01
Companies past the point a controller can carry alone
The books are accurate, but the decisions have outgrown them. You need someone who owns the forward-looking view.
Advisory
Fractional CFO and advisory services for growing businesses.
Finance executive-level perspective for the decisions that move your business forward.
At a certain point the constraint is not the bookkeeping. It is that nobody is translating the numbers into a plan — no budget with teeth, no forecast, no view of cash beyond the next few weeks.
Alinea provides that leadership on a fractional basis: budgets, rolling forecasts, cash flow planning, KPI reporting, and financial modeling, delivered by the same firm that maintains your books, so the underlying numbers are never in question.
We advise growing companies nationwide from our office in Beverly Hills, California, with secure document exchange and remote collaboration built into every engagement.
What’s included
Planning & forecasting
- Annual operating budget
- Budget vs. actual variance analysis
- Monthly rolling forecast
- 13-week cash flow forecast
- Scenario & sensitivity analysis
- Financial modeling
Performance & strategy
- KPI dashboards and performance tracking
- Revenue and profitability analysis
- Hiring and compensation analysis
- Financing and debt analysis
- Process improvement
- Business strategy support
Leadership & reporting
- Recurring financial review calls
- Board and investor reporting
- Participation in leadership and board meetings
- Lender and diligence support
- Multi-entity oversight
Who this is for
02
Founders raising or borrowing
Investors and lenders ask for a model, a forecast, and a defensible set of assumptions. We build them and sit in the meetings.
03
Owners planning an exit
Valuation, clean reporting, and normalized earnings take time to prepare. Starting years ahead is what makes the difference.
04
Leadership teams without a financial operating rhythm
If your meetings start with “what did we spend last month” instead of “what are we forecasting next quarter,” we introduce a cadence of budgets, forecasts, and KPIs that drive decisions.
05
Businesses facing a major transaction or inflection point
A new product line, a facility expansion, a restructuring, or a tuck-in acquisition all need scenario analysis. We build the model and help you choose the path.
06
Companies whose board or investors want clearer reporting
Boards need consistent packages, reliable forecasts, and explanations they can trust. We design reporting that answers their questions before they ask them.
Service & price comparison
Find the right level of financial leadership.
Every business makes financial decisions at a different pace. Our three advisory levels reflect increasing forecasting depth, reporting cadence, and involvement in leadership decisions. Final scope and pricing are tailored to each engagement.
| Capability | Finance Director | Senior Finance Director | Fractional CFO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Fee | From $1,500 | From $3,000 | From $5,500 |
| One-time Implementation fee | From $1,500 | From $3,000 | From $5,000 |
| Annual operating budget | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Budget vs. actual variance analysis | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cash flow monitoring | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| KPI dashboard & performance tracking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Monthly management reporting | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Monthly rolling forecast | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| 13-week cash flow forecast | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scenario & sensitivity analysis | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Revenue & profitability analysis | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Financing & capital analysis | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hiring & compensation financial analysis | — | ✓ | ✓ |
| Long-range financial planning | — | — | ✓ |
| Executive & board-level financial reporting | — | — | ✓ |
| Leadership & board meeting participation | — | — | ✓ |
| Capital structure & financing strategy | — | — | ✓ |
| Strategic decision support | — | — | ✓ |
| Major transaction & investment analysis | — | — | ✓ |
| Board & investor financial communications | — | — | ✓ |
| Financial review call | Monthly | Bi-weekly | Weekly |
Starting fees represent the minimum engagement for each service level. Final pricing is based on the complexity of your business, including entity structure, revenue model, transaction volume, reporting requirements, forecasting depth, and the level of ongoing involvement required.
Implementation
Advisory work begins with a clear financial baseline.
Before we can forecast, model, or advise, we need to understand how your business actually makes and uses money. Every advisory engagement begins with a structured implementation.
Implementation may include
- Historical Financial Review
- Revenue & Margin Analysis
- Cost Structure Review
- Cash Flow Baseline
- KPI Definition & Selection
- Reporting Package Design
- Budget Model Build
- Forecast Model Build
- Chart of Accounts Alignment
- Debt & Financing Review
- Capital Structure Review
- Meeting & Reporting Cadence Setup
Final implementation fees depend on complexity. Accounting cleanup or remediation identified during implementation is scoped separately.
Common questions
Do I need advisory if I already have bookkeeping?
Bookkeeping tells you what happened. Advisory tells you what to do next — budgets, forecasts, cash flow, and the analysis behind hiring, pricing, and financing decisions. Most clients add it when the decisions get bigger than the spreadsheet.
How do the three advisory levels differ?
Finance Director covers budgeting, cash flow monitoring, KPIs, and a monthly review. Senior Finance Director adds rolling forecasts, 13-week cash flow, scenario modeling, and bi-weekly reviews. Fractional CFO adds board and investor reporting, leadership meeting participation, business valuation, and weekly reviews.
Do I need bookkeeping with you to use advisory?
Not strictly, but advisory is only as good as the books beneath it. If your records are maintained elsewhere, we'll assess their reliability first — forecasting on inaccurate data helps no one.
Should I outsource this or hire someone in-house?
Hiring in-house means recruiting, managing, and paying for a function most owners aren't equipped to supervise. A fractional engagement gives you senior expertise at a fraction of a full-time salary, with no management burden. For larger teams it isn't either/or — in-house staff supported by our advisory is often the right structure.
How often will we actually meet?
Monthly at Finance Director, bi-weekly at Senior Finance Director, and weekly at Fractional CFO — plus participation in leadership and board meetings at the CFO level. Meetings are generally remote, with on-site attendance for significant sessions given reasonable notice.