Joy Francis with shoulder length white hair, wearing a red blazer, black slacks, crisp white blouse, pearl neclace in fron of a screen with words “You can do anything if you set your mind to it.” Betty Schmidt, speaking to a room if executive women.

Why Smart CPAs Are Becoming Virtual CFOs (And Charging 3x More)

June 03, 2025•7 min read

Why Smart CPAs Are Becoming Virtual CFOs (And Charging 3x More)

Figure 1. Image created by Joy Francis with Flux LoRA on Magai

My mother always told me "You can do anything if you set your mind to it." She said this to a little girl who was legally blind but didn't know it yet, who got called "four eyes" and "clumsy" on the Code Playground, and who was always picked last for teams. But here's the thing—she was right. And today, I'm seeing smart CPAs across the country proving her right too.

They're discovering something I learned forty years ago when I walked into that CEO's office and told him I was willing to take on the entire company: there's a massive difference between counting the numbers and building the systems that create those numbers. CPAs can count—brilliantly—but most don't build. And that's exactly why the smartest ones are becoming virtual CFOs and charging three times more for their expertise.

The $300 Wake-Up Call That Changed Everything

Let me tell you a story that'll sound familiar to every CPA reading this. Back in the 1970s, I was working as a bookkeeper for a small electronics shop, making $100 a week (yes, that was real money back then). Every month, I'd close the books, bundle everything up, and send it to our CPA. A week later, he'd send back my work with his numbers on his letterhead—and a bill for $300.

I looked at that bill and said, "I can do that."

But here's what I didn't understand then that I understand now: I wasn't just looking at the accounting work. I was looking at the value perception. That CPA wasn't charging $300 for data entry. He was charging $300 because business owners trusted him to make sense of their financial story and tell them what it meant for their future.

That's the difference between a CPA and a CFO. And it's why virtual CFO services command premium fees that make traditional compliance work look like pocket change.

The Market Reality: 55% Are Already Moving

According to recent industry research, 55% of CPA firms are now offering virtual CFO services (Boomer Consulting 47). But here's what the statistics don't tell you: most of them are still thinking like CPAs, not CFOs. They're adding services instead of transforming their value proposition.

I learned this lesson the hard way during the 1980 recession when prime rates hit 21½%. I was managing a real estate conglomerate's construction division, and while other companies were folding, we stayed profitable. Why? Because I wasn't just tracking the numbers I was using them to make strategic decisions about what to build, when to build it, and how to fund it.

That's CFO thinking. And it's worth exponentially more than compliance work.

The Three Revenue Multipliers

When CPAs make the shift to virtual CFO services, they typically see three immediate revenue multipliers:

1. Value-Based Pricing vs. Hourly Billing
Instead of charging $200 per hour for tax prep, you're charging $3,000-$5,000 per month for strategic financial guidance. According to the National Association of Certified Public Accountants, virtual CFO services command average monthly retainers of $4,500, compared to traditional compliance services that average $175 per hour (NACPA 23). The math is simple: one virtual CFO client equals 15-25 hours of traditional CPA work, but you're delivering ongoing value that transforms their business.

A split screen. Left side white letters “Value Pricing” on blue backgroung with bearded man reviewing papers on his desk.Middle of top line white letters “vs” Right side. white letters “Hourly Billing” on a brownish background. A room with many employees working on computers.

Figure 2. Image created by Joy Francis with Flux 1.1 Pro Ultra on Magai

2. Recurring Revenue vs. Seasonal Spikes
Remember those stressful tax seasons followed by summer droughts? Virtual CFO services create year-round revenue streams. Your clients need cash flow management in January, growth planning in March, and strategic guidance in July just as much as they need tax prep in April.

3. Relationship Depth vs. Transaction Focus
When you're their virtual CFO, you become indispensable. You're not the person they

call once a year—you're the person they call before making any major business decision. That relationship depth creates client retention rates that traditional CPA services can't match.

Why Now? The Perfect Storm of Opportunity

Three market forces are creating unprecedented demand for virtual CFO services:

A man sitting at a desk with a cup and computer, in a dark suit and white shirt talking on a cell phone while using a computer, with light coming in the window.

