For each question, circle or tick YES or NO. Be honest — this is for your benefit, not anyone else’s. At the end, tally your YES answers in each category and read your results. There are no right or wrong answers, only clarity.
Category A — Financial Foundations (Max: 6)
Are your financial basics in order?
Your books are current and reconciled every monthYou receive a P&L and balance sheet within 10 business days of month-end.
YES
NO
You know your gross profit marginYou can state it without looking it up, and you know if it’s going up or down.
YES
NO
You have a written annual budgetNot just a rough idea in your head — an actual document with monthly targets.
YES
NO
You review your financials every monthYou spend at least 30 minutes reviewing your reports before making major decisions.
YES
NO
Your AR aging is monitoredYou know which clients are overdue and there is a follow-up process in place.
YES
NO
You have a business bank account separate from personalAll business income and expenses flow through a dedicated business account.
YES
NO
Category B — Growth & Decision-Making (Max: 7)
Are you using financial data to make decisions?
You know your most and least profitable service or productNot just by revenue, but by actual margin after delivery costs.
YES
NO
You have a 90-day cash flow forecastYou know how much cash you’ll have in three months based on current trajectory.
YES
NO
You base hiring decisions on financial modelingBefore hiring, you calculate the revenue needed to justify the cost.
YES
NO
Your pricing covers all costs with a target marginYou know your break-even price, and your actual prices are set deliberately above it.
YES
NO
You track KPIs beyond revenueYou monitor at least 3 financial KPIs monthly (e.g., margin, AR days, cash position).
YES
NO
You have a financial model for growth scenariosYou’ve modeled what happens to cash if you grow 30% — or if revenue drops 20%.
YES
NO
You review budget vs. actual monthlyYou compare planned vs. actual results and make decisions based on variances.
YES
NO
Category C — Scale & Complexity (Max: 7)
Is your business complexity outpacing your financial visibility?
Your revenue is above $500,000 annuallyAt this level, financial decisions have meaningful dollar consequences.
YES
NO
You have employees or contractorsPayroll is your largest expense and needs to be managed as a % of revenue.
YES
NO
You have taken on or are considering debt or investmentLoans, credit lines, investor conversations, or grant applications.
YES
NO
You are planning to expand or launch a new serviceNew revenue streams require financial modeling before committing resources.
YES
NO
You regularly feel uncertain about financial decisionsHiring, pricing, investment — you often wish you had someone to walk through the numbers with.
YES
NO
You have multiple revenue streams or cost centersDifferent services, locations, or business units that need to be tracked separately.
YES
NO
Your business could survive losing your top clientYou have diversified revenue and a financial buffer — or you know you don’t and it concerns you.
YES
NO
Tally Your Score
Count Your YES Answers by Category
Category A — Financial Foundations (out of 6)
Category B — Growth & Decision-Making (out of 7)
Category C — Scale & Complexity (out of 7)
Total Score (out of 20)
Read Your Results
Score 15–20 — CFO-Ready
✅ Your financial foundation is strong. You’re ready to leverage CFO-level advisory.
You have the basics in place and you’re already using financial data to make decisions. At this stage, fractional CFO partnership adds the most value through scenario planning, performance optimization, and preparing your business for its next phase of growth. You’re not fixing problems — you’re building on a solid platform.
Score 8–14 — Building the Foundation
⚠️ You have gaps. Fix the foundation before adding strategic layers.
Some basics are in place, but there are meaningful gaps between your financial foundation and your decision-making capacity. Focus on your Category A gaps first — without accurate, current books and basic financial literacy, advisory conversations can’t move fast enough to be valuable. The right engagement right now is structured bookkeeping with built-in advisory, not standalone CFO services.
Score 0–7 — Start with the Basics
🚨 Your financial foundation needs immediate attention before anything else.
A low score here isn’t a failure — it’s a clear signal about what to prioritize. Many business owners at $500K–$1M are in this position: growing revenue without the financial infrastructure to support it. The priority is getting current, accurate books in place, understanding your margins, and building the monthly review habit. Everything else builds on that. Start there.
Ready to Talk About What Your Score Means?
In a free 30-minute strategy call, we’ll review your score together and build a clear roadmap for where to focus first — whether that’s fixing the foundation or accelerating growth.