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PricingService areasAll services →Virtual CFO Services for Canadian Small Businesses
CPA-led virtual CFO, from $2,500 a month
CPA-led virtual CFO services for growing Canadian businesses, for a fixed monthly fee agreed before we start. We build your cash flow forecast and budget, track the KPIs that drive your business, model the big decisions, and prepare the reporting your board, lender or investors expect. Most of our CFO clients have between $1 million and $20 million in revenue. Our Virtual CFO service starts from $2,500 a month (plus HST/GST) and includes your bookkeeping, GST/HST filing, your T2 corporate tax return, a monthly meeting with a CPA, at least 4 hours of CPA time every month, and a basic QuickBooks Online subscription and Dext. We work with businesses everywhere in Canada except Quebec.
- CPA-led by Wajahat Ajmal, CPA, FCCA (verify on CPA Ontario)
- Price matching on a lower written quote, raised before you sign our proposal
- No surprise bills: the price is fixed before we start
- We reply mostly within one business day
- 24/7 receptionist, a real person answers
Somewhere between $1 million and $5 million in revenue, most owners hit the same wall. The business is profitable on paper, but cash is always tighter than it should be. You’re about to hire, sign a lease, take on a loan or talk to an investor, and the only numbers you have are last quarter’s financial statements and a feeling. Your bookkeeper tells you what happened. Nobody is telling you what’s going to happen, or what to do about it.
That’s the gap a virtual CFO fills. I’m Wajahat Ajmal, CPA, FCCA, based in Etobicoke and the founder of T-Ledgers. Before I started the firm, I was in audit at KPMG, where I learned how a company’s numbers have to hold up under scrutiny, and later worked as an independent contractor for a tax filing company. Our team builds your forecasts, dashboards and models, a CPA reviews every deliverable before it reaches you, and you get a finance partner who knows your business and is there for the decisions that matter.
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What is a virtual CFO?
A virtual CFO (often called a fractional or outsourced CFO) is a senior finance professional who does the work of a chief financial officer on a part-time, remote basis. Instead of hiring a full-time CFO for a six-figure salary plus benefits and equity, you get the same kind of forward-looking financial leadership for a fixed monthly fee, scaled to what your business actually needs.
A bookkeeper records the past. A controller makes sure the books are accurate and closed on time. A CFO uses those numbers to plan the future: how much cash you’ll have in six months, whether you can afford the next hire, which customers actually make money, and what to tell the bank or your investors.
Virtual CFO vs fractional CFO: is there a difference?
Not really. “Fractional” describes the time commitment (a fraction of a full-time role); “virtual” describes how the work is delivered (remotely). Most Canadian firms use the terms interchangeably, and so do we. What matters more is who’s doing the work, what you get each month, and whether the price is fixed.
Who our virtual CFO services are for
Our CFO clients are usually owner-managed or founder-led companies that have outgrown “the accountant does our taxes once a year” but aren’t ready for a full-time finance executive. You’re a good fit if:
You’re growing and cash is tight. Revenue is up, but receivables, inventory, payroll and HST timing mean you’re never quite sure what’s in the bank next month.
You’re between $1 million and $20 million in revenue. Big enough that a wrong decision is expensive, but not big enough to justify a full-time CFO. Earlier-stage funded startups below $1 million are scoped case by case.
You’re making a big decision. Hiring a team, opening a second location, buying equipment or a building, launching a product line, or buying out a partner.
You’re raising money or borrowing. A bank, BDC or investor wants a forecast, a budget and clean monthly reporting, and you need someone who can build it and defend it.
You have a board, partners or investors to report to. You need a consistent monthly or quarterly reporting pack instead of rebuilding a spreadsheet every time someone asks.
You want to know where the profit actually comes from. Which customers, jobs, products or locations are carrying the business, and which are quietly losing money.
If you’re earlier than that and mostly need clean books and filings, start with our monthly bookkeeping. Monthly bookkeeping starts from $500 a month (Scale), or $350 a month (Growth) if quarterly books are enough, and we’ll add CFO support when it starts to pay for itself.
What's included in our virtual CFO services
Every engagement is scoped to your business, but these are the building blocks. Your proposal will list exactly which ones are included and how often you’ll get each one. Every Virtual CFO engagement includes at least 4 hours of CPA time every month, alongside your monthly meeting with a CPA.
