Fractional Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Employment Type: Part-time (Approximately 20 hours/week, roughly 2 days of embedded support), Independent Contractor (Initial 6-month commitment, transitioning to month-to-month thereafter)

Work Model: Remote (Exclusively sourcing from South Africa or Latin America)

Work Hours: US Eastern Standard Time (EST) alignment

Reports To: Owner / Managing Partner

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced, hands-on Fractional Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with a deep background in construction, contracting, or project-based services to provide strategic financial leadership for a growing Philadelphia-based solar installation and contracting business generating ~$18M annually (projected to reach ~$24M next year).

Sitting above an established accounting team (Full-time Accounting Manager, AR support, offshore QuickBooks bookkeeper, and external CPA firm), you will not handle day-to-day transaction processing or bookkeeping. Instead, you will embed as a strategic partner to ownership—modernizing project accounting models, improving cash flow visibility, refining gross margin structures, developing meaningful KPIs, and acting as an executive-level storyteller to banks, bonding companies, vehicle financing providers, and trade creditors.

Key Responsibilities

1. Project Accounting, WIP & Revenue Recognition

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  Work-In-Progress (WIP) Execution: Implement and refine percentage-of-completion accounting, milestone-based recognition, WIP schedules, deferred revenue protocols, and accrual structures appropriate for multi-period solar installation projects.

  
  


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  Project Profitability Analysis: Overhaul job costing, gross margin reporting, and milestone tracking to eliminate artificial earnings volatility caused by project timing or cash collection schedules.

  
  


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  Inventory & Fleet Governance: Establish financial discipline around high-value operational assets—evaluating inventory controls, valuation methods, vehicle financing models, and fleet utilization metrics.

  
  

2. Strategic Financial Leadership & KPI Development

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  Executive Financial Advisory: Translate complex operational data into actionable strategic insights, helping ownership understand the financial impacts of growth decisions, capex investments, and capital structures.

  
  


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  KPI & Dashboard Management: Design and monitor executive dashboards tracking critical metrics, including project gross margins, backlog, WIP, cash conversion cycles, AR aging, labor efficiency, and EBITDA quality.

  
  


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  Budgeting & Long-Term Valuation: Build rolling forecasts, annual budgets, and scenario models; advise ownership on capital structure, partner economics (deferred comp, partner loans), and long-term private equity/exit readiness.

  
  

3. External Stakeholder Relations & Financial Storytelling

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  Lender & Bonding Support: Prepare executive-level, lender-ready financial packages and present clear narratives to banks, bonding agents, vehicle lenders, and trade creditors.

  
  


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  Balance Sheet Optimization: Reclassify and present balance sheet items (e.g., debt vs. equity, partner distributions) to accurately convey the company's true liquidity and financial health to external reviewers.

  
  

Required Skills & Qualifications

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  Leadership Background: Extensive experience operating as a CFO, Fractional CFO, VP of Finance, or Finance Director within founder-led or middle-market businesses ($10M–$50M revenue range).

  
  


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  Industry Specialization: Proven finance background in construction, contracting, HVAC, electrical, utility services, home services, engineering, or renewable energy/solar.

  
  


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  Project Accounting Mastery: Deep technical literacy in WIP accounting, percentage-of-completion revenue recognition, job costing, and project-based accruals.

  
  


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  Systems Proficiency: Strong familiarity with financial modeling, enterprise reporting, and QuickBooks Online.

  
  


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  Communication & Executive Presence: Native or fluent professional English (C1/C2) with exceptional verbal presentation skills; able to explain complex financial nuances simply to non-financial founders and external financial institutions.

  
  


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  Schedule Availability: Full capacity to commit ~20 hours per week with consistent US business hours overlap.

  
  

Preferred Qualifications

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  Experience preparing financial presentations specifically for bonding companies and construction lenders.

  
  


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  Background managing fleet-heavy businesses or equipment financing structures.

  
  


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  Exposure to private equity, M&A transaction readiness, or business valuation frameworks.

  
  

Success Metrics (KPIs)

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  Accurate WIP & Revenue Matching: Successfully deploying a standardized WIP methodology that reflects true monthly project performance.

  
  


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  Lender & Credit Alignment: Improving borrowing/bonding capacity through polished, executive-ready financial packages and balance sheet cleanup.

  
  


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  Cash & Profitability Visibility: Establishing reliable 13-week cash flow forecasting alongside project-level gross margin transparency.