the leadership to plan cash and growth.
Fixed project fee
A defined project that fixes where work breaks down and money leaks out.
Fee set from what the fix is worth to you. You see the math before you sign.
Recurring CFO strategy plus an Operational Systems Build, at a bundled rate below buying each side separately. Each side keeps its own written scope.
Example scenarios
Illustrative examples, not quotes. Each shows the business's net operating profit, the 15% cap it creates, and where the fee lands.
Scenario 1 · Financial Governance
One entity and steady clients. The owner wants a validated close and a monthly report they can actually read.
Scenario 2 · Growth & Strategy
Uneven cash between jobs, owner pay taken whenever there's money in the account, and a bank line up for renewal.
Scenario 3 · Operational Systems Build
Solid numbers, but change orders go unbilled and final invoices go out weeks after closeout. The Diagnostic estimates about $50K a year left uncollected.
Scenario 4 · Bundled CFO + Operations
Business and personal money mixed across accounts, and jobs that run over without anyone seeing it until month-end.
Bundled, the combined rate comes in below buying each side separately.
Why profit, not revenue
Scenarios are hypothetical and for illustration only. They are not quotes, offers or a promise of results. Your fee is set from your own financials and scope, and confirmed in a written proposal. See our earnings disclaimer.
How we get to your number
About 12 minutes. You see your scores, your biggest leak and your recommended track.
We review your results and your trailing-twelve-month profit together.
A proposal with exactly what's included and what it costs. If the value isn't clearly there, we'll tell you so.
Your private client portal opens, and every result is tracked in your monthly numbers.
Pricing questions
Revenue says how busy you are. Profit says what you can afford. Capping our CFO fee at 15% of your trailing-twelve-month net operating profit keeps it in proportion to what the business actually earns.
We'll tell you plainly. Often the better first step is an Operational Systems Build that stops the leaks, so the profit is there before a monthly retainer starts.
Yes. The online Diagnostic is free and confidential, and you see your results right away.
No. Blue Water is a business growth, strategy and operations firm. Your bookkeeper keeps the books and your CPA files your taxes. We validate the close and keep your numbers tax-ready for them.
Free, confidential, about 12 minutes. You'll see your scores and your biggest leak right away.