Cash flow forecasting
Cash is what keeps a business alive, and it’s the first thing we build. You get a rolling 13-week cash flow forecast, updated on a regular cycle, showing what’s coming in and going out week by week: customer receipts, payroll, supplier payments, loan payments, CRA source-deduction remittances, GST/HST and corporate tax instalments. Alongside it, a 12-month cash projection tied to your budget. You’ll see a shortfall weeks before it happens. If you want the background, our guide to understanding cash flow analysis explains the basics.
Budgeting and rolling forecasts
We build an annual operating budget with you, by month and, where it helps, by department, location or project. Then we compare it with your actual results each month and explain the variances in plain language. As the year moves, we update the forecast so you’re always steering with today’s numbers, not the plan you made last January. We line the budget up with your corporation’s fiscal year-end, so equipment purchases, bonuses and owner pay are planned before the T2 is due, not after.
KPIs and management dashboards
Most businesses need five to ten numbers, not fifty. We work out which ones actually drive your results, such as gross margin by product or job, revenue per employee, days sales outstanding, cash runway, customer acquisition cost or utilization, and put them on one dashboard that updates from your accounting data. Each month you get a short management report: the dashboard, a few charts, and a one-page note on what changed, why, and what we’d do about it.
Financial modelling and scenario planning
Before you hire five people, open a second location or change your pricing, you should know what it does to profit and cash. We build an integrated three-statement model (profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow) for your business and use it to run the “what ifs”: best case, expected case, and the case where your biggest customer pays 60 days late. You make the decision. We make sure you can see the consequences before you do.
Board, lender and investor reporting
We prepare a consistent reporting pack for your board, partners, lender or investors, monthly or quarterly: financial statements, KPIs, budget versus actual, a cash outlook and a written commentary. For lenders, we track your covenants (such as debt service coverage and working capital ratios) so a breach doesn’t come as a surprise. If you’d like, we’ll join the meeting and walk through the numbers with you.
Fundraising and financing support
Whether it’s a bank operating line, a BDC or Canada Small Business Financing Program loan, equipment financing, or an equity round, we prepare what the other side will ask for: a forecast and model they can follow, a use-of-funds plan, normalized financials, and a tidy data room for due diligence. For founders, our virtual CFO guide for startups covers the early-stage side in more detail.
Profitability and pricing analysis
We break your margins down by customer, product, service line, job or location, so you can see where the profit is coming from and where it’s leaking. That usually leads to practical changes: a price increase on work that’s under-quoted, a supplier contract to renegotiate, a product to drop, or a customer you can’t afford to keep at their current terms.
Tax-aware planning with your CPA
A CFO who ignores tax isn’t doing the whole job. Because we’re CPA-led, your forecasts and decisions take Canadian tax into account from the start: owner pay through salary or dividends (try our salary vs dividend calculator), keeping active business income within the small business deduction, the effect of passive investment income in the corporation, timing capital purchases, planning corporate tax instalments, and whether a holding company makes sense. When your plans need a tax filing, our corporate tax team is in the same firm.
Finance systems and processes
Good CFO reporting depends on good systems. We review your chart of accounts, approvals, bill payment, invoicing, collections and connected apps, then fix what’s slowing you down or creating errors. A basic QuickBooks Online subscription and Dext are included in your CFO fee. We also work in Xero, and we can connect the tools you already use. Where it makes sense, we’ll automate repetitive work; our AI and automation consulting page explains how. Comparing platforms? See NetSuite vs QuickBooks vs Xero.
On-call financial leadership
When a decision comes up between meetings, like a customer asking for longer terms or a lease to review, email or text us. We reply mostly within one business day. If you’d rather call, there’s a 24/7 receptionist, a real person answers.
Virtual CFO vs bookkeeper vs controller: who does what?
Mixing these roles up is the most common reason owners pay for the wrong help.
