What it is. A senior finance leader on a part-time basis: forecasting and cash management, pricing and margin work, fundraising and lender relationships, and board-grade reporting, at a fraction of a full-time CFO's cost.
Who it is for. Buffalo companies too large for books alone and too early for a six-figure CFO hire: growing businesses, companies raising capital, and owners facing a decision where the finance answer is unclear.
Bookkeeper, controller, CFO. A bookkeeper records the past, and a controller closes it. The CFO turns those numbers into decisions: what to price, what to fund, when to hire, and how to finance growth.
Growing Buffalo companies tend to hit the same wall: the books are finally clean, and the hard questions remain open. Where will cash be in ninety days. Whether the pricing actually covers cost. How to fund the next stage, and on whose terms. Those questions belong to a CFO, and a fractional CFO answers them part-time, for a fraction of the salary, benefits, and equity a full-time hire commands.
The role is distinct from the ones most businesses already have. Bookkeeping records what happened. A controller closes the month and keeps reporting clean. A CFO owns the forward view: the operating model and forecast, the cash runway, pricing and unit economics, the numbers behind a raise or a loan, and the reporting a board, an investor, or a bank actually reads. Plenty of companies reach the point where the missing CFO, and no longer the books, is the constraint on growth, and the fractional model exists for exactly that point.
Corviniti brings a CPA who has built and defended the numbers behind real financings and audits. For Buffalo companies that includes knowing the regional capital landscape, from M&T and the SBA lenders through the ECIDA's incentive programs to 43North, Launch NY, and the University at Buffalo ecosystem, so the fundraising and lending conversations start with the right targets. What an engagement covers is below.
This page sits under Corviniti Accounting in New York City, our New York headquarters. That page covers the full New York City and New York State picture, and links to the rest of our local coverage.
Cash flow
The 13-week cash flow, explained
The model that shows a shortfall weeks before it arrives: receipts timed by when customers actually pay, disbursements, and ending cash by week.
Anatomy of a 13-week cash flow model. Illustrative figures.
Financing
The Buffalo capital map
The three lanes a Buffalo company raises money in, and what each expects: M&T and the SBA banks, ECIDA and state incentives, and the 43North, Launch NY, and WEDI ecosystem.
The Buffalo capital landscape. Illustrative and not exhaustive.
Margin
Unit economics: which jobs and customers make money
One blended margin number hides which jobs, products, or customers actually make money. Splitting it out is where the pricing decisions come from.
A worked unit-economics example. Illustrative figures.
This is for you if
You are growing and clean books are no longer the thing holding you back.
A strong month still leaves you unsure you can make payroll.
You are raising money or seeking a loan and need a model that holds up.
You have a board, investor, or bank covenant and need reporting they trust.
What you get
Forecast and cash-flow model A rolling forecast and a thirteen-week cash view that flags a shortfall while there is time to act.
Pricing and margin analysis True unit economics by product, job, or customer, and the pricing that follows.
Fundraising and lender support The model, the materials, and knowledge of the Buffalo capital map, from M&T and the SBA to 43North and Launch NY.
Board and lender reporting A package outside parties trust, with covenant tracking where it applies.
How We Help
What you get
Senior finance leadership for a Buffalo company, part-time and scaled to what you need.
Forecast and cash-flow modelA rolling forecast and a thirteen-week cash view that flags a shortfall while there is time to act.
Pricing and margin analysisTrue unit economics by product, job, or customer, and the pricing that follows.
Fundraising and lender supportThe model, the materials, and knowledge of the Buffalo capital map, from M&T and the SBA to 43North and Launch NY.
Board and lender reportingA package outside parties trust, with covenant tracking where it applies.
When companies bring us in
You are growing and clean books are no longer the thing holding you back.
A strong month still leaves you unsure you can make payroll.
You are raising money or seeking a loan and need a model that holds up.
You have a board, investor, or bank covenant and need reporting they trust.
