Grow a business that makes money on purpose.
I help founder-led service businesses put real financial discipline behind their decisions, so cash flow becomes predictable, margins stop leaking quietly, and the numbers arrive in time to change what happens next.
I work alongside the bookkeeper and CPA you already have. And you work directly with me.
Who I work with
I work with founder-led, owner-operated service businesses, typically $1M to $15M+ in revenue, where the business has grown faster than the financial discipline behind it.
You’re likely a fit if
- Revenue is up, but you can’t explain where the money went
- Cash flow feels unpredictable even in good months
- You’re making pricing, hiring, and financing decisions on instinct
- Your financials tell you what happened, not what to do next
- You’re still the person who answers every hard question about the numbers
- You want the business to run on a rhythm instead of on urgency
This isn’t the right fit if
- You’re looking for bookkeeping, tax preparation, or a cleanup project
- You want a report to file rather than decisions to act on
- You’re not prepared to change how decisions get made
What changes when you have a CFO in the room
You don’t just get better reports. You get a business that’s easier to run.
- Cash flow becomes predictable. You know what’s coming, and payroll stops being a date on the calendar you brace for.
- You know which work actually makes money. Not which service is busiest. Which one earns.
- Decisions happen on a rhythm. Pricing, hiring, and capital calls get made monthly, with numbers, instead of reactively.
- Your financials become something you can lead with. In front of a lender, a partner, or your own team.
- The business depends less on you holding it all in your head.
A monthly rhythm, not a monthly report.
Sixteen drivers move every business. Some push revenue, some protect profit, some govern cash. In any given quarter, only two or three of them are where your money actually is.
The work is finding those and changing them. Every month, the same rhythm:
- The numbers get read against the targets we set, not just closed and filed.
- The drivers that moved get named, and we size what it cost or earned.
- We decide what changes: a price, a mix, a payment term, a hire.
- It gets tracked to done, and we start again the following month.
No plans that die in a folder. The point of the meeting is a decision, not a deck.
Three conversations before anything is decided.
Thirty minutes. No pitch. We both decide whether this is a fit.
I request and analyze your historical financials.
Where the money is going, and what to do about it.
I’ve run finance, and I’ve run a business.
Michel Chelnokov, MBA, CPA
20+ years in finance and accounting leadership. Owner and operator.
I’ve closed the month and I’ve signed the payroll checks. I’ve defended a pricing model and then had to live with it. That changes what the numbers say to me.
What you get is a CPA’s rigor behind every number and an operator’s judgment behind every recommendation, and both arrive at the same time, in language an owner actually uses.
Featured in the US Fractional CFO Alliance CFO Spotlight.
I also work alongside the bookkeeper and CPA you already have. Your bookkeeper closes the books, your CPA handles the return, and I turn what they produce into decisions. For CPAs and advisors
"Most accountants tell you what happened. I help you know what to do next."
Michel Chelnokov, MBA, CPAPrincipal, MIV Partners
"I can finally sleep."
Business owner, service company
See where your business actually stands.
Twelve questions, about five minutes. You’ll see how your business scores across the four areas where founder-led companies most often lose money. It isn’t a sales pitch. It’s a reality check.
Take the Clarity Check Most owners finish it in about five minutes.Two ways to start.
Book a Right Fit Call if you’re ready for a conversation. Take the Clarity Check if you want a clearer picture first. Either way, you’ll come away with a sharper view of where the business stands and what would move it forward.