Bookkeeper vs controller vs full-time CFO vs T-Ledgers Virtual CFO
← Swipe to compare →
| Bookkeeper | Controller | Full-time CFO | T-Ledgers Virtual CFO BEST VALUE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main question answered | What happened? | Are the numbers right and closed on time? | What should we do next? | ✓What should we do next, based on numbers a CPA has checked |
| Time horizon | Last month | This month and year-end | The next 1 to 3 years | ✓The next 13 weeks to 3 years |
| Typical work | Recording transactions, reconciliations, GST/HST tracking | Month-end close, internal controls, accruals, audit and review prep | Strategy, forecasting, financing, board and investor relations | ✓Bookkeeping, GST/HST and T2 filing, plus cash flow forecasts, budgets, KPIs, models, board packs, fundraising support and systems |
| What you get | Clean books and basic reports | Accurate monthly financial statements | Forecasts, plans and decisions | ✓A monthly CFO pack, a dashboard, a monthly meeting with a CPA and at least 4 hours of CPA time every month |
| Cost | From $350/month (quarterly) or $500/month (monthly) at T-Ledgers | ✗A full-time salary plus benefits | ✗A six-figure salary plus benefits, bonus and often equity | ✓From $2,500/month, fixed before we start, with bookkeeping, GST/HST and T2 filing, at least 4 CPA hours a month, basic QuickBooks Online and Dext included |
| Who checks the work | Often nobody until year-end | The CFO or external accountant | Usually nobody day to day | ✓A CPA reviews every deliverable |
| Cover for holidays and sick days | Usually none | Usually none | None | ✓A team, not one person |
Most growing businesses need a bookkeeper’s accuracy and a CFO’s thinking, but rarely a full-time version of either. That’s why bookkeeping is included in our Virtual CFO fee: the numbers we forecast from are the numbers we closed, and nothing gets lost between two firms. If your books are behind, we start with catch-up bookkeeping so your first forecast is built on solid ground. See also bookkeeper vs accountant.
How our virtual CFO engagement works
The first 90 days set things up; after that it’s a monthly rhythm you can plan around.
A free 30-minute call. We talk about your business, where it’s headed and what’s keeping you up at night. You’ll get a straight answer about whether you need a CFO yet, even if the answer is “not yet”.
A fixed proposal, mostly within one business day. You get a written proposal with the scope, the meeting cadence, the deliverables and a fixed monthly fee. If you have a comparable written quote from another firm, raise it now: price matching applies only when it’s agreed before you sign.
Discovery and diagnostic (weeks 1 to 4). We get read-only access to your accounting system, bank and CRA accounts, review the last 12 to 24 months of results, interview you (and your key people, if you’d like), and agree on your goals and the KPIs that matter. If the books need work first, we tell you before we go further.
Build (weeks 4 to 8). We set up your 13-week cash flow forecast, annual budget, KPI dashboard and, where it’s in scope, your financial model. A CPA reviews each one before you see it.
First CFO review (by about week 8). We walk you through your first full CFO pack: results versus budget, cash outlook, KPIs and our recommendations. You tell us what’s useful and what isn’t, and we adjust.
The monthly rhythm (day 90 onwards). Each month we close your books, update the forecast and dashboard, and walk you through the CFO pack in your monthly meeting with a CPA, and you get at least 4 hours of CPA time every month for analysis, planning and your questions. We file your GST/HST returns on your CRA schedule. Quarterly, we refresh the forecast, review the budget and prepare any board or lender pack. Once a year, we build next year’s budget with you before your fiscal year starts and file your T2 corporate tax return after year-end.
How much do virtual CFO services cost?
We publish our prices because “contact us for a quote” doesn’t help when you’re comparing firms. Our Virtual CFO service starts from $2,500 a month, and that includes your bookkeeping, GST/HST filing, your T2 corporate tax return, a monthly meeting with a CPA and at least 4 hours of CPA time every month. Your exact fee depends on the scope, how often we meet, and how complex your business is, and you’ll get a fixed quote before any work starts. All prices are in CAD and exclude HST/GST.
← Swipe to compare →
| Plan | Price | What’s included | CPA time and meetings | Typical revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual CFO | From $2,500/month (plus HST/GST) | Monthly bookkeeping, GST/HST filing, T2 corporate tax return, 13-week cash flow forecast, annual budget, monthly KPI dashboard and management report, budget vs actual, tax-aware planning, on-call support, and a basic QuickBooks Online subscription and Dext. A three-statement model, board or lender packs and fundraising support can be added to your proposal. Payroll is not included; it can be added to the same proposal. | A monthly 60 to 90 minute meeting with a CPA, plus at least 4 hours of CPA time every month | $1M to $20M |
Your Virtual CFO fee includes onboarding, monthly bookkeeping, GST/HST filing, your T2 corporate tax return, a monthly meeting with a CPA, at least 4 hours of CPA time every month, and a basic QuickBooks Online subscription and Dext. Payroll is separate: if you need it, we add it to the same proposal, so you see the full cost before you sign. If you only need help with one project, like a lender package or a one-time financial model, we can quote it as a fixed-fee project. Compare our other services on our pricing and packages page.
What moves the price
The number of entities and locations, how often you want to meet, whether you need a full three-statement model, board or investor reporting, inventory or job costing, multiple currencies, and whether you’re in the middle of a raise, an acquisition or a sale.
