Proven Academy
Plain answers to the questions owners ask us.
Written by the people who do the work, with the numbers in them. No hype, no exclamation marks. If an article does not answer the question in its first paragraph, we rewrite it.
How much does a fractional CFO cost in 2026?
Fractional CFO pricing in 2026: $1,500 to $10,000 a month for most companies, by revenue band, versus $150,000 to $250,000 for a full-time CFO. What drives the price, when a controller is the better buy, and ProvenCFO's published tiers.
7 min read
Bookkeeper, controller or CFO: which one does your business need?
The difference between a bookkeeper, a controller and a CFO, what each costs, the signs you have outgrown the one you have, and what a $3M, $10M and $30M company usually needs.
6 min read
What is a WIP schedule, and why does your surety read it first?
A plain explanation of the construction work-in-progress (WIP) schedule: percentage of completion, earned revenue, over and under billings, how it changes your profit, and why bonding companies and banks ask for it.
7 min read
The 13-week cash flow forecast: how to build one and what it tells you
What a 13-week cash flow forecast is, why 13 weeks, how to build one from the ledger, and how owners use it to time hires, purchases and borrowing. Includes the layout ProvenCFO uses.
6 min read
QuickBooks cleanup: how long it takes, what it costs, and what a good one includes
How long a QuickBooks Online or Xero cleanup takes by months behind, what catch-up bookkeeping costs, what the cleanup must include to be trusted by a CPA or a bank, and how to keep the books from falling behind again.
6 min read
What financials does a bank need for a business loan?
The financial package a bank or SBA lender asks for on a line of credit, equipment loan, acquisition loan or SBA 7(a): the statements, agings, schedules and ratios, what contractors add, and how to have it ready in a day instead of two weeks.
7 min read
Earlier articles from the Contractor Finance Insights series (regional construction costs, the data center boom, backlog and WIP) are being moved into the Academy with their original dates.
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