PART-TIME CFO FOR PLANO
Fractional CFO Plano, TX: Planning and Forecasting for Established Firms
Your books already say where the firm has been; a part-time CFO helps you plan where it goes.
Short answer: An established Plano firm can add a part-time CFO through LUCI Financial Solutions without hiring one. We turn closed monthly books into a budget, a cash flow forecast, a dashboard of key metrics and a regular planning conversation, led by founder LaTara Scott, MBA, with 25+ years in accounting and financial operations. The service comes with our Scale tier or as a standalone advisory engagement when your own bookkeeper already produces reliable numbers. We serve Plano virtually from Dallas-Fort Worth, at a fixed fee agreed in writing.
What a part-time CFO in Plano plans with you
A fractional CFO for a Plano, TX firm spends less time on last month and more on the months ahead. The work has six parts:
- A financial plan. Strategic financial leadership that supports budgeting, forecasting and long-term planning, so targets exist before the year starts.
- A cash flow forecast. Cash is monitored and analyzed for timing, risks and opportunities. Here is how a short-term cash flow forecast works.
- Analysis you can act on. Results are reviewed and interpreted, then explained in terms of the choices in front of you.
- A dashboard. Key metrics, trends and performance indicators on one decision-focused view.
- Performance tracking. Reporting that follows results against the plan and shows which trends are meaningful.
- Growth advisory. Strategic support on pricing, investments and how to scale with intention.
Plano firms that collect sales tax charge a combined 8.25 percent: 6.25 percent state, 1 percent city and 1 percent for Dallas Area Rapid Transit. Returns fall due on the 20th of the month following the reporting period, so those payments have a line in the forecast too.
The Plano firms this service fits
Plano's economy leans on corporate headquarters, Toyota Motor North America and Frito-Lay among them, and on the professional firms that grew up around those employers. The Legacy business district is surrounded by consultancies, agencies, law practices and medical offices. A firm like that often has steady revenue and tidy books. What it lacks is a forward view.
We work with established service-based businesses, typically at $250K or more in annual revenue. A part-time CFO in Plano makes sense when:
- The books close on time, but there is no budget to measure the year against.
- Partners want to plan compensation, hiring or a new service line and need projections first.
- A bank or an investor expects a forecast, not only historical statements.
- Profit is acceptable, and nobody can say which services or clients produce it.
If the monthly close is the weak point, fix that first. Our bookkeeping services for Plano businesses cover it, and this comparison of a bookkeeper, a controller and a fractional CFO shows where each role stops.
How planning with LUCI gets started
- Discovery call. You describe the firm, the decisions coming up and the questions your current reports leave open.
- Written proposal. The scope, the fixed monthly fee and the one-time onboarding fee are on paper before any work starts.
- Onboarding. This typically takes 2 to 4 weeks. We get secure access to QuickBooks, check the books for accuracy and configure the reports you will use.
- Baseline. The first reviewed set of financials becomes the starting point for the budget, the forecast and the dashboard.
- Strategy meetings. In the Scale tier we meet with you monthly, by video or phone, to compare results with the plan and adjust it.
Scale tier or standalone advisory: which one a Plano firm needs
LUCI has three monthly fixed-fee tiers: Core, Growth and Scale. CFO-level work lives in Scale, which adds a dedicated CFO-level partner and monthly strategy meetings to the bookkeeping, senior review and reporting of the other two. A firm that wants one team responsible for the whole finance function picks Scale.
Many established Plano firms already employ a bookkeeper or an accountant. If that person delivers a clean, timely close, a standalone advisory engagement adds the planning layer without moving the books.
Monthly fees for CFO work are not published. Your proposal follows the discovery call and reflects transaction volume, number of accounts, payroll, and your reporting and strategy needs. The first three months are the initial commitment, and the engagement continues month to month afterward. For more detail, read what a fractional CFO costs in the Dallas area, or see the full fractional CFO service for Dallas-Fort Worth.
Served from Dallas-Fort Worth, not from a Plano office
LUCI is a woman-owned firm based in Dallas-Fort Worth, and we serve Plano clients virtually. There is no Plano office and no need for one: documents move through secure cloud access, and meetings are scheduled by video or phone.
Planning is only as good as the statements under it. That is why senior review comes before anything reaches you, and why our monthly financial reporting is built to answer questions, not only to list transactions. LUCI is not a CPA firm, so in Scale we coordinate with your CPA and other advisors, and ongoing clients can add tax preparation and planning through Katrina Lochocki, CPA, our Tax Strategist.
Frequently asked questions
Is LUCI's part-time CFO based in Plano?
No. LUCI Financial Solutions is based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and serves Plano firms virtually. You meet by scheduled video or phone call and reach your reports through secure cloud access. The team also serves clients nationwide, so nothing about the service depends on being in the same building.
Can a part-time CFO build a budget and forecast for my Plano firm?
Yes. Budgeting, forecasting and long-term planning are the core of the service. We start from your closed and reviewed books, set the plan with you, and then track actual results against it. In our Scale tier that includes cash flow forecasting, scenario planning, and revenue and profit planning.
How often would we meet with the CFO?
Scale includes monthly strategy meetings, held by video or phone. For a standalone advisory engagement, the meeting schedule is part of the scope written into your proposal, so you know what to expect before you sign. Between meetings, questions go to the team by email.
Who actually does the fractional CFO work at LUCI?
LaTara Scott, MBA, the firm's founder, leads it. She has 25+ years in accounting and financial operations. She works with the rest of the LUCI team, including Senior Accountant Erin Marchbanks, so the financials behind each plan have been reviewed before the planning conversation takes place.
What is the minimum commitment for part-time CFO services?
Ongoing engagements begin with a three-month initial commitment. That period covers onboarding, which typically takes 2 to 4 weeks, and gives us accurate baselines to plan from. After the three months, service is month to month, and you can continue for as long as it is useful to the firm.
We are not sure we need a CFO yet. Is there a smaller first step?
Yes. For $597, the Financial Review & Assessment is a 60-minute review of your QuickBooks file that ends with a prioritized action plan, and the plan is yours whether or not you hire LUCI. There is also a free 7-question assessment on our website.
Plan the next year of your Plano firm with a CFO
Schedule a consultation and bring the plans you are weighing. We will explain how a budget, a forecast and a dashboard would be set up for your firm, then send a written fixed-fee proposal. Prefer to talk first? Call 214-233-5454.
214-233-5454 · [email protected]