Our price match promise
If you have a written quote from another accounting firm for the same scope, show it to us before you sign our proposal and we’ll match it. Price matching has to be agreed before the proposal is signed; we can’t revisit the price afterwards. Same CPA review, whatever you pay.
No surprise bills
We don’t bill CFO work by the hour. Your monthly fee covers the scope in your proposal, and it only changes if the scope does. If something comes up that’s outside it, such as a new entity, an acquisition, a fundraise or a CRA review, we stop and tell you the cost before going further.
Industries we provide virtual CFO services for
The KPIs and the traps differ by industry. These are industries we know well:
Startups and tech companies. Burn rate, runway, SaaS metrics, SR&ED-ready records and investor reporting. See accountant for startups and tax mistakes startups make.
Construction, contractors and trades. Job costing, work-in-progress, holdbacks, bonding and equipment financing. See our HVAC bookkeeping guide.
E-commerce and retail. True contribution margin after fees and ad spend, inventory cash tied up on the shelf, and channel-level profitability.
Professional services and agencies. Utilization, project margins, partner draws and owner compensation.
Health care clinics. Practitioner productivity, payer mix, and expansion to new locations.
Trucking and transportation. Cost per kilometre, fleet replacement and fuel. See our bookkeeping guide for truckers.
Restaurants, franchise and multi-location businesses. Prime cost, location-by-location results and opening new sites.
Real estate and holding companies. Property-level cash flow, refinancing, and inter-company planning.
Distribution and light manufacturing. Inventory turns, landed cost, working capital and capital expenditure planning.
We’re based in Etobicoke, Ontario, with an office in Mississauga, and work remotely with businesses across Toronto, the GTA and the rest of Canada (except Quebec). See our service areas, including Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Why owners choose T-Ledgers as their virtual CFO
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| T-Ledgers BEST VALUE | What owners often tell us they had before | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ✓Published from-prices and a fixed monthly quote | ✗Hourly advisory bills that changed every month |
| CPA time | ✓At least 4 hours of CPA time every month, plus a monthly meeting with a CPA | ✗An advisor you could only reach at year-end |
| Who reviews the work | ✓A CPA reviews every forecast, model and board pack | ✗A spreadsheet nobody checked |
| Response time | ✓We reply mostly within one business day | ✗Emails that sat for a week |
| Reaching us | ✓24/7 receptionist, a real person answers; our team is available Mon to Fri 9 am to 8 pm and Saturday 10 am to 4 pm | ✗Voicemail |
| Competing quote | ✓We match comparable written quotes, agreed before you sign our proposal | ✗Take it or leave it |
| Books, tax and CFO | ✓One firm: bookkeeping, GST/HST, T2 and CFO under one roof, with payroll available on the same proposal | ✗A bookkeeper, an accountant and a consultant who never talked to each other |
CPA-led, not just CPA-signed
Our team builds your forecasts, dashboards and models, and a CPA reviews each one before it goes to you, your board or your lender. It’s a habit from audit: the person who checks the work isn’t the person who did it. You can verify my CPA Ontario membership.
Strategy built on books we trust
A forecast is only as good as the numbers underneath it. Because we keep your books as part of your Virtual CFO fee, and can also run your payroll on the same proposal, the actuals in your CFO pack are figures we reconciled ourselves, and tax is planned in the same conversation as growth.
A team, not a single point of failure
You get a dedicated CFO lead who knows your business, backed by the rest of our team and a CPA reviewer, so your forecast doesn’t stall when someone is on holiday.
Meet your CPA
Wajahat Ajmal, CPA, FCCA, Founder, T-Ledgers Accounting. Verify my CPA Ontario membership.
I started my career as an audit associate at KPMG. Since then I’ve worked as an independent contractor for a tax filing company, preparing returns and handling client questions. I hold a BSc in Applied Accounting from Oxford Brookes University and an MSc in Professional Accountancy from University College London. I’m a Chartered Professional Accountant in Ontario and a Fellow of the ACCA. I started taking on my own clients in 2020 and founded T-Ledgers in 2023.
What our clients say
“Great experience with T Ledgers. Professional and knowledgeable. Helped me with my businesses book keeping, consulted me on business strategy, and filed my taxes.” Dean Hanley, Google review
Read more on our client reviews page. Comparing providers? We put together a list of the top virtual CFO services in Canada.
Frequently asked questions about virtual CFO services
What does a virtual CFO do?
