B2B CFO® is a registered trademark of its owner. This site is an independent comparison by Steven Palmieri (Palmieri Enterprises) and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by B2B CFO.
B2B CFO comparisonTheir model beside our month
Steven Palmieri, a Tax CFO, sets their published model beside the month we close, so a matched bank is already on our side while their pages stay on leadership.
What a Tax CFO is, next to a fractional CFO
A fractional CFO firm sells leadership by the hour or the month and leaves the books and the return to someone else. We finish the month against the bank first, leave payday with the company you already use, and write the return from those finished months while October can still change the year. Same place at the table. A different floor under it.
The person on this side of the page is Steven Palmieri, the Tax CFO, the Entrepreneur's CFO.
What they offer
The services named on their about page.
Click to see their offer ›Tap to see their offer ›
Each month
Point at the day the bank file matches. That day is the month.
Click to see the month ›Tap to see the month ›
The books
Their list does not name the monthly close.
Click to see the books ›Tap to see the books ›
Tax planning
October planning, and the return from closed months.
Click to see tax planning ›Tap to see tax planning ›
How you start
Their first step is published with no cost.
Click to see the start ›Tap to see the start ›
Three questions
The close, the return, and the written fee.
Click to see the questions ›Tap to see the questions ›Six questions from a sales call
Open a card. Each one is a question an owner can ask both sides, with their published words beside ours.
Click to open ›Tap to open ›1Who closes the month
Ask both sides for a name and a date.
Their about page lists six services, and monthly bookkeeping is not one of those names. On our side the month is closed inside the work, on a schedule.
Click to open ›Tap to open ›2Where tax planning sits
Ask whether the return is in the same work.
Their published service list does not name preparing the return. The Tax CFO prepares the return from the closed months and reads October while the year can still change.
Click to open ›Tap to open ›3What the first step costs
Their first step is published at no cost.
Their playbook says there is no cost to the owner for the Gap Diagnostic Analysis, no obligation to move forward, and no requirement to sign. The monthly number stays off this comparison so the scope is what you line up.
Click to open ›Tap to open ›4Who the person is
An equity owner there, one practice here.
Their about page says each professional in the firm is an equity owner and averages 20+ years of experience since graduation. Here the person is Steven Palmieri, and one practice does the month and the return.
Click to open ›Tap to open ›5How long it runs
As needed there, every month here.
Their about page says the average tenure with a client is about six years, and the relationships are on an as-needed basis. Our work is a monthly rhythm, agreed in writing before it starts.
Click to open ›Tap to open ›6What you hold next
Their report, or our written scope.
Their playbook says the diagnostic ends in a confidential report of findings, and fees are estimated and agreed in advance. We write the scope and the fee before the first paid month.
What their pages publish
Click to read ›Tap to read › What their pages publish
The thirteen lines below are the claims this comparison keeps. Under every line sits the public page that firm published. Nothing here adds a price they did not print, and nothing here guesses at a motive.
Their about page says the firm pioneered this industry in 1987. About page
Their about page says every company, regardless of its size, needs a Chief Financial Officer, and that the firm offers an alternative solution. About page, every company
Their about page says the firm has more than 6,000 years of combined experience, in any industry owned by a privately held company. About page
Their about page says each professional in the firm is an equity owner. About page, equity owners
The same about page says each of those professionals averages 20+ years of experience since graduation. About page, years of experience
Their about page says they create long-term, professional relationships on an affordable, as-needed basis. About page, as-needed relationships
Their about page lists the expertise as improving cash flow, obtaining bank loans, helping companies grow profitably, increasing company value, planning strategically, and preparing a business to sell, transfer, or make an acquisition. About page, the service list
Their playbook page names six steps. They are strategic planning, owner objectives, gap diagnosis, a strategy session, perform and report, and legacy. Playbook page, the six steps
Their playbook says engagements are structured on an as-needed basis with estimated fees agreed upon in advance. Playbook page, fees in advance
The same playbook page says owners should never encounter surprises regarding fees or scope of work. Playbook page, no surprises
The about page and the playbook page print no rate, no retainer, and no range. About page Playbook page
Their about page says the average tenure with a client is about six years. About page, client tenure
Their playbook says there is no cost to the owner for the Gap Diagnostic Analysis, no obligation to move forward, and no requirement to sign an engagement agreement in order to receive it. Playbook page, the diagnostic
How an owner can use the thirteen lines
Click to read ›Tap to read › How an owner can use the thirteen lines
An owner reading a comparison is usually trying to see the shape of a year before a sales call. The thirteen lines above are the whole of what this page will say about the other firm. Each line points at a page they publish. If a line is not on that page anymore, it should come off this one. Read the line, open their page, and keep only what you can find there. The about page we read does not call the firm the largest in the nation, so that boast stays off the thirteen.
The useful split is the work that happens every month. Their published list is leadership work. Cash flow, a bank conversation, a plan, a sale, a transfer, an acquisition. Our month is the close against the bank, payroll left on the provider you already run, and the return written from those months. Leadership can sit on top of that. It cannot replace the close. If the books are still open in March, a plan bought in June was a story about numbers nobody had finished.
Fees are the second split, and it is the one that gets foggy on a call. Both sides say the fee is agreed before the work. The about page and the playbook page we opened leave the fee unstated. A currency figure stays off this comparison so a rate is never mistaken for a term they published. Ask for the scope and the fee in the same writing. Name the job you are buying before you set the two amounts next to each other. A price for leadership hours and a price for a closed month are not the same product, even when both people use the word fractional for the work.
The third split is who answers. Their about page says each professional is an equity owner and that the relationship is meant to last. That is a real model. Ours is one practice. Steven Palmieri closes the month and prepares the return, and the disclosures page says what this practice will not sign. A bank that wants a signed assurance report has to take that request to a firm allowed to sign it, and this comparison is not that firm. If your question is which reserved report you need, this comparison is the wrong page, and the disclosures page says so in plain words.
You can finish this page without a call. The button under the opening is a jump to their published lines, not a request for your name. The link at the end opens a site that carries our own name, where the same work is priced in plain words. If you want a conversation after you have read both, the calendar page is in the menu. It is optional. The comparison stands without it. Nothing on the first screen asks you to book, and nothing on the first screen asks for a note.
How to read our price
The comparison ends on one link. It opens our own site, where the same work is priced in plain words. You can leave without typing a name, a phone, or a note.