Finance Teams Break.
RAID Teams Scale.
Most companies hit a wall at $20M. The close takes three weeks. Margins are a mystery. The CEO is flying blind. It's not a people problem — it's a systems problem. We fix it.
You've Outgrown Your Finance Function
The tools that worked at $8M don't work at $20M. These are the symptoms.
Slow Closes
Your monthly close takes weeks, not days. By the time you have numbers, the decisions they should've informed are already made.
No Margin Visibility
You can't tell which products, channels, or customers actually make money. Revenue is up but you're not sure where the profit went.
Knowledge Silos
One person holds all the keys. If they leave, your finance function collapses. That's not a team — it's a single point of failure.
Spreadsheet Chaos
Critical business decisions run through a maze of disconnected spreadsheets that nobody fully trusts and everyone interprets differently.
Cash Flow Surprises
You find out about cash crunches when they're already happening. No forecasting, no runway visibility, no early warning system.
Investor Anxiety
Board meetings feel like fire drills. Your reporting package wouldn't survive due diligence, and you know it.
The RAID Operating System
Every engagement is built on four principles that turn your finance function from a bottleneck into a competitive advantage.
Redundant
Documented, cross-trained processes. No single points of failure. Your finance function runs whether any one person is there or not.
Agile
Automation-first. We build systems before we hire people. Technology handles the repetitive work so your team handles the thinking.
Intelligent
Your finance team operates as owner-operators, not scorekeepers. They don't just report what happened — they drive what happens next.
Data-Driven
Every team member owns 3–5 KPIs tied to real business levers. Real-time visibility into cash, margins, and the metrics that matter.
Companies That Outgrew the Spreadsheet
Scott helped us close our books in under 5 days and finally gave us real visibility into our margins. It changed how we run the business.
What the Work Actually Looks Like
Every engagement is different. The RAID framework is the constant.
$15M E-Commerce Company
Scaling finance through hypergrowth — from spreadsheet chaos to 5-day closes and real-time margin visibility.
Read case study → Manufacturing$300M Manufacturer
Divesting a business unit at maximum value with clean standalone financials and institutional-grade data rooms.
Read case study → SaaSSaaS Company Post-Seed
Building the financial foundation for a Series A — proper metrics, cohort analysis, and investor-ready reporting.
Read case study →How We Work
Three models. One framework. Always embedded, never just advisory.
Fractional CFO — Ongoing
10–15 hours/week
Embedded finance leadership. Month-end close, cash and margin visibility, investor reporting, cross-functional strategy — without the full-time cost.
Advisory — Light Touch
~10 hours/month
Strategic oversight for companies with competent finance teams that need senior-level perspective on major decisions and growth planning.
Project-Based
Defined scope
Discrete engagements: financial modeling, close process redesign, M&A preparation, investor reporting packages, finance team assessments.
Frequently Asked Questions
A fractional CFO is a senior finance executive who embeds directly in your company on a part-time basis — typically 10 to 15 hours per week. Unlike a traditional consultant who delivers reports and disappears, a fractional CFO works alongside your team, owns the financial close, builds dashboards, manages cash flow, and drives strategic decisions in real time. It's the most cost-effective way for companies in the $15M to $100M revenue range to get true CFO-level leadership without the $300K+ salary and benefits of a full-time hire.
Bookkeepers and controllers are focused on recording and reporting what already happened — categorizing transactions, reconciling accounts, and producing financial statements. A fractional CFO operates at the strategic level: analyzing margins, forecasting cash flow, advising on pricing and growth decisions, managing lender and investor relationships, and building the systems that let your finance team scale. A CFO doesn't just record decisions — a CFO drives them. Most growing companies need both a strong back-office team and a CFO who can translate financial data into action.
RAID stands for Redundant, Agile, Intelligent, and Data-Driven — the four principles we use to rebuild finance functions that actually scale. Redundant means no single points of failure: processes are documented and cross-trained so your finance team doesn't collapse when one person is out. Agile means automation-first — we build systems before hiring headcount. Intelligent means your finance team operates as owner-operators who drive decisions, not just scorekeepers. Data-Driven means every team member owns KPIs tied to real business levers with real-time visibility. The RAID framework is what separates a finance department that merely functions from one that becomes a competitive advantage.
A fractional CFO typically costs a fraction of what you'd pay for a full-time CFO, who commands $300K to $500K or more in total compensation at the companies we work with. At Mainstreet IQ, we offer three engagement models — an ongoing fractional CFO engagement (10–15 hours per week), a lighter advisory model (~10 hours per month), and project-based work with a defined scope. Pricing depends on the complexity of your business, the state of your current finance function, and the level of involvement required. The best way to get a clear picture is to book a free 30-minute call so we can understand your situation.
We work across a range of industries including ecommerce and direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, SaaS and technology companies, manufacturing, hospitality and restaurant groups, apparel, and private equity-backed businesses. The common thread isn't the industry — it's the growth stage. Our clients are typically between $15M and $100M in revenue and have outgrown their current finance function. Whether you're managing complex inventory, recurring revenue metrics, or multi-location P&Ls, the RAID framework adapts to your specific operational challenges.
Most clients see meaningful improvements within the first 30 to 90 days. In the first month, we typically stand up real-time dashboards that give you immediate visibility into cash, margins, and key performance indicators — often for the first time. Within 90 days, most companies achieve a 5-day monthly close, replacing the 15- to 20-day close cycles that are common at this stage. The speed of results depends on the state of your current systems and data, but our goal is always to deliver quick wins while building the long-term infrastructure that compounds over time.