A virtual CFO provides part-time, remote financial leadership. At T-Ledgers that means cash flow forecasting, budgeting, KPI dashboards, financial modelling, profitability analysis, board, lender and investor reporting, fundraising support and finance systems, plus a monthly meeting with a CPA and at least 4 hours of CPA time every month to turn the numbers into decisions. Your bookkeeping, GST/HST filing and T2 corporate tax return are included too, and a CPA reviews every deliverable.
How much do virtual CFO services cost in Canada?
At T-Ledgers, our Virtual CFO service starts from $2,500 a month, plus HST/GST. That includes your bookkeeping, GST/HST filing, your T2 corporate tax return, a monthly meeting with a CPA, at least 4 hours of CPA time every month, and a basic QuickBooks Online subscription and Dext. Payroll is separate and can be added to the same proposal. Your exact fee depends on scope and complexity, and it’s fixed in your proposal before any work starts.
Is my business big enough for a virtual CFO?
Most of our CFO clients have between $1 million and $20 million in annual revenue. If you’re smaller but growing fast, raising money or making a major decision, a scoped engagement or a one-time project can still make sense. If you mainly need clean books and filings, our bookkeeping plans are a better place to start.
Do you also do our bookkeeping, payroll and taxes?
Yes. Your bookkeeping, GST/HST filing and T2 corporate tax return are included in your Virtual CFO fee. Payroll isn’t included in the fee, but we can run it for you and add it to the same proposal, so you see the full cost before you sign. Having everything in one firm means your forecasts are built on numbers we’ve reconciled ourselves.
How often will we meet?
Every Virtual CFO client gets a monthly meeting with a CPA, and at least 4 hours of CPA time every month for analysis, planning and your questions. If you need to meet more often, for example during a fundraise or acquisition, we’ll agree that in your proposal before we start. Between meetings you can email or text us, and we reply mostly within one business day.
Can you help us raise money or get a bank loan?
Yes. We prepare the forecast, financial model, use-of-funds plan and reporting that lenders and investors ask for, help you decide how much to raise or borrow, and support due diligence. We can also join your meetings with the bank or investors to walk through the numbers.
What accounting software do you work with?
Mainly QuickBooks Online and Xero. A basic QuickBooks Online subscription and Dext are included in your CFO fee. If you’re on another system, we can usually report from it, or help you move to a cloud platform as part of the engagement.
How long does it take to get started?
You’ll usually have a proposal mostly within one business day of our call. Once you sign, discovery takes about four weeks, and your first full CFO pack and review usually happen by around week eight. From about day 90, the monthly rhythm is fully running.
Do you match other firms' prices?
Yes, if you have a written quote from another accounting firm for the same scope and show it to us before you sign our proposal. Price matching has to be agreed before the proposal is signed; we can’t revisit the price afterwards.
Will my monthly fee change?
Not unless your scope changes. We don’t bill CFO work by the hour. If something comes up that’s outside your proposal, such as a new entity, an acquisition or a fundraise, we tell you the cost before doing the work, so there are no surprise bills.
What's included in the Virtual CFO fee?
Your fee covers your monthly bookkeeping, GST/HST filing, your T2 corporate tax return, a monthly meeting with a CPA, at least 4 hours of CPA time every month, and a basic QuickBooks Online subscription and Dext, along with your cash flow forecast, budget, KPI dashboard and monthly management report. Payroll isn’t included, but it can be added to the same proposal. Anything outside your agreed scope is quoted before we do it, so there are no surprise bills.
Do you work with businesses outside Ontario?
Yes. We work remotely with businesses in every province and territory except Quebec. Meetings happen by video, and documents are shared through our secure client portal. If you’re in the GTA, you’re welcome to meet us at our Etobicoke or Mississauga office.
Who will actually do the work?
A dedicated CFO lead who knows your file, supported by our analysts and bookkeeping team. A CPA reviews every forecast, model and board pack before it reaches you. You’ll always know who to contact, and when you call, it’s a 24/7 receptionist, a real person answers.
Ready to make decisions with real numbers?
Whether you’re planning your next hire, preparing for the bank, or tired of guessing what next quarter looks like, the first step is a free 30-minute call. We’ll tell you honestly whether a virtual CFO makes sense yet, and send a fixed price, mostly within one business day. If you have a comparable written quote from another firm, show it to us before you sign our proposal and we’ll match it.
Call (866) 254-5368 or email info@tledgers.ca. 24/7 receptionist, a real person answers.
Related services: Bookkeeping · Catch-up bookkeeping · Corporate taxes and GST/HST · Payroll services · Incorporation · Pricing and packages · Service areas