People hand me the things they can't afford to drop.
I'm Chase Rowan, a fractional CFO for companies between $5 million and $50 million of revenue, most of them in healthcare and technology, most of them backed by a sponsor or a family. I take the CFO seat. That means owning the financial picture of the company and what to do about it, from what it can afford next to how it tells its story to the people who fund it.
What the job is now
The models and the reports are table stakes. Software, and increasingly AI, can produce them. What software cannot do is decide what the company should stop doing, tell a founder a hire is not in the plan, get three executives to agree on where the next dollar goes, or sit across from a lender when the quarter missed. That is the work.
In a given week it means a long session with the CEO, the executive meeting, a conversation with the controller about what the close is telling us, and whichever relationship in the company needs attention. I am on the CEO's team and on management's side of the table. Investors stay well informed because the numbers are right and the story does not change between meetings.
Three ways to work together
Fractional CFO
The seat, on a flat monthly fee. Senior attention applied where it matters, for 18 to 36 months, ending in a handoff.
About the fractional CFO roleOperating partner
For sponsors around a transaction. An operator's read before the deal, and an operator ready after it.
About the operating partner roleConsulting
The problems software cannot solve. Mediating a disagreement, testing a strategy, finding an outcome the team cannot see from inside.
About consultingWhere I have been useful
How it starts
We talk for 30 minutes. If it looks right, I spend a half day on site at my own risk. I listen for most of it, then we whiteboard the first 90 days, the first six months, and years one and two. At the end of the day you decide. Most sign. Some don't, and the session is my gift to you.
Common questions
What is a fractional CFO?
A senior finance executive who holds the CFO seat for part of a week instead of all of it. The company gets the judgment and relationships of an experienced CFO at a fraction of the cost, usually for 18 to 36 months, until it is large enough to hire one full time or reaches a transaction.
Who is this for?
Companies between $5 million and $50 million of revenue, most in healthcare and technology, growing quickly and resourced enough to invest in how they operate. Distress can fit. So can a company thinking seriously about selling or buying. Subscale businesses and businesses that run on manual processes are a poor fit.
Do you provide accounting, tax, legal, or valuation services?
No. Those are regulated services and I don't provide them, and I don't run M&A as a banker would. I sit at the table with you for all of those conversations and make sure you get the most out of the people you pay for them.
What does it cost?
A flat monthly fee, set after the half day, that changes only when the scope does. No equity, no hourly meter, and the clock is never running when you call.
Who is Chase Rowan?
A fractional CFO based near Washington, DC. CFO more than ten times, six boards, 60-plus deals, Harvard MBA, and a career that started in the small businesses his parents built.
Start with 30 minutes.
Tell me the one number you wish you trusted more. I will tell you on the call whether I am the right person and, if not, who is.