How many locations do we need before a fractional CFO makes sense?

Usually two or more, or a single high-volume location approaching a second. Below that, a strong bookkeeper plus periodic advisory is generally the better economic answer, and we will say so.

What is a good prime cost for a restaurant?

Full-service independents generally target combined food, beverage, and labor cost near 60 to 65 percent of revenue, with the specific target depending on service model, menu mix, and market. The number matters far less than tracking it weekly against your own target.

How much does a restaurant CFO cost?

Most restaurant group engagements run $3,000 to $10,000 per month depending on unit count, reporting cadence, and whether controller-level close work is included.

Do you replace our bookkeeper or accountant?

No. We work above the bookkeeping and alongside your CPA. In many engagements we improve how the existing bookkeeper codes and closes rather than replacing anyone.

Restaurants & Groups

Restaurant CFO services for multi-unit operators

Fractional and outsourced CFO support for restaurant groups and independent operators — unit-level economics, prime cost discipline, and the cash visibility expansion requires.

The second-location problem

One restaurant runs on instinct. Three require a finance function.

A single successful restaurant can be managed by an operator who knows the numbers in their head. The second location breaks that, and the third breaks it permanently. Suddenly there are shared costs to allocate, a commissary to account for, managers whose incentives need structure, and a cash position that no longer tracks the register.

Most groups reach for a bookkeeper and a POS report. What is missing is the layer that turns those into unit-level profitability, a defensible prime cost target, and a thirteen-week cash forecast the operator can actually steer with.

That is the work: CFO judgment applied to restaurant economics, at a fraction of a full-time hire.

What we do for restaurant groups

Unit economics, cash visibility, and expansion discipline.

Unit-level P&L and shared cost allocation

Each location reported as its own business with defensible allocation of commissary, administrative, and marketing cost — so you know which units earn and which are carried.

Prime cost management

Weekly prime cost reporting against target, with food and labor variance separated and traceable to the decisions that caused it rather than reported as one blended percentage.

13-week cash flow forecasting

The rolling forecast that keeps operators ahead of rent, payroll, sales tax, and vendor terms — particularly through South Florida's seasonal swing.

Menu and pricing analysis

Contribution margin by item and category, cost pass-through modeling, and the pricing moves that hold margin without triggering guest resistance.

Expansion pro formas

Site-level pro formas with realistic ramp curves, build-out and pre-opening cost, and the funding structure — before a lease is signed rather than after.

Manager incentive design

Bonus structures tied to metrics a general manager actually controls, built so the incentive and the P&L point in the same direction.

Familiar patterns

Patterns that show up in most multi-unit groups.

The P&L arrives six weeks late

By the time a bad month is visible, the next bad month is nearly over. Restaurant finance is a weekly discipline reported monthly, and most groups have it backwards.

Group results hide a losing location

Consolidated profitability masks a unit that has not earned its rent in a year. Without allocated unit P&Ls nobody can prove it, so nobody acts.

Sales grew and cash did not

Almost always inventory build, prime cost drift, or a vendor terms change. All three are invisible without weekly reporting.

The next location is funded from operating cash

A build-out funded by starving working capital puts every existing unit at risk to open one more.

Why Visions Alliance

Operator-side finance for restaurant groups.

Multi-unit and restaurant group focus rather than single-location bookkeeping
Hospitality-native: prime cost, seasonality, and F&B labor economics
South Florida market fluency, including the seasonal revenue curve
Weekly operating rhythm, not just a monthly financial statement
Expansion and lender work handled with the same discipline as the close

Common questions

Restaurant CFO questions.

How many locations do we need before a fractional CFO makes sense?: Usually two or more, or a single high-volume location approaching a second. Below that, a strong bookkeeper plus periodic advisory is generally the better economic answer, and we will say so.
What is a good prime cost for a restaurant?: Full-service independents generally target combined food, beverage, and labor cost near 60 to 65 percent of revenue, with the specific target depending on service model, menu mix, and market. The number matters far less than tracking it weekly against your own target.
How much does a restaurant CFO cost?: Most restaurant group engagements run $3,000 to $10,000 per month depending on unit count, reporting cadence, and whether controller-level close work is included.
Do you replace our bookkeeper or accountant?: No. We work above the bookkeeping and alongside your CPA. In many engagements we improve how the existing bookkeeper codes and closes rather than replacing anyone.

Start the conversation

Sales are up and cash is not?

Send us three months of P&Ls by location. We will come back with a prime cost read and where the money is actually leaking.

Schedule a conversation