Ideas for running a healthier agency.
Field notes on finance, systems, people, and the craft of running an agency well — from the team at The Good CFO.
AI Scales Your System, Broken Parts Included
Automation is a multiplier, not a repair. Where agency finance processes break under it, the three questions to ask before you build, and what the spec is really worth.
Read → Fractional CFO · 8 min readOutsourced CFO Services: What You Get and When You Need One
What the service actually includes, who should be doing the work, when an agency needs one, what it costs, and the four questions to ask before you sign.
Read → Humanism in the Age of AI · 7 min readDrive Out Fear: The Real Blocker to AI Adoption
AI rollouts rarely fail on the technology. They fail because nobody will tell you the truth about their own job. What that costs, and the fix.
Read → Controller · 8 min readWhat Is a Fractional Controller? An Agency Guide
What the role actually owns, when an agency has outgrown a bookkeeper, the four agency accounting traps, what it costs, and where CFO work starts.
Read → Humanism in the Age of AI · 6 min readWhat the Numbers Can’t Tell You
Every report is a summary, and summaries drop things. The four blind spots in an agency P&L, why metrics degrade under pressure, and the questions that live outside the close.
Read → Fractional CFO · 8 min readCFO Services for Marketing Agencies: What You Actually Get
The deliverable list, what the first 90 days should produce, why agency economics change the job, and how to tell a real CFO from a retitled bookkeeper.
Read → Humanism in the Age of AI · 6 min readFix the Process, Not the Person
Most finance mistakes are process problems wearing somebody’s name. How to run the diagnosis, why blame costs you data, and what changes once AI does the work.
Read → Fractional CFO · 9 min readHow Much Does a Fractional CFO Cost?
Our published rates, why a team-based blended rate lands under $150 an hour, the 2–6% of net revenue benchmark, and how monthly budgets work.
Read → Fractional CFO · 7 min readOutsourced CFO vs. Fractional CFO: What Agencies Actually Need
The two terms get used interchangeably. What actually separates them, what each costs, and how to tell which one your agency needs right now.
Read → Accounting · 9 min readAccounting & Bookkeeping for Marketing Agencies: The Complete Guide
Gross vs. net revenue, WIP, pass-through media, the chart of accounts, and the monthly close — how agency books should actually be built.
Read → Manifesto · 5 min readThe Good CFO Manifesto
What a good CFO really is — not just a master of numbers, but an ethical, people-first, systems-thinking leader. The principles behind the firm.
Read → From the Founder · 4 min readWhy I Built The Good CFO
From CFO at 25 to producing World of Dance — and the mentor who taught me the real hallmark of a great CFO is to be good.
Read → Fractional CFO · 7 min readWhat Is a Fractional CFO? An Agency Guide
What a fractional CFO does, when an agency needs one, what it costs, and how the role differs from a full-time CFO, a controller, and a bookkeeper.
Read → Trust & Security · 3 min readHow The Good CFO Handles Your Data
Your financial data is yours. Data minimization, no AI training or selling, a short named list of providers, encryption and role-based access — in plain English.
Read → Data & Systems · 5 min readThe Agency Data Problem — Four Systems That Don’t Talk
Agencies run on four disconnected systems — accounting, time, PM, and CRM. Why that quietly costs you, why data hygiene matters, and how the Hub brings it all together.
Read → The Good CFO Method · 6 min readQuestions Every Agency Should Be Asking
An agency isn’t one gauge — it’s four systems: Finance, Growth, People & Culture, and Client Service. The questions a healthy agency should be able to answer in each.
Read → Foundations · 5 min readThe PainePR Service Manifesto — and How It Shaped The Good CFO
David Paine’s manifesto argued that quality is a systems problem, not a people problem. What it taught our founder — and how it still shapes The Good CFO.
Read →Ready to run your agency by the numbers?
These are the ideas. If you'd like them applied to your business, let's talk about what senior, agency-specific finance leadership looks like.
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