Figure 3. Image created by Joy Francis with Flux 1.1 Pro Ultra on Magai

Small Business Complexity: Today's businesses face challenges that require strategic thinking, not just compliance. The Small Business Administration reports that 73% of small business owners cite financial management as their top operational challenge, yet only 31% currently work with a financial advisor beyond their accountant (SBA 12). Supply chain disruptions, digital transformation, and economic uncertainty demand CFO-level guidance.

Technology Democratization: Cloud-based financial tools have made real-time financial management accessible to small businesses, but they need someone who knows how to interpret and act on that data.

Trust Advantage: Business owners already trust their CPA with their most sensitive financial information. You have a relationship foundation that outside consultants spend months trying to build.

The Transformation Framework

Making this shift isn't about adding services—it's about transforming your mindset. Here's the framework I use when coaching CPAs through this transition:

From Compliance to Strategy: Instead of asking "Are the books balanced?" start asking "What do these numbers tell us about where this business is heading?"

From Historical to Predictive: Move beyond reporting what happened last month to forecasting what's coming next quarter and building plans to influence those outcomes.

From Technical to Communicative: Develop the ability to translate complex financial data into actionable business insights that non-financial business owners can understand and implement.

The $10,000 Question

Here's the question that separates CPAs from CFOs: When a client calls you panicking about cash flow, do you help them organize their records, or do you help them solve their cash flow problem?

A white background with words on top $10,000 QUESTION, below left side CPA on a blue band below Organize their records, Right side VIRTUAL CFO on green band, below Builds a 13-week cash flow forecast, identify the bottlenecks, and creates an action plan to fix them.

Figure 4. What do you do when a client call with a cash flow problem?
Image created by Joy Francis with ChatGPT

Here's the question that separates CPAs from CFOs: When a client calls you panicking about cash flow, do you help them organize their records, or do you help them solve their cash flow problem?

The CPA organizes the records. The CFO builds the 13-week cash flow forecast, identifies the bottlenecks, and creates an action plan to fix them. Guess which one gets paid more?

Your Next Step

If you're reading this and thinking, "This sounds like what I want to be doing, but I don't know where to start," you're not alone. Every successful virtual CFO started exactly where you are right now.

The difference between those who make the transition and those who stay stuck in compliance work isn't talent—it's decision. It's the decision to stop thinking like a CPA and start thinking like a CFO.

Remember what my mother told me: "You can do anything if you set your mind to it." She was talking to a legally blind little girl who would eventually become the CFO of a public company and help thousands of business owners transform their financial futures.

Get your complimentary copy of 'The Cash Flow Crisis Playbook'—the exact 13-week forecasting framework and step-by-step action plans I use to transform panicked client calls into $5,000/month virtual CFO retainers.

Works Cited

Boomer Consulting (page 47)
Boomer Consulting. "2023 CPA Firm Technology Survey." Boomer Consulting, 2023, www.boomer.com/cpa-firm-technology-survey.
National Association of Certified Public Accountants - NACPA (page 23)
National Association of Certified Public Accountants. "Virtual CFO Services Market Analysis." NACPA Industry Report, 2023, www.nacpa.org/virtual-cfo-market-analysis.
Small Business Administration - SBA (page 12)
Small Business Administration. "Small Business Financial Management Trends." SBA Economic Research, U.S. Small Business Administration, 2023, www.sba.gov/economic-research.

Joy has spent over 40 years helping business owners transform their financial futures. She's worked as an accountant and CFO for public companies, taught financial management at Ford Motor Company plants across the country, and now helps CPAs build virtual CFO practices that command premium fees. Her motto: "You can do anything if you set your mind to it."

Joy Francis

Joy Francis stands out as an achiever in the business world, with over thirty years of guiding thousands of companies to success. Her remarkable journey includes steering a mortgage company out of a $3M liquidation bankruptcy during America's economic downturn, showcasing her unparalleled financial acumen. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Joy carved her niche as a marketing genius, blending traditional strategies with digital innovation. Her revolutionary approach to sales automation, embodied in RevTurbo™, has become a cornerstone for businesses seeking growth. This tool transforms prospects into profits and redefines the essence of sales conversion through advanced lead identification and personalized engagement.

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