Engagement
Three engagement tiers.
All include 12-month bundled scope, Layer-1 recovery floor, and Layer-2 operational SLA. Founding Cohort pricing applies through the first 10 clients.
| Bare Minimum | Standard | Bespoke | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $2,500 | $5,000 | $10,000 – $15,000 |
| Engagement term | 12-month bundled | 12-month bundled | 12-month bundled |
| Target operator | $200-400K/mo | $400K-$1M/mo (default) | $1M-$5M/mo, multi-jurisdiction |
| Recovery audit + onboarding (Mo 1-3) | Included | Included | Included + ongoing payment-ops monitoring |
| Strategic CFO call cadence | Monthly (60 min) | Bi-weekly (60 min) | Weekly (60 min) |
| Books closed by | 10th of month | 10th of month | 5th of month |
| Returns filed before deadline | 10 business days | 10 business days | 15 business days |
| Tax planning | Basic | Standard (quarterly projection) | Premium (cross-border restructure included) |
| Compliance monitoring | Quarterly | Monthly | Real-time + crisis-response SLA |
| Founder direct access | Bi-weekly via team | Weekly via team | Direct cell |
| Founder-on-call hours | None | 1 hr/mo | 4 hr/mo |
| QBR cadence | Quarterly | Quarterly + recorded video | Monthly OR 2-day on-site |
| Multi-jurisdiction included | 1 | 2 | Up to 5 |
| Audit defense (if needed) | Hourly add-on | Included | Included |
| Layer-1 recovery floor | Yes, in writing | Yes, in writing | Yes, in writing |
| Layer-2 operational SLA | 4-hr response, HK BD | 4-hr response, HK BD | 2-hr response, HK BD |
| Founding Cohort slots | Limited | Limited | By founder call |
What's included beyond core scope.
The bonus stack runs across all tiers. Some elements scale up at Standard and Premium.
- Chart of accounts rebuild (Month 1)
- KPI dashboard setup (CheckoutChamp / