About
Who is Top Practice CFO?
Top Practice CFO is the fractional CFO for owner-operated practices. We give owners profit-by-service-line visibility, a 13-week cash forecast, and a monthly board package, led by a real CFO and backed by a financial engine. Our flagship niche is veterinary practices, with med spas as our second niche, and the model expands to dental, optometry, and chiropractic.
Who is Top Practice CFO?
Top Practice CFO is a fractional CFO firm built for owner-operated practices doing roughly $1M to $10M in revenue. We deliver the financial clarity a full-time CFO would, on a flat monthly retainer, so owners can see profit by service line, forecast cash 13 weeks out, and walk into any lender or buyer meeting prepared. We are personal-front and firm-behind: one named CFO owns your relationship, and a back-of-house engine does the heavy computation.
- Fractional CFO demand has risen sharply since 2020 as smaller companies seek senior finance leadership without a full-time hire.(Business Talent Group)
- Our ICP is owner-operated, appointment-based practices with light inventory and no work-in-progress, roughly $1M to $10M in revenue.
Takeaway: We are a CFO for the owner who has revenue but not financial visibility.
Top Practice CFO gives owner-operated practices the financial command a CFO provides, without the full-time payroll.
Who is the CFO behind it?
Cory Salisbury is the founder and lead fractional CFO of Top Practice CFO. He owns the client relationship directly, sets the financial strategy, and reviews every deliverable before it reaches you. The personal-front, firm-behind model means you work with one accountable CFO, while a structured engine handles data pulls, metric computation, and reporting in the background.
- Cory Salisbury is the founder and lead fractional CFO; he is the named person accountable for each engagement.
- A full-time CFO total compensation runs roughly $180,000 to $250,000 per year, which most practices under $10M cannot justify.
Takeaway: You get a single accountable CFO, not a rotating bench of junior staff.
With Top Practice CFO, Cory Salisbury is the CFO on your account, and every number he presents has been reviewed by a CFO.
How does Top Practice CFO use AI safely?
The AI never computes a number. Our pipeline pulls your ledger data, computes every metric in code, then uses the language model only to narrate findings and flag anomalies, after which a CFO reviews the work before it ships. That order is the moat: math is deterministic and auditable, the model only describes what the code already calculated, and a human gate sits at the end.
- Pipeline order: pull data, compute every metric in code, narrate and flag with the model, then a CFO reviews.
- Every number is computed from your ledger and reviewed by a CFO. No figure is generated by AI.
| Stage | Who does it | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Pull | Engine | Read your ledger and source systems |
| Compute | Code | Calculate every metric deterministically |
| Narrate | Language model | Explain and flag, never calculate |
| Review | A CFO | Verify and approve before delivery |
Takeaway: The model writes the words; code does the math; a CFO signs off.
Top Practice CFO is built so no figure you receive was generated by AI: it was computed from your ledger and reviewed by a CFO.
Which practices do you serve?
We serve owner-operated practices doing roughly $1M to $10M in revenue: appointment-based, light on inventory, with no work-in-progress. Veterinary practices are our flagship niche and med spas are our second, and the model extends naturally to dental, optometry, and chiropractic. These owners share the same problems, so the same engine and playbook fit them all.
- Flagship niche is veterinary practices; second niche is med spas; expandable to dental, optometry, and chiropractic.
- Shared pains include no profit-by-service-line visibility, production or commission-based provider comp eroding margin, and tight cash despite revenue.
| Niche | Status | Fit |
|---|---|---|
| Veterinary practices | Flagship | Appointment-based, light inventory |
| Med spas | Second niche | Service-line mix, provider comp pressure |
| Dental, optometry, chiropractic | Expanding | Same owner-operated economics |
Takeaway: If you own the practice and the model is appointment-based, you are our buyer.
Top Practice CFO is purpose-built for owner-operated practices, starting with veterinary and med spa owners.
Why a fractional CFO instead of a full-time hire?
A fractional CFO gives you senior financial leadership for a fraction of the cost and commitment of a full-time hire. A full-time CFO runs roughly $180,000 to $250,000 per year in total comp, while a fractional CFO retainer in this market is $3,500 to $7,500 per month. Below about $10M in revenue, fractional is the standard choice because the work is real but not yet a full-time job.
- A full-time CFO total comp runs roughly $180,000 to $250,000 per year.
- A fractional CFO retainer in this market is $3,500 to $7,500 per month.
- Quality engagements often surface $100,000 to $300,000 of value in the first 90 days.
| Option | Typical cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time CFO | $180,000 to $250,000 per year | Companies past roughly $10M with full-time finance needs |
| Fractional CFO retainer | $3,500 to $7,500 per month | $1M to $10M owner-run practices |
Takeaway: Under about $10M in revenue, fractional delivers the same leadership at a fraction of the cost.
Top Practice CFO is the fractional CFO built for that range, and our guarantee is to identify at least 3x the fee in recoverable cash, margin, or tax in the first 90 days, quantified in writing, or you do not pay for those 90 days.
Frequently asked questions
- Do you have client testimonials or case studies?
- Not yet. Top Practice CFO is newly launched and we have no live clients, so we will never show fabricated testimonials, named clients, logos, or star ratings. Any example numbers we share are explicitly labeled illustrative.
- What does Top Practice CFO actually deliver each month?
- We deliver profit by service line, a 13-week rolling cash forecast, a KPI scorecard, AR and AP optimization, a driver-based budget, peer benchmarking, and a monthly board or lender package. The engine computes it and a CFO reviews it before you receive it.
- How do you keep AI from putting bad numbers in front of me?
- The AI never computes a number. Code calculates every metric from your ledger, the model only narrates and flags findings, and a CFO reviews the output before delivery. No figure you receive was generated by AI.
- How do I start working with Top Practice CFO?
- Most owners start with the 14-Day Financial X-ray, a fixed-scope diagnostic priced at $1,500 to $2,500, complimentary for acquisition or exit-track practices above $10M. From there you can move into the 6-Week Profit Command Sprint or a monthly Command Retainer.