Fractional CFO support for founder-led brands.
Phoenix Advisory provides Fractional CFO support to founder-led UK Ltd businesses. The strongest fit is multi-channel health optimisation brands; we also work selectively with professional services firms.
Most founder-led businesses reach a stage where revenue is growing, but clarity is not. Reporting arrives late or doesn't answer the right questions. Cash feels tight even when sales are up. Decisions get made on instinct because no one has the time, the data or the seniority to step back and look properly.
That is usually the point where bookkeeping is no longer enough, but a full-time CFO still makes little sense. A Fractional CFO is built for exactly this stage.
What's the difference?
All three roles matter, and most growing businesses end up needing all three over time. They do different things.
Bookkeeper
Records what has happened. Day-to-day transactions, bank reconciliations, supplier and customer ledgers.
Protects accuracy.
Financial Controller
Owns the integrity of the numbers. Month-end close, internal controls, accuracy of management accounts and statutory reporting.
Protects control.
CFO (full-time or fractional)
Translates the numbers into decisions. Strategy, forecasting, capital, profitability, commercial direction.
Protects judgement and direction.
Most £1m–£5m businesses already have the first two layers in some form. What they're missing is the third.
Fractional CFO or full-time CFO?
A Fractional CFO provides senior financial leadership for part of the month, scaling up or down as the business needs it. A full-time CFO is usually the right call once a business needs daily executive involvement and permanent leadership capacity.
Fractional CFO
- Senior judgement for part of the month, scaling up or down with the business.
- A fraction of the cost of a permanent CFO, on a predictable monthly retainer.
- Brings experience from across many businesses and sectors.
- Easy to scope, scale or pause as the business changes.
- Often the right fit for businesses between £1m and £5m of revenue, where senior thinking is needed but not a full-time role.
Full-time CFO
- Full-time leadership. Daily operating involvement and permanent capacity.
- A six-figure salary plus on-costs, equity and recruitment risk.
- Single-business focus. Deep institutional knowledge but a narrower frame of reference.
- A significant hire. Slow to recruit, expensive to undo if the fit is wrong.
- Often the right fit once the business has the scale, complexity and capacity to absorb a permanent senior finance hire.
The same path for every engagement.
Each step is scoped before you commit to the next.
Discovery Call
A free 30-minute conversation to see whether we're the right fit.
Diagnostic Review
The structured starting point: a fixed-fee review with a written report and clear priorities.
Fixed-fee projects
Scoped work to put the foundations in place.
Fractional CFO retainer
Ongoing senior finance partnership on a monthly retainer.
Compliance, alongside
Bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, annual accounts and corporation tax, where one team simplifies the picture.
Diagnostic Review
A fixed-fee strategic review and the structured entry point to any wider engagement. It exists for two reasons: to give you a clear outside view of the business, and to give us a substantive enough understanding to advise well on what should come next.
Typically includes
- A structured working session with the founder and (where helpful) one or two senior people
- Review of the most relevant financial information: management accounts, recent statutory accounts, year-to-date trading, cash position, budget or forecast
- Initial view across profitability, cash flow, working capital and key risks
- A written Diagnostic Report with a prioritised set of recommended actions and a sensible next step, whether that is further work with Phoenix Advisory, a different external option, or no action at this point
Best for: every founder considering ongoing support. The Diagnostic Review is intentionally the gateway to wider engagement.
Fixed-fee projects
Targeted, scoped pieces of work where the need is well-defined and a fixed-fee project is the right shape. Typical project types include:
- Management reporting and KPI dashboard rebuild
- 13-week rolling cash flow forecast model
- Budget and forecast build, integrating Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow
- Pricing and margin analysis
- Finance process improvement and controls
- Board, investor or lender readiness
Best for: defined finance priorities that need focused, senior input, often as the bridge between the Diagnostic Review and an ongoing retainer.
