Prove you're worth it in month one. Start with the benefits renewal.

Sound familiar?

A fractional CFO I talked with put the whole job in one line: “their job is to recover money.”

And they shared the question every fCFO should be able to answer fast:

“Is your client better off with you or without you?”

Here’s where that gets hard:

• You have to prove value, and fast. Revenue fixes take months. Your client wants to see something now.
• Nobody wants to be a glorified bookkeeper. Closing the books is the floor. The same fractional CFO called out the ones who are “just accountants with a better title”.
• Benefits is set it and forget it. In their words, it’s “so set it and forget it for the business owner that there’s just like a lack of awareness of what they actually have enrolled into”. The renewal comes in, it gets paid, kind of like the cable bill used to.
• It’s the most expensive question you’re not asking. “what’s the most expensive question you’re not asking?” For a lot of clients, it’s when anyone last looked at the benefits renewal.
• Saved money is the easiest profit. “it’s cheaper to save money than it is to make money in some cases.” And recovered money doesn’t have to fight through margin: “I call it profit recovery… that goes right to bottom line.”

Benefits isn’t in the usual fCFO playbook, and you don’t need to become a benefits person. That part is my job. Your job is to ask the question and bring the answer to the CEO.

How the Benefits Health Diagnostic works

Four documents in. One page out.

What you send

You already know the client’s annual payroll and revenue. Put those two totals in your email so the score can show cost as a share of each.

Your client says okay first. Before any census or payroll data leaves their company, the end client gives the go-ahead. A one-line email from the owner is plenty. Files go through a secure link, never plain email. Email [email protected] and I’ll send you the link.

What you get back: a one-page health score

• What the plan costs as a % of payroll and as a % of revenue
• The renewal trend vs. market
• The profit clogs found
• Estimated savings, labeled as an estimate
• Either a “nothing to see here” stress-test result or a suggested CEO intro

If it’s a stress-test result: the client is paying a fair rate. You tell the CEO you stress tested their benefits and there’s nothing to see here. The CEO gets peace of mind and you’ve shown real value for the month. As that fractional CFO put it, there’s “still value in the fact that we spent the time to reaffirm it.”

If it’s a suggested CEO intro: your intro leads with a number. Something like: I had Matt look at our benefits. He thinks we can save about $20,000 a year, and he’s already done the work. (Example figure, not a client result.)

Either way, you’re the one who found it. That fractional CFO said a plain referral like “Spend money with Matt because he’ll help you with this.” is a harder sell, because the client thinks there’s a kickback. Compare that to “Hey guys, I found a resource and I want to go dig into this.” That reads as the CFO doing the job. I work behind you, and you own the relationship.

I’ll confirm timing when you send the files.

Batch option: up to 20 clients

Got a book of clients? Don’t send them one at a time.

Send me up to 20. Each one gets its own health score, and you also get:

• One chart with the estimated savings for every client (or “nothing to see here”)
• The profit clogs driving each number
• Which CEO intros I’d suggest, and which clients I’d leave alone for now

You see the whole book on one page and pick the clients worth a conversation. That’s a stack of wins to show across your whole client list.

For a batch, I’ll confirm timing when you send the files.

The onboarding insert

The best time for a Benefits Health Diagnostic is the first three weeks of a new engagement, while you’re already collecting documents. Put the four documents on your request list right next to merchant statements.

That’s how you pay for yourself in month one. That same fractional CFO described it this way: “if you come back and say I can save him 20 grand it’s like in my first month like I paid for myself” (their example). And then: “And now I’ve got a client for… life.”

I made a one-page insert you can drop straight into your client onboarding packet. It lists the four documents, gets the client’s okay, and shows what comes back.

Download the Benefits Health Diagnostic insert (PDF)

FAQ

Do I need to know anything about benefits to do this?

No. Collect the four documents, get the client’s okay, and send them over. I’ll explain what I find in plain English so you can take it to the CEO.

Does the Diagnostic cost anything?

No charge for the Diagnostic or the batch.

Do you pay referral fees?

No. I don’t pay referral fees. The value for you is the result you bring your client.

How do you get paid?

If a client moves forward and I place coverage, I’m paid commission by the carrier. If you pay me a fee for this work, both the fee and the commission are disclosed in writing to the end client.

Will you contact my client directly?

Not unless you make the intro. You own the relationship.

What if their current broker is doing a good job?

Then I’ll say so. A clean stress test is still something for you to show the CEO.

What if the renewal is months away?

Good. Earlier is better. Not every plan year starts January 1, so ask when theirs renews. Looking before the official rate lands gives the client time to plan instead of react.

Do you handle the work after a change?

Yes. Enrollment and administration run through Employee Navigator, and employee questions come to me instead of HR. I also watch how the plan performs through the year so renewal becomes a planned review.

Which states do you cover?

Home base is the Austin area, Texas. I can also help employers outside of Texas.