How to Start a CFO Service

Adam Lean, Co-founder and CEO, The CFO Project

Adam Lean started his career as an accountant but didn’t stay an accountant for long. He ditched the spreadsheets and balance sheets to launch a business in a completely different space and went on to build one of the top retailers in his niche. Along the way, Adam realized something interesting. Unlike most business owners, he always understood his numbers—what was working, what wasn’t, and how to fix it. That understanding came naturally to him as a former accountant, but he saw that others struggled with it.

After selling his retail business to one of his top suppliers, Adam had a new mission: to help small business owners get a crystal-clear understanding of their numbers—without the boring accounting lingo—and use that insight to grow their businesses. His main message? If you want to succeed, you need to focus on one thing: generating positive cash flow consistently. He created simple, no-fuss plans for his clients to follow, and it worked.

So, Adam started his own CFO Advisory firm and quickly realized how much something like this was in demand. Because his service was in-demand, he was forced to systematize all of his processes. The best part, however, was that Adam was able to systematize the delivery of his CFO Advisory services while getting his clients better results.

In other words, he was spending less time with each client – but delivering far more value! Small business owners loved this service, and the word spread. Adam got to capacity within a year and a half – he could not take on any additional clients. So, Adam started growing his firm beyond himself.

A few years later, Adam teamed up with Jeff Prager, his now co-founder, and the two of them started a much larger CFO Advisory firm that also took off like wildfire. Why? Because they did three things differently:

They offered a straightforward “productized CFO” service with clear deliverables and pricing.

They focused on action—helping clients take steps to improve, not just talking about numbers.

They built systems for everything, from finding clients to delivering results.

The firm’s success led to a big decision: expand their services or teach their methods to other financial pros. They chose the latter, and The CFO Project was born.

Today, The CFO Project is a mentorship program with over 500 financial professionals learning Adam and Jeff’s proven systems. They offer training, tools, and support like Masterclasses, Roundtables, and an impressive resource library—all to help their members thrive in outsourced CFO advisory services.

Adam’s journey is all about using what you know to make a difference and helping others succeed along the way. If you’d like to learn more about The CFO Project, go to thecfoproject.com.