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 comparisonThe three questions that decide it
Ask both sides the same three questions. Write down the name, the date, and the fee. Then the comparison is yours.
Who closes the month.
Where the return sits.
What the next month costs in writing.
Who does the monthly close, and when
Click to read ›Tap to read › Who does the monthly close, and when
Ask both firms to name the person and the date. Their about page lists six services, and monthly bookkeeping is not among the names. If the firm does not close the books itself, ask who does, and ask what happens when that person runs late. On our side the close is inside the month.
Where the return sits
Click to read ›Tap to read › Where the return sits
Ask whether planning happens before December and whether the same firm prepares the return. Their published service list does not name tax return preparation. With Steven Palmieri the return is prepared from the closed months. The difference is how many people you are coordinating in the fourth quarter.
What the next month costs, in writing
Click to read ›Tap to read › What the next month costs, in writing
Their playbook says fees are estimated and agreed upon in advance, and the pages we read publish no rate. Our pages withhold the number until that same writing exists. Ask both for scope and fee in writing before you sign anything, and make sure you are comparing the same scope. Our writing covers three jobs together. Those jobs are the closed month, payroll-company setup, and the return.
Write the answers in three lines you can read a week later. Line one is a name and a date for the close. Line two is whether the return is inside the same work. Line three is the fee for that named scope, not for a different list of leadership hours. If a line is blank, you do not have an answer yet.
A free first step is not the comparison. Their diagnostic is published with no cost and no signature. A call here is also optional and creates no fee. The deciding page is the one you sign. Put the three lines on that page before the signature, on both offers, and then the choice is about the work.
Use one sheet for both answers so the columns line up. Their column comes from the page they published, and you can keep that address under the line. Our column comes from this site, and the fee cell stays empty until a scope page names the amount. An empty fee cell is an honest blank. A fee you filled in yourself is not a sourced comparison.
When the two columns name different jobs, stop and decide which job you are buying this year. You can buy leadership while the books stay with someone you already trust. You can buy a close and a return and keep your own banker meetings. Buying a title and hoping the close comes along is the mix-up these three lines are there to catch.