Sector of demonstrated depth
Established SMBs & Family Businesses
Books closed on a desktop install of QuickBooks. A controller hired in 2008. The owner reaching retirement age. Established SMBs have decades of value to defend — Catalyst protects it with modern financial discipline ahead of the next inflection.
Where it usually hurts
You’re probably here because…
The owner is approaching exit but the books wouldn't survive a quality-of-earnings exam.
The controller has been here 20 years and runs everything from one head — no documentation, no backup, no system.
Working capital is locked up in slow AR or stale inventory and no one is actively managing it.
How we engage inside this sector
The Catalyst playbook for Established SMBs & Family Businesses
Exit / succession financial readiness
Clean books, normalized EBITDA, owner adjustments documented, and a defensible 3-year financial story. Built the way buyers and lenders will read it.
Working capital + cash unlock
AR/AP discipline, inventory turn analysis, and 13-week cash to free up locked capital and reduce reliance on the line of credit.
Systems modernization without disruption
Move off QuickBooks Desktop, document the close, and put a successor controller framework in place — without breaking the business that runs today.
Outcomes you can expect
- Quality-of-earnings-grade books before you go to market
- Working capital freed and reinvested
- Modern, documented finance function the next generation can run
Anti-commoditization
How to vet anyone you talk to in this sector
| Metric | Industry Red Flag | Catalyst CFO Advisors |
|---|---|---|
| Years in Finance Leadership | 5 - 10 years; often an ex junior or non-exec finance FTE | 25+ years across Wall Street, asset management, and CFO/COO seats since 1999 |
| AI & Automation Depth | "We use ChatGPT" — no track record building or running AI in production | ~10 years embedding AI in finance ops; venture work spans AI compliance, healthcare/telehealth, AI scheduling, and the AI/automation practice inside Catalyst |
| Founder-Operator Experience | Zero — first-time fractional, never sat in the exec seat | 12+ years running Catalyst plus CFO/finance leadership at venture-backed, PE-sponsored, and privately funded companies across multiple industries |
| Capital Raised & Deployed | Has only modeled or advised — never closed a round | >$25M secured for SMB clients; institutional Series A and strategic capital across multiple ventures |
| Wall Street Pedigree | No institutional or capital markets experience | Partner at a boutique institutional equity asset manager; helped grow firm AUM from $3B to $15B; sell-side equity research at global bank franchises |
| CFO + COO Scope | Lacks senior finance experience, little or no operational experience | Both functions; packaged as Fractional CFO, Fractional COO, Interim CFO, and Interim COO |
| Crisis Leadership | Has not led through a market collapse, bank failure, or cyber attack | Macro (since 1999): recessions, the GFC, COVID-era disruption, inflation/rate cycles, banking-system stress. Company-specific: cyber attacks, liquidity strain, and national payments-infrastructure outages |
| Time-to-Value | Weeks of "discovery" before producing anything useful | Two-week onramp; first operating model in days; close cycle reduced from 15 to <3 days at clients |
| One-Sided Commitment | Tries to lock into 6–12 month engagements | All CCA contracts are month-to-month — if we don't produce ROI, we don't get paid. |
Other sectors of demonstrated depth
VC-Backed Startups
Seed-to-Series-C teams that need investor-grade reporting without a $400K full-time CFO.
Explore the sectorFounder-Led Lower Middle Market
$10M-$100M owner-operated companies bridging from gut-feel to systems-driven decisions.
Explore the sectorPE Portfolio Companies
Sponsor-backed platforms and add-ons needing operating CFO depth between portfolio CFOs.
Explore the sectorReady to put a real CFO at the table for your established smbs & family businesses engagement?
Schedule a 30-minute discovery call. We'll walk through your situation and tell you straight whether fractional, interim, or something else is the right next move.