Backbone CFO

03/26/2026

If you’re running a $10M–$50M construction or restoration company, chances are you have all the numbers at your fingertips

But are they driving decisions… or just explaining what already happened?

We just launched something new: The Financial Control Score.

It’s a fast 7-question diagnostic built specifically for construction and restoration leadership teams.

It measures five critical areas:

1. Cash visibility
2. Profit discipline
3. Financial leadership ownership
4. Systems reliablity
5. Long-range financial planning

In less than 3 minutes, you’ll know whether:

You’re operating with dim headlights
You have pieces in place but finance isn’t driving
Finance is functioning as a true growth tool

This isn’t about bookkeeping or reporting. It’s about whether your finance seat is strong enough to scale confidently.

If growth feels heavier than it should or forecasting feels reactive, this will give you clarity.

👉 Get Your Financial Control Score https://form.typeform.com/to/K4BgpPCV
(And if you want to unpack the results, book a discovery call.)

03/24/2026

Strong financial leadership looks different in the trades.

Margins are tight. Job costs move fast. Cash timing matters.

As part of our Meet the Team series, we are introducing John Awtry, Fractional CFO at Backbone CFO.

John works primarily with trades and restoration companies, helping leadership teams understand what their numbers are actually saying. From cost pooling to WIP reports, from pricing adjustments to collections discipline, he brings clarity to the financial story behind the work.

His focus is simple and direct: maximize profit and cash flow, and in industries where small margin shifts create big consequences, that discipline makes all the difference.

John describes his working style as analytical. We would also add steady and practical to his working style.

Because moving from chaos to control in the trades requires more than reports. It requires clarity, accuracy, and a finance leader that understands the realities of the field.

We are proud to have John strengthening the financial leadership for our restoration clients every day!

03/19/2026

Most founders don’t wake up thinking,

“I need a fractional CFO.”

They wake up thinking:

• Why does cash still feel tight even though revenue is up?

• Why don’t forecasts match reality?

• Why am I still the one answering financial questions in our L10?

Growth creates complexity.

At some point, bookkeeping isn’t enough.

You need real financial leadership.

That’s why we built The Financial Control Score, a short diagnostic for construction and restoration companies that want finance to drive the business, not trail behind it.

It measures your strength across:

Cash.

Profit.

People.

Systems.

Position.

In under 3 minutes, you’ll see where you actually stand and what would need to be true to scale confidently and protect your enterprise value.

Because the difference between “busy” and “in control” is rarely revenue, it’s leadership in the finance seat.

If you’re feeling growth pressure, this is for you.

👉 Get Your Financial Control Score https://form.typeform.com/to/K4BgpPCV

Or, if you’re ready for a real conversation, book a discovery call.

https://backbonecfo.com/book-a-strategy-session/

03/18/2026

Last week Jim Emerich spoke with another group from Vistage Worldwide.

One theme kept coming up during the conversation.

Growth can add complexity.

Many founder led companies reach a point where the business is clearly succeeding. Revenue is climbing. The team is getting larger. The pipeline is strong. From the outside, it looks like momentum.

Yet internally the experience often feels very different.

Leaders start asking questions like:

Why does cash still feel tight when revenue is growing?

Why are margins drifting even though we are busier than ever?

Why is decision-making around critical issues long and complicated?

At Backbone CFO we see this moment frequently. It is the stage where a business has grown past the point where the founder can personally carry financial leadership.

The company does not have a reporting problem. It has a leadership gap.

The work we do with founders begins by bringing clarity to the numbers so leadership teams can see the business as it actually operates. From there we install the financial systems and forecasting discipline that allow decisions to be made with confidence rather than instinct.

When that shift happens, something important changes.

The founder no longer feels responsible for holding the financial side of the business together.

They get to return to what they do best. Leading the company forward.

Book a discovery session to see how we can help fill the financial leadership gap in your business. https://backbonecfo.com/book-a-strategy-session/

03/16/2026

Most business owners say they want to grow their company but, far fewer are intentionally building enterprise value.

On a recent episode of the Head, Heart and Boots Podcast, we talked about our Financial Control Framework we walk every client through when the goal is scaling a business the right way.

There are five components that ultimately determine how a business scales and what it’s worth:

Cash and cash flow

Profitability

People

Systems

Financial position

Most owners spend their time thinking about the first two, but the real unlock happens when you connect all five to one question:

How does this impact the market value of the business?

Sometimes owners push back.

"I'm 35. I'm not selling my business for another 25 years." Which is fair.

But here is the reality: even if you never sell your company, you want the benefits of having a business with enterprise value.

Zero bottlenecks around you as the owner

A Leadership Team that runs with structure and accountability

Maximized profitability for reinvestment and personal gain

The companies that scale the best are the ones that build with valuation in mind from day one.

Not because they plan to sell tomorrow, but because they want a business that is structured, resilient, and attractive from the outside looking in.