The Detail
The gaps, and how we close each one
Service 01
CFO work, beyond bookkeeping and the monthly close
Businesses often buy more bookkeeping when the missing ingredient is financial leadership. Cleaner books, by themselves, cannot say whether you can afford the hire, whether the new line makes money, or how the expansion should be financed.
How we handle it
We take the strategic finance role and own the forward view: the operating model, the rolling forecast, the cash plan, and the analysis behind whatever decision is in front of you. The work sits on top of your existing books, whether we keep them or your team does, and turns them into decisions with dollar figures attached. Scope scales to the company: a few days a month for a steady business, more during a raise, an acquisition, or a turnaround. You get the seniority of a CFO who has sat across from banks, boards, and auditors, priced as a monthly engagement with no salary, benefits, or equity grant attached. Most engagements settle into a steady rhythm: a working session on the forecast and the cash plan, the analysis queued behind whatever decisions are live that month, and a standing channel for the questions in between.
Service 02
Forecasting and cash-flow management
A business can post a strong quarter on paper and still miss payroll, because receivables and inventory swallowed the cash. That gap between reported profit and money in the bank is where growing Buffalo companies get caught, usually at the worst possible moment.
How we handle it
The tools are a rolling forecast built on your real drivers and a thirteen-week cash-flow model that surfaces a shortfall weeks before it lands. Cash becomes a managed number: receivables and payables timed deliberately, inventory and payroll planned against the runway, and seasonal swings planned for in advance. Seasonality is real money in this market: a Buffalo contractor's revenue compresses into the construction season while payroll runs all winter, and restaurants and retail carry calendar swings of their own, so the model has the strong months carry the lean ones. When a decision touches cash, a hire, a large order, an equipment purchase, we model its effect on the runway before you commit, so the choice is made with the consequence in view. The model also becomes the early-warning system your bank will wish you had before it asks.
What you get: A rolling forecast and a thirteen-week cash-flow model you can steer by.
Weighing a hire, a raise, or a price change? Talk to a CFO while the decision is still open.
Most owners cannot say with confidence which products, jobs, or customers make money. Blended margins hide the losers, and prices set by habit or by matching a competitor quietly fund unprofitable work year after year.
How we handle it
We break the business down to unit economics: true cost by product, job, or customer, including the overhead and labor that blended numbers bury, so you can see what earns and what only looks busy. From there we model price changes, decide which lines or customers to grow and which to exit, and set the margin targets the business is actually run against. For Buffalo's manufacturers and contractors especially, where one mispriced quote out of a machine shop or one underbid job can erase a quarter, this is routinely the highest-return work in the engagement, and it usually pays for the engagement by itself.
What you get: Unit economics by product, job, or customer, and a pricing plan that follows.
Service 04
Fundraising, lending, and the Buffalo capital landscape
Money raised on the wrong terms, or chased with a model that does not hold up, costs a company for years. Buffalo has real capital sources across debt, incentives, and equity, and each one expects the numbers presented its own way.
How we handle it
We build the model and the materials behind a raise or a loan, and we know the local map. On the debt side, bank and SBA lending runs through M&T Bank, headquartered in downtown Buffalo, alongside KeyBank, Evans Bank, and Northwest, with the SBA's Buffalo District Office at 130 S. Elmwood Avenue as the district's front door; every lender in that lane expects financials, tax returns, and projections that reconcile. On the incentive side, the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA) offers PILOT property tax abatements plus sales and mortgage recording tax exemptions on qualifying projects, real money on a facility or equipment build, and runs a microloan program up to 50,000 dollars, while Empire State Development carries the state-level programs. On the equity and grant side, 43North, Buffalo's landmark startup competition, invests 1 million dollars in each winning company; Launch NY, the most active seed fund in New York State, writes checks of 25,000 to 100,000 dollars; the University at Buffalo moves technology out through its tech transfer office; and WEDI lends 500 to 20,000 dollars to early businesses on the West Side. We prepare the projections, the cap table math, and the diligence support each source expects, and we sit in the conversations so the finance side is handled by someone who has done it before.
