Our Process

How a Lucent CFO engagement works

Hiring a fractional CFO is an odd purchase. You cannot see the deliverable before you buy it, and most firms describe it in language that explains nothing.

So here is the whole thing. What happens, in what order, and what we need from you.

The first two conversations cost you nothing.

The discovery call

Thirty minutes. No cost and no slide deck. You tell us what is going on in the business. Cash feels tight. Margins moved the wrong way. A lender wants better reporting. A buyer called and you do not know what to say.

We will tell you honestly whether we can help. If we cannot, we will tell you who can.

The financial diagnostic

If it looks like a fit, we go into your numbers. This takes a few days, and it costs you nothing.

We work from two to three years of your financial statements, plus one call to fill in what the statements do not show. We do not need access to your accounting system.

We rebuild your recent history into something readable. Margin by job, location, or provider. Cash conversion. Where the money is actually going.

The scope call

We walk you through what we found. The good, the expensive, and the things nobody had looked at in a while.

Then we scope the work. If it is a fit on both sides, we sign an engagement here. Fixed monthly retainer, agreed before anything starts.

If it is not a fit, we shake hands and you keep everything you learned.

The first ninety days

This is integration. We get the right software in place, build out your budgeting and forecasting model, and stand up the cash flow templates and reporting we agreed on in the scope call.

Most owners feel the difference here. Not because the numbers have changed yet, but because they can finally see them.

The ongoing rhythm

Monthly close, monthly review call, quarterly planning. In between, we are reachable.

When a decision comes up, buying a truck, hiring a crew, taking a lender's offer, entertaining an unsolicited buyer, you have someone to run it past who already knows your numbers.

What it costs

The first two conversations are free. There is no charge for the diagnostic.

If we go forward, fractional CFO work runs on a fixed monthly retainer, generally $5,000 to $10,000 per month. You approve the number before anything starts.

Month to month, from the start. No annual contract and no lock-in.

Valuation and M&A work is quoted per engagement.

Bookkeeping is priced separately and published on our bookkeeping page.

What we do not do

We are not your CPA. We work alongside them, and hand them cleaner books at year end.

Who this is for

Owner-operators doing $1M to $20M in revenue, in home services, medical and dental, and agriculture. Contractors, practices, farms and ranches.

If you are smaller than that, bookkeeping on its own is usually the right starting point, and we do that too. If you are larger, you are ready for a full-time CFO, and we will tell you so.

Common questions

What do you need from me to get started?

Two to three years of financial statements, and one phone call. That is all. We do not need access to your accounting system to run the diagnostic.

How long is a typical engagement?

Most run twelve months or longer, but nothing is locked in. We are month to month from the start. If we are not earning the retainer, you should not keep paying it.

Do you replace our bookkeeper or CPA?

Not unless you want us to. If you have a bookkeeper you trust, we work with them and use their output. If you would rather hand it over, bookkeeping is one of our services. Your CPA keeps the tax work either way, and usually gets a cleaner year end out of it.

What does the diagnostic cost?

Nothing. The discovery call and the diagnostic review are both free. Fractional CFO retainers generally run $5,000 to $10,000 a month, and we quote your specific number once we know what the work actually is. You approve it before anything starts.

Thirty minutes, no pitch. Just a straight conversation about where your numbers are.

Request Discovery Call