Embedded CFO & Operating Partner
Plenty of people will advise you. We do the work with you.
LIMESTONE takes two seats inside the business: a CFO partner and an operating partner. Clean numbers, a team that runs without you, and a business worth more for it. Take one seat or both. The next decade in the lower middle market belongs to the operator.
The Two Seats
Two operators, working as one.
Most good businesses cannot hire either of these seats full-time, and do not need to. You get both, part-time, and for a fraction of the cost of a single full-time hire. Take one seat or both, depending on what the business needs. These are senior seats, and we take a limited number of engagements at a time.
Operating Partner
The seat that runs the value plan. The operating partner turns what the project work found into a plan and drives it: the levers it sized, the leaders and seats it takes, the decisions that have to move off you, and the specialists it calls for. In the building, with you. Jared-led. From $4,000 a month, or $7,500 for both seats.
CFO Partner
The seat a buyer checks first. A clean monthly close, a 13-week cash view, the numbers behind every decision, and lender, board, and investor reporting that holds up. Books that are ready for any audience, at any stage. Ryan-led. From $4,000 a month, or $7,500 for both seats.
Specialist partners
Process documentation, systems and data, and AI once the operation is written down run through specialist partners we choose and manage. We say what the plan and the numbers need; they build it. You own your data, and the plan and the accountability stay with us.
The Operating System
One plan, run from inside the business.
A quality of earnings, an Exit Readiness Review or an operational read ends in a list: the levers worth money, the seats that have to change, the decisions that run through the owner. The two seats turn that list into a value plan and run it month by month until it is done.
Already run an operating system, or work with a coach or implementer? We layer the finance and value engine on top of what is working. We do not replace it, and we do not compete with your coach.
The plan
The levers the project sized, capped at seven priorities, each tied to what the business is worth.
The seats
The leaders and seats the plan takes, and the hires behind them, so the work stops running through the owner.
The numbers
A monthly close, a 13-week cash view and the few measures that show whether the plan is moving.
The specialists
Process documentation, systems and AI delivered by partners we choose and manage. The plan and the accountability stay with us.
Two Intensities
Advisory for judgment on a cadence. Embedded for operators in the building.
Advisory
Senior judgment on a regular cadence. We sit above the business, pressure-test the plan and the numbers, and give you a straight answer when it counts. Right when you have a capable team and want experienced eyes on the big calls. Priced on scope.
Embedded
Both partners in the seats, doing the work with your team. Right when the business runs through you and needs operators in the building to run the plan, build the team and bring in the specialists. This is the flagship. From $4,000 a month for one seat and $7,500 for both, on a six-month minimum, with a one-time onboarding fee in the first month.
How An Engagement Starts
Start small. No long commitment to find out if we fit.
01
Book a Call
A straight conversation about the business and what you want out of it. No pitch. Often a fixed-fee deal-prep project, a readiness review or a financial model, is the natural first step.
02
See where you stand
A short diagnostic across the five things a buyer prices. You get a clear read and the binding constraint, the one weak link worth fixing first.
03
A plan you own
A prioritized plan and the value it can create, yours to keep whether you engage us or not.
04
Work together
Advisory or Embedded, one seat or both, on a monthly engagement scoped to the work. Embedded starts at $4,000 a month for one seat and $7,500 for both, on a six-month minimum. A retainer for the work. On some deals we take part of our fee as a minority stake, always disclosed in writing, and only in deals we recommended. The independence rules are written once, in the FAQ.
Where A Human Beats The Machine
Trust, judgment, and reading what is not said.
Software can pull the data and draft the recap. It cannot build trust with a team over months, read the thing an owner will not say out loud, or make the call in the room. That is the work, and it is why we get in the building with you. We make your team stronger, and your team stays yours.
get started
Put real operators in the seats.
Tell us what the business needs. We will tell you straight whether one seat, both, or a single project is the right place to start.