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CFO Advisory for Growing Consulting Firms

Strategic financial guidance backed by complete financial operations—bookkeeping, payroll, tax, and bill pay all handled, so you get CFO-level insights built on rock-solid data.

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check icon Complete financial operations
check icon Strategic planning support
check icon Real CFO expertise without the CFO salary
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Loved by 300+ Firms Nationwide

Rachel Lund

Self Space

"System Six is essential to our success—trustworthy, responsive, and knowledgeable. I've referred many entrepreneurs to them."

Rich Kim

TEAH

"As a new business owner, I knew nothing about payroll, taxes, and B&O—it gave me tons of anxiety. My CPA recommended System Six as the best firm for my business. They've helped me end-to-end with finances and accounting, keeping me compliant and anxiety-free."

Mary Coday

Overlake Eye Care

"They provided invaluable leadership guidance during temporary layoffs and ramping back up. Having System Six is among the top three best decisions we've made for our practice."

Brad Borkhuis

Epitome

"I've worked with System Six for years—they're a Godsend! Extremely valuable, accurate, reliable, and always willing to go the extra mile. You won't regret it. The time and money saved paid for their services 10 times over!"

Trusted by founders, operators & CFOs from
firms between $1M–$50M+

SEE OUR CLIENTS

Success stories from businesses like yours

Discover how businesses like yours overcame challenges and achieved remarkable growth. Real stories, real results — showcasing innovation, strategy, and success.
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WHAT WE DO

Smart Advisory. Real Humans.
Zero Guesswork.

From decision-ready financials to forecast budgets, and custom analysis — our CFO team brings structure, insights, and clarity, so you always know exactly where your business stands.

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Bookkeeping Team

Strategic Financial
Reporting

Understand your numbers. Drive better
decisions.

  • check icon Real-time dashboards for cash flow and
    project profitability
  • check icon KPIs that actually matter for your business
  • check icon Board-ready financials every month
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CFO-Level Strategy
& Advisory

Strategic financial guidance that drives
growth decisions.

  • check icon Can we afford to hire 3 senior consultants?"
    — Cash runway analysis
  • check icon Should we take this discounted project?"
    — True profitability modeling
  • check icon Are we on track to hit $5M?" — Growth
    trajectory and gap analysis
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Bookkeeping Team
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Bookkeeping Team

Cash Flow Forecasting
& Planning

Plan for tomorrow with eyes wide
open.

  • check icon 13-week cash flow forecasting
  • check icon Scenario planning and payment timing
  • check icon Know when and where problems will hit
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15+
Years Of
Experience
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Industries We Serve

Trusted Across Multiple Industries

  • check Consulting: Management, HR, Legal, Environmental
  • check Agencies: Marketing, Creative, Architecture, Engineering
  • check Tech: IT Services, Software Startups, Cybersecurity
  • check Search Funds & Investor Backed Companies
  • check Multi-Location Service Providers
  • check Nonprofits & Religious Organizations
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HOW WE WORK

HOW CFO & ADVISORY WORKS
WITH US

Foundation

(Weeks 1–4)

We assess your financial health, identify
growth opportunities, and establish
strategic reporting infrastructure

Strategic Build

(Month 2–3)

Forecasts, dashboards,
project tracking, and tech
stack integration

Growth Mode

(Ongoing)

Advisory support, proactive
reporting, and real-time
insights

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WHY FIRMS CHOOSE
SYSTEM SIX

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73 NPS — Most new clients come from referrals

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300+ Clients Served — Specializing in firms like yours

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$200M+ Managed — Across consulting firms, agencies, and professional services

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40+ U.S.-Based Professionals — Real humans who understand your business model

Let’s make something great work together.

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FAQ

What's the difference between bookkeeping and CFO & Advisory? +
→ Bookkeeping (historical): Records transactions, reconciles accounts, produces basic P&L and Balance Sheet. Tells you what happened.
→ CFO & Advisory (strategic): Forecasts cash flow, models growth scenarios, analyzes profitability by project, provides decision support for hiring/pricing/expansion. Tells you what will happen and what you should do about it.
→ Most businesses need bookkeeping first. When you hit $1M+ revenue or 10+ employees, you need CFO & Advisory to make confident growth decisions. We offer both, so you won't outgrow us.
Can you track profitability by project, client, or practice area? +
→ Yes—this is critical for consulting firms. We set up your chart of accounts and tracking systems to show profitability by:
  • Individual project/engagement
  • Client (across multiple projects)
  • Practice area or service line
  • Consultant or team member
  • Office location (if multi-location)

You'll finally know which work is actually making you money vs. keeping you busy.

Do you integrate with our project management and time tracking tools? +
→ Absolutely. We integrate with:
  • Time tracking: Harvest, Toggl, Clockify, TimeCamp, Everhour
  • Project management: Asana, Monday.com, ClickUp, Notion, Basecamp
  • CRM: HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Close
  • Expense management: Ramp, Expensify, Bill.com, Divvy

This means time tracked in your PM tool flows automatically to accounting, project costs connect to revenue, and you get real-time profitability without manual spreadsheets.

