We are accountants who provide comprehensive support, including critical thinking, technical accounting expertise, and tailored workflows, making us distinct from traditional bookkeepers who often are more focused on completing accounting tasks (without regard for the bigger picture).

A CFO looks forward and focuses on financial modeling, financial analysis, fundraising / M&A and strategic planning for the future. Traction on the other hand is more focused on monthly financial reporting, advising you on what is happening in your business today and setting up accounting that will support your operations as you grow.

Traction offers a bridge between a traditional bookkeeper and a CFO, tackling the day to day while still being able to offer consultative guidance (just with a heavier focus on the present day and accounting matters over finance matters).

No, we don’t do taxes. We work with tax partners and can connect you with the right tax professional to work alongside us based on your needs.

We will help businesses prepare for a financial statement audit on a project basis. Otherwise, we generally focus on serving existing clients and are not inclined to take on project-basis work unless it's an exceptional opportunity. 

No, we prefer long-term relationships with our clients, ideally for several years. Short-term arrangements are not our focus, but we can make referrals if interim support is what you are looking for.

We focus on accounting-related tasks and don’t handle general administrative work or HR matters.

We typically offer a full package rather than just providing an accountant. Our approach involves comprehensive accounting support.

We may review a bookkeeper's work in certain cases, but generally, we prefer to handle all aspects of accounting. We don't provide isolated support for specific functions.

We primarily serve software as a service, life science, cleantech, and professional services industries. We thoughtfully consider working with e-commerce businesses. We do not serve construction, marijuana or cryptocurrency industries. 

Our process starts with discovery to learn more about your business and what you need. From there over the first three to six months of working together we will complete an onboarding project to clean up historical accounting (if necessary), enhance reporting, set up accounting tools, document accounting processes, and set up for an efficient go-forward monthly close. Upon completing the onboarding project, a team of 2-3 people will function as your accounting department on an ongoing basis.

No, we believe the onboard project is essential to set the right foundation for excellence in the future. We don't recommend skipping it.

We look to hire smart emotionally intelligent people who are intellectually curious, share our values, and are strong communicators. We hire CPAs with significant experience to lead our team and we teach entry-level employees the accounting skills they need to know to provide a high level of support to you.

Our core system is QuickBooks Online, and we prefer our clients to use it. We also work with systems like NetSuite, Gusto, Divvy, Bill.com, Stripe, Carta and more.

We can help you forecast your short-term cash flow as part of our monthly ongoing support. If you are looking for a financial model that looks 3-5 years out, we may be able to support you with this (if we are also providing monthly accounting services), but we will generally refer you to a Fractional CFO to work alongside us and lead the forecast process.

Yes, we can work with companies anywhere, however, we primarily focus on US-based businesses that report in US GAAP.

Depending on your needs and preferences, we can bill hourly or fixed fee. Ultimately, our focus is on delivering value to you, and the structure of our engagement will reflect that. We are thoughtful about what we bill for and always put ourselves in your shoes before we send an invoice.

If you're interested in working together, contact us so we can discuss your specific needs and put together an estimate for you.