Fractional CFO – Manufacturing
Position Title: Fractional Chief Financial Officer (Manufacturing)
Engagement Type: Independent Contractor (1099)
Industry Focus: Manufacturing, Industrial, Distribution, and Value-Added Assembly Businesses
Reports To: Owner
Position Summary
We are seeking an experienced Fractional CFO to partner with manufacturing business owners and executive teams to drive profitability, improve financial performance, strengthen operational decision-making, and prepare companies for future growth, capital raises, acquisitions, or eventual exit.
This role is ideal for a strategic financial leader who understands that success in manufacturing extends beyond financial reporting. The ideal candidate can connect financial results to production, inventory, purchasing, pricing, labor efficiency, and overall operational performance.
A strong preference will be given to candidates with experience preparing companies for sale, private equity investment, recapitalization, or other liquidity events.
Core Responsibilities
- Serve as a trusted advisor to ownership and executive leadership.
- Develop annual budgets, rolling forecasts, and long-term financial plans.
- Lead monthly financial review meetings and strategic planning sessions.
- Provide actionable recommendations to improve profitability, cash flow, and enterprise value.
- Support key business decisions through financial modeling and scenario analysis.
- Assist ownership in evaluating growth opportunities, acquisitions, equipment investments, and capital allocation decisions.
Manufacturing Finance & Cost Accounting
- Evaluate and improve costing methodologies, including standard costing and job costing.
- Analyze labor, material, and overhead variances.
- Monitor gross margin performance by customer, product line, and production process.
- Review inventory valuation and costing accuracy.
- Conduct customer, product, and channel profitability analyses.
- Develop pricing models and margin improvement initiatives.
- Identify opportunities to improve manufacturing efficiency and reduce waste.
Operational & Supply Chain Finance
- Partner with operations leadership to align financial and operational goals.
- Evaluate production throughput, capacity utilization, and operational bottlenecks.
- Monitor inventory accuracy, cycle counts, and physical inventory processes.
- Analyze inventory turns, excess inventory, obsolete inventory, and working capital utilization.
- Review supplier concentration risks and purchasing strategies.
- Evaluate make-versus-buy decisions and outsourcing opportunities.
- Assist with automation, equipment investments, and capital expenditure planning.
- Calculate and monitor ROI for operational improvement initiatives.
Cash Flow & Working Capital Management
- Develop and maintain rolling cash flow forecasts.
- Improve cash conversion cycles through better inventory, receivables, and payables management.
- Monitor liquidity, debt obligations, and covenant compliance.
- Assist with banking relationships and financing strategies.
- Identify opportunities to improve working capital and free cash flow.
Financial Reporting & KPI Development
- Deliver timely and accurate monthly financial reporting packages.
- Develop executive dashboards and operational scorecards.
- Establish meaningful KPIs and reporting structures.
- Create visibility into business performance through data-driven reporting.
Exit Readiness & Enterprise Value Creation
- Evaluate the company's readiness for a future sale, recapitalization, or private equity investment.
- Develop and execute value creation initiatives designed to increase enterprise value.
- Identify financial, operational, and reporting gaps that may impact valuation.
- Lead financial cleanup and normalization efforts.
- Improve financial reporting quality and consistency.
- Prepare diligence-ready financial packages.
- Support Quality of Earnings preparation and buyer due diligence processes.
- Assist ownership in building a multi-year value creation roadmap.
- Coordinate with investment bankers, attorneys, accountants, lenders, and diligence providers during transactions.
Leadership & Team Development
- Mentor and develop accounting and finance personnel.
- Collaborate with controllers, bookkeepers, external accountants, and operational leaders.
- Improve accounting processes, controls, and reporting procedures.
- Foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and data-driven decision-making.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or related field.
- Minimum 10 years of progressive financial leadership experience.
- Prior experience as CFO, VP of Finance, Finance Director, or Fractional CFO.
- Significant experience within manufacturing environments.
Highly Preferred Qualifications
- Experience preparing companies for sale or private equity investment.
- Experience supporting M&A transactions and due diligence.
- Demonstrated success improving EBITDA and enterprise value.
- Experience in founder-led and lower middle-market businesses ($5M–$100M revenue).
- Experience implementing ERP and reporting systems.
Engagement Details
- Independent Contractor (1099)
- Flexible monthly engagement (typically 10–40+ hours per month)
- Remote with occasional onsite visits
- Ability to support multiple manufacturing clients simultaneously
- Strong preference for candidates with manufacturing, operational finance, and exit-readiness experience