That is enterprise value thinking, and it changes how you run the company.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here: https://courses.floodlightgrp.com/podcasts/head-heart-boots/episodes/2149098294

I’ll be real. Finance used to feel like the boring side of business. But the deeper we’ve gone, the more I’ve realized the numbers tell the story. In this one, Chris and I sit down with Jim Emerich of Backbone CFO to talk about how to turn financial chaos into clarity, and clarity into...

03/06/2026

We are hiring Fractional CFOs!

Backbone CFO embeds real financial leadership into growing construction, restoration, and trades businesses that have outgrown operating without a true finance leader. Our clients are typically $10M to $50M, often running on EOS, and need more than reporting. They need strategy, forecasting discipline, and a confident voice in the financial leadership seat.

We are looking for experienced finance leaders with 10+ years of CFO experience who understand owner led businesses and want to drive clarity, profitability, and smart growth.

If you are ready to lead, apply here: https://backbonecfo.com/careers/ or share this with someone who should see it.

03/03/2026

Your financial leadership is not a spreadsheet.

It is not a monthly report.
It is not a dashboard.

It is a person.

When we talk about moving companies from chaos to control…
When you see our Financial Control Framework…
When we write about cash flow visibility and forecasting discipline…

It all comes down to who is sitting in the seat.

Financial leadership happens in real conversations. In leadership meetings. In the hard moments when a founder asks:

“Can we afford this?”
“What happens if revenue dips?”
“Are we actually making money here?”

That is where it matters.

First up in our Meet the Team series is Chris Summers, Fractional CFO Director.

Chris works with growth-stage founders who are scaling fast and feeling the weight of bigger decisions. He helps leadership teams strengthen cash flow visibility, sharpen forecasting, and bring structure to financial reporting so decisions are grounded in clarity, not instinct alone.

He is especially passionate about helping companies transition from founder-led intuition to disciplined, data-driven leadership.

Because growth is exciting.
But growth is also messy.

And the right person in your finance seat makes all the difference.

Over the coming weeks, we will introduce more of the leaders behind Backbone CFO - the people helping our clients build confidence, discipline, and true financial control at the leadership table.

Learn more about Chris and his role at Backbone CFO here: https://backbonecfo.com/meet-the-team-chris-summers/

02/27/2026

The 5 Signs You Have Outgrown Controller-Level Finance

Most EOS-run construction and restoration businesses do not need better bookkeeping.

They need stronger financial leadership.

In our latest article, Integrator and CFO Melissa Zinni outlines the five signs that answer the real question: when to hire a fractional CFO.

Sign 1: You are making high-stakes decisions without a forward-looking financial plan.

Sign 2: Job profitability swings and no one can clearly explain why.

Sign 3: Cash management still feels unpredictable even as revenue grows.

Sign 4: You are busy, but unsure if complexity is translating into profit.

Sign 5: There is no true CFO-level ownership in the room.

These are not signs something is broken.

They are signs the business has reached a new level of complexity.

As companies scale, the cost of a wrong decision increases. Reporting on what happened is no longer enough. Leadership needs projections, scenario modeling, and defined financial guardrails before commitments are made.

Melissa walks through each sign in detail and explains how a fractional CFO supports intentional, sustainable growth (with true ownership!)

Read the full article here: https://backbonecfo.com/fractional-cfo-readiness/

02/18/2026

The Difference Between Reporting and CFO-Level Leadership

Controller-level finance tells you what happened.

CFO-level leadership helps you decide what to do next.

That difference becomes obvious when EOS traction takes hold.

You start asking bigger questions:

Should we add a second crew?
Can we afford to hire ahead of demand?
What must be true for this expansion to work?
What happens to cash if backlog shifts?

If the answers rely on instinct instead of projections, it may be time to evaluate when to hire a fractional CFO.

In this new article, written by our Integrator and CFO Melissa Zinni, we break down:

• The 5 operational symptoms that signal you have outgrown controller-level finance
• The deeper financial gaps that show up as growth accelerates
• What changes in the first 30 to 90 days with a fractional CFO

Being CFO-ready is not about broken books.

It is about reaching a stage where next-year decisions matter more than last month’s results and where financial leadership supports growth, cash flow, and profitability in real time.

If two or three of the signs feel familiar, the finance seat may need to level up with the rest of the business.

Read the full blog here: https://backbonecfo.com/fractional-cfo-readiness/

02/13/2026

Your scorecard cannot answer the question leaders are really asking

EOS scorecards are helpful.

They create visibility and accountability.

But they do not answer the question leadership teams keep coming back to: Can we afford this?

Most owners default to the bank balance. The problem is the bank balance is a lagging indicator. It tells you where you have been, not where you are headed.

To manage cash proactively, you need a complete picture:

Current cash
A rolling 13 week cash flow forecast
Work in process that is actively managed with your project team

That is how you move from reacting to cash to controlling it.

Read the full blog here: https://backbonecfo.com/eos-construction-cash-flow-problems/