Fractional CFO retainer
A monthly advisory retainer for founders who want senior finance partnership without hiring a full-time CFO. The aim is straightforward: better visibility, better decisions, and a calmer rhythm to running the business.
Typical scope includes
- Monthly management reporting and KPI review with the founder and leadership team
- Cash flow forecasting and working capital oversight
- Profitability, pricing and margin analysis by product, channel or service line
- Budgeting, forecasting and scenario planning
- Finance process improvement and internal controls
- Liaison with bookkeepers, accountants and the wider finance team
- Board, investor or lender support where required, including diligence and transactions
Scoped to the level of involvement the business needs. Any initial set-up work, such as building budgets, forecasts, reporting and KPIs, is quoted separately.
Best for: founder-led businesses outgrowing basic bookkeeping who want the judgement of an experienced CFO without a permanent hire.
Compliance services
Where it helps, we also handle compliance: bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, annual accounts and corporation tax. Many founders find it simpler to have one team that understands the business end-to-end rather than coordinating an accountant, a bookkeeper and a separate finance adviser.
When a Fractional CFO is the right fit.
A Fractional CFO usually makes sense when several of the following are true:
- Revenue is roughly between £1m and £5m, or scaling quickly within that band.
- You have a bookkeeper or accountant in place, and the basics are largely under control, but reporting still doesn't give you the answers you actually need.
- Cash is harder to predict than it should be. Stock, working capital or channel mix all play a part.
- You can't see profitability cleanly by product, channel, customer or service line.
- You're making bigger decisions than you used to, on pricing, hiring, capital, lenders and investors, and you want a senior thought partner alongside the bookkeeping.
- You don't want, or can't yet justify, a permanent CFO.
When a Fractional CFO isn't the right fit.
A Fractional CFO probably isn't the right answer when:
- What the business actually needs is a strong bookkeeper or financial controller, not strategic input.
- The business already has a senior finance team and needs a CFO embedded in daily operations.
- You're looking primarily for tax planning or audit, which is the work of a tax adviser or auditor.
In any of those cases we'll say so on the Discovery Call and, where we can, point you in a more useful direction.
Modern cloud finance, applied with judgement.
We work in cloud finance tools such as Xero, Hubdoc and A2X (Phoenix is a Xero Partner and A2X certified), and apply AI where it lifts the quality and speed of analysis. The aim is clearer numbers, faster, with less manual work for the founder.
Frequently asked questions.
How much time do you spend with the business?
It follows the rhythm the business needs: a regular cycle of reporting, review and decision support, with capacity to step in around bigger pieces of work. The time involved is agreed when the engagement is scoped.
Do you replace our existing accountant or bookkeeper?
Usually not. We're happy to work alongside your current accountant, bookkeeper or in-house finance team. Where it makes sense to consolidate compliance work into one team, to reduce coordination effort or close gaps, we can do that, but it's never a precondition.
What size of business is this for?
We focus on UK Ltd businesses with revenue between roughly £1m and £5m, occasionally larger where the brief fits. The most common pattern is a founder-led brand with a small leadership team, complexity across products and channels, and ambition to scale without losing control of the numbers or their own time.
Why health optimisation brands?
It's where the work and the personal interest meet. The brands we focus on sell products that help people live, move and feel better, categories I follow personally as someone who trains seriously and buys in this space. That overlap matters: it shapes the questions we ask, the benchmarks we hold, and the conversations we're able to have with founders building in the same world.
What happens after the Discovery Call?
If there's a fit, the next step is a Diagnostic Review, the structured starting point for any wider engagement. We'll take you through a short onboarding, then send an engagement letter setting out the scope and the fee. It's all agreed in that one document, so there's no separate proposal to negotiate. If there isn't a fit, you'll get an honest view and, where possible, a useful pointer towards someone better placed to help.
Not sure which level of support fits? A short Discovery Call is the easiest place to start.
A free 30-minute Discovery Call. No obligation, no sales pressure.
Prefer email? hello@phoenixadvisory.co.uk