What's included in "controller-level" accounting? +
→ Everything a full-time controller would do:
  • Monthly close within 5 business days (vs. 15-20 days DIY)
  • Full account reconciliations (bank, credit cards, loans, AR, AP)
  • Journal entries and accruals
  • Variance analysis (budget vs. actual, this month vs. last month)
  • Cash flow forecasting (12+ months ahead)
  • Board-ready financial packages
  • Audit support if you need financing
  • GAAP-compliant reporting
  • Strategic advisory on growth decisions

The difference: You're not hiring one person—you're getting our entire team's expertise for 1/3 the cost of an in-house controller ($75K-$100K).

How is this different from hiring a CFO? +
→ Full-time CFO: $150K-$250K+ salary. Strategic planning, fundraising, board management, M&A expertise.
→ System Six Accounting: $20K-$100K annually. Controller execution + CFO-level insights for growth-stage companies.
→ When you need System Six: $1M-$50M revenue, making growth decisions (hiring, expansion, service line additions), need better visibility.
→ When you need a CFO: $10M+ revenue, fundraising/M&A activities, complex cap table management, building finance department.
→ Most consulting firms in our sweet spot ($1M-$10M) don't need a full CFO yet—they need what we provide.
Can you help us make decisions about hiring, pricing, or expansion? +
→ Yes. This is the strategic value of accounting. Examples:
→ Hiring decision: "Should we hire a senior consultant or turn away work?" → We show you current utilization rates, cash runway for new salary, break-even timeline.
→ Pricing question: "Client wants 15% discount on big project—should we take it?" → We show you true project costs, margin at full price vs. discount, cash flow impact.
→ Expansion question: "Should we open a second office?" → We model fixed costs, revenue requirements to break even, cash flow timeline.
→ Practice area pivot: "Should we drop regulatory work to focus on strategy?" → We show profitability by practice area, revenue concentration risk, implications.
→ We give you data to make confident decisions, not gut-feel guesses.
What does "cash flow forecasting" actually mean? +
→ We build a 12-month projection of your cash position based on:
  • Known incoming revenue (contracts, retainers, pipeline)
  • Expected expenses (payroll, rent, contractors, etc.)
  • Payment timing (your Net-30/60 AR vs. your payables)
  • Seasonal patterns in your business
  • Planned investments (hiring, equipment, marketing)

Why it matters: You see cash crunches 3-6 months before they hit, so you can act. Example: "At current burn rate, you'll need a credit line by September" gives you 4 months to secure financing, not 4 days.

What's the monthly reporting cadence? +
→ By day 5 of each month:
  • P&L (overall + by practice area/project)
  • Balance Sheet
  • Cash Flow Statement
  • KPI dashboard (metrics you actually care about)
  • Variance analysis (budget vs. actual, month vs. month)
→ Mid-month:
  • Quick check-in call if needed
→ Quarterly:
  • Strategic review: What do the numbers tell us?
  • Scenario planning for next quarter
  • Board package preparation (if applicable)

You're never more than 5 days away from knowing exactly where your business stands.

Do you work with our CPA and other advisors? +
→ Yes. We coordinate with your CPA, attorney, banker, and investors. Many CPAs specifically request their consulting clients work with us because:
  • We provide audit-ready books (reduces their tax prep time)
  • We handle monthly compliance so they can focus on strategy
  • We speak their language (GAAP, accrual accounting, proper revenue recognition)

Your CPA will thank you for hiring us.

Can you help us get ready for financing, due diligence, or acquisition? +
→ Absolutely. We provide:
  • GAAP-compliant financial statements
  • Audit-ready books with full documentation
  • Quality of Earnings (QoE) preparation support
  • Historical financials and projections
  • Normalized EBITDA calculations
  • Data room organization

Whether you're seeking a bank loan, investor funding, or preparing for sale, we make sure your financials tell the right story.

Do we need bookkeeping AND CFO & Advisory, or can we skip to CFO & Advisory? +
→ You need both—they work together. Bookkeeping is the foundation (transaction recording, reconciliation, accurate financial statements). CFO & Advisory is the strategic layer on top (forecasting, scenario modeling, growth decision support).
→ Most clients start with bookkeeping. Once books are clean and current (usually 30-60 days), we layer in CFO & Advisory services. You can't do strategic financial planning without accurate bookkeeping underneath.

Ready to Make Smarter
Growth Decisions?

Talk to our CFO advisory team about your
growth challenges.

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Get Your Numbers Working for You

Stop wrestling with books, taxes, or payroll. We’ll review your setup and show you how clean, consistent financials can unlock growth.

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CFO Advisory

by | Dec 10, 2025