For accounting firm owners building an advisory practice
I've already made the mistake you're stuck on.
Your clients call you before they hire, buy, or sign anything. Then you bill them for the close. I built and scaled an outsourced CFO firm, then was a client's full-time CFO and COO. Now I help firm owners actually get paid for the advice.
A little about me
I grew up in St. Louis in my parents' restaurants. I worked there every summer break and all through college, and even after I started at Boeing I'd still work weekends so my dad could have a day off. That's where I first saw what running a small business actually takes.
I studied finance and accounting, and my first real job was at Boeing in FP&A, working on the 787 Dreamliner and the F-15 fighter jet. It was a great place to learn, but I left at 27. I didn't want a bell curve telling me what I was worth.
From there I went into oil and gas consulting. I kept seeing how much of the outsourced CFO work out there was just bad, so I started my own firm. I spent five years building and scaling it, and one of my clients ended up hiring me full-time as their CFO and COO.
Running finance for a growing company, I tried every software under the sun to plan and forecast, and they all sucked. So I built Clockwork. I've now spent eight years building and scaling it into a VC-backed tech company, and along the way it became the FP&A partner for Profit First.
That's thirteen years of doing this work myself. The whole time I kept running into people "coaching" firm owners on advisory who had never run a firm or sat in the CFO seat, and had no idea what they were doing. So I decided to change that too. I only coach a handful of firms at a time so I can actually be in the details with each one.
Fady
Firm owners who are done giving it away.
Probably a fit
- You run a CPA, bookkeeping, or CAS firm and clients already lean on you for decisions.
- You want to add advisory or fractional CFO work, or grow the few clients you have.
- You know your pricing is off but can't bring yourself to say the new number.
- Every advisory client wants you on the call, and you're out of hours.
Probably not
- You want a course to watch on your own time.
- You want someone to do the client work for you.
- You want me to tell you your pricing is fine.
- You're shopping for software.
The five problems.
I talked about this on stage at Intuit Connect. Clients want someone looking forward with them, and most firms are still handing them last month's numbers. Almost every firm owner I talk to who's trying to close that gap is stuck on one of these five. I've been stuck on all of them.
- You priced the deliverable, not the decision.Ten years of judgment, billed like data entry.
- You're still the product.Every client wants you specifically. That's a compliment and it's a ceiling.
- You never fired the first client.The one who pays the least and asks the most is setting the terms for everybody you sign after them.
- You're selling a report nobody reads.More pages isn't advisory. It's compliance in a nicer suit.
- You're waiting to feel ready.The cert. The hire. The new website. None of it is what's stopping you.
I wrote up the long version. What each one looks like from the inside and what I did about mine. It's free and you don't need to give me your email.
What firm owners usually bring me.
The number you can't say out loud
You know the engagement is worth $3,000 a month. You quote $750 and throw in the forecast for free. We figure out the offer, the price, and how you say it, and you practice until it doesn't feel weird anymore.
The report nobody reads
You send forty pages every month and the client still calls to ask if they can afford the hire. We rebuild what you deliver around the decisions they're actually making: cash, hiring, pricing, debt, and growth.
You're the bottleneck
Every CFO client wants you on the call. We sort out what only you can do, what someone on your team can own, and what software should be doing, so you can take on more clients without giving up your weekends.
I also work with a few founders and finance leaders on raises, partnerships, and models that don't add up. I don't publish client names or numbers. Get me on a call and I'll tell you what happened, minus the names.
Two ways to work with me.
No assistant, no sales rep, no coach I trained. It's me on every call. Most firms start with a Pricing Session.
The Pricing Session
You send me your client list and what you charge today. We spend 90 minutes building your advisory offer together. You leave with something you can send to a client that week.
- A priced advisory menu built for your clients
- Engagement letter language for the new scope
- A 90 day plan for rolling it out
1:1 Advisor
For firm owners who want me in their corner while they build. I review your proposals and pricing, and I'll sit in on your first CFO client meetings.
- Two working calls a month
- Text or email me between calls
- Proposal and pricing reviews before they go out
- I join your first client CFO meetings
- $22,000 if you pay the six months upfront
By application only.
The guarantee. If you're not happy within 30 days, I'll refund you.
Bigger firms that want me to help build out their whole CFO service line can ask about a done-with-you engagement. Already a client? Schedule your next session.
Before you book, listen.
- 3 reasons AI will not replace accountantsArticle, CPA Practice Advisor
- Leveraging AI in accounting, and letting go of the clients holding you backPodcast, The Abundant Accountant
- What being a CFO actually takesPodcast, Profit First Professionals
The Real Slim Fady Show.
Stories I should've told a long time ago. Founders, accountants, identity, ambition, burnout, and the loneliness nobody warns you about. The name is a nod to Eminem. Same idea too: say the things everybody's thinking but nobody will say out loud.
Good ones to start with:
- Why I Quit Boeing at 27
- If I Started My Company Over
- The Most Dangerous Person In The Room
- 306. The Number That Changed My Life.
What people ask before they book.
Do I need to be doing advisory already?
No. Some firms come to me with zero advisory clients and a lot of free advice going out the door. Others have a handful of CFO clients and can't grow past themselves. Both work.
What if it doesn't work?
If you're not happy within 30 days, I'll refund you.
Don't pitch yourself. Just tell me what's going on.
I read every message myself. If it makes sense to talk, I'll get back to you within 24 hours.