What you get: The model, materials, and Buffalo-capital knowledge behind a raise or a loan.
Service 05
Board, investor, and lender reporting
Once a company has a bank covenant, an investor, or a board, someone has to produce reporting those parties trust, on time, in the format they expect. Reporting that arrives late or falls apart under questions erodes confidence exactly when the company needs it most.
How we handle it
We produce the package outside parties actually read: a clean monthly or quarterly report with the KPIs that matter to your business, covenant-compliance tracking for lenders, and board or investor materials that present the facts accurately, including the parts that are still being fixed. Because the reporting is built on books we can stand behind, it answers questions instead of raising them, and the consistency compounds: a bank or board that receives a credible package every period extends more room when you need it. That standing is an asset the company builds month by month, and it is one of the least visible returns on the engagement.
What you get: A board and lender package built on numbers that hold up to questions.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does a fractional CFO actually do?
The forward-looking finance work: forecasting and cash management, pricing and margin analysis, fundraising and lender relationships, and board or investor reporting. Bookkeeping records the past and controllership closes the month; the CFO decides what happens next, and you get that judgment part-time, sized to the business.
How is this different from a bookkeeper or controller?
The bookkeeper records transactions; the controller closes the books and keeps the reporting clean; the CFO takes those numbers forward into pricing, funding, hiring, and financing decisions. Most companies have the first two roles filled and feel the absence of the third.
We are trying to raise money or get a loan. Can you help?
Yes. We build the model and materials, and we know the Buffalo capital landscape: M&T, KeyBank, Evans, and Northwest on the bank and SBA side, ECIDA and Empire State Development incentives, and the 43North, Launch NY, University at Buffalo, and WEDI ecosystem on the equity and grant side. We build what each source expects and sit in the conversations with you.
How much time and cost is a fractional CFO engagement?
Scope runs from a few days a month for a steady business to much more during a raise or a turnaround, always at a fraction of a full-time CFO's salary, benefits, and equity. We set a flat monthly scope so the cost is predictable, and most Buffalo engagements deepen around events: a financing, a large bid, or a bank renewal.
Do we need to switch our bookkeeping to you?
No. We work on top of your existing books whether your team keeps them or we do. The CFO work is stronger when the underlying books are clean, so if they need attention we will say so plainly and quote the fix separately.
Do you work with contractors and the trades?
Yes, in the CFO role. The numbers that run a contractor are backlog, gross margin per job, work in progress and over or under billings, and cash timing against progress payments and retainage. We build the job-level margin view and the cash forecast so you bid and staff off real numbers.
Do you work with medical and dental practices?
Yes, in the CFO role. The drivers are production per provider, the net collection rate against billed production, payer mix, and the economics of adding an operatory, a chair, or an associate. We model the expansion and the financing behind it.
Do you work with restaurants and cafes?
Yes, in the CFO role. Prime cost, food plus labor as a share of sales, is the number that decides a restaurant; we track it by location and period, model a new location or a menu change, and build the cash forecast around the slow season.
Do you work with e-commerce and retail businesses?
Yes, in the CFO role. The drivers are contribution margin after fees and shipping, customer acquisition cost against lifetime value, and inventory turns and the cash tied up in stock. We build the model that shows which channels and products actually fund the business.
Do you work with law firms and professional services?
Yes, in the CFO role. The drivers are realization and utilization, revenue per timekeeper, work in progress and collection speed, and the partner compensation math. We build the reporting a partner group depends on and the model behind a lateral hire or a new office.
Do you work with real estate investors and operators?
Yes, in the CFO role. The numbers are net operating income and cap rate per property, debt service coverage, and the cash and returns on an acquisition or a refinance. We build the model behind the deal and the reporting your lender and investors expect.
