Do I need a CFO?
Four quick questions about your business, then four short sections — only the questions a fractional CFO would actually ask you in the first meeting — with a read on each as you go.
A six-minute self-assessment for owners: how much would a CFO change in your business right now? It starts with four quick questions about the business — what kind, how big, how many people, any outside money — and then asks only what fits, in four sections: cash, forecast, books, and the business itself. Each is scored on its own so you see exactly where you're covered and where you're not, a question that doesn't fit can be left out, and every section has a learn page.
Questions people ask
What does a CFO actually do for a small business?
Owns the numbers so the founder doesn't have to: a cash forecast and runway, books that close on time and can be trusted, a plan compared to actuals every month, margin by product and customer, the model lenders and investors ask for, and a second brain on the big decisions — hires, leases, pricing, raises.
What's the difference between a bookkeeper, an accountant, and a CFO?
A bookkeeper records what happened. An accountant makes sure it's reported and taxed correctly. A CFO uses it to decide what happens next — forecasting, pricing, funding, and the monthly review that turns numbers into changes.
How much does a fractional CFO cost?
Typically a few thousand dollars a month for a few days of work, depending on the business's complexity and the CFO's experience. A full-time CFO is a six-figure salary. An AI CFO like Wauvel runs the daily forecast, the monthly review, and the alerts for under a hundred dollars a month, and is a common first step before a fractional hire.
At what revenue does a business need a CFO?
Revenue is the wrong test. The need comes from complexity — inventory, multiple entities, a leadership team, debt, fast growth — and from decisions: the moment a hire, a lease, or a raise is decided without a forecast in front of you. That can happen at $1M or $20M.
What if a question doesn't apply to my business?
Two things. The quiz opens with four questions about the business — what kind, how big, who's in it, whether there's outside money — and only asks what fits: a services firm never sees inventory questions, a business with no loans never sees covenants. And where a question still might not fit, it offers a 'doesn't apply' answer, which leaves it out of the score entirely rather than counting it against you.
How is this quiz scored?
Four sections, up to six questions each, every answer scored 0 to 3 for how much a CFO would change about it. Each section is scored on its own the moment you finish it — covered, worth a look, or a CFO would change this — and the total is read as a percentage: how much a CFO would change in your business right now. A question you mark as not applying is left out of both the score and the maximum, so it can't move the result either way. The questions are drawn from a larger pool, and your answers about the business rule some out, so a retake isn't the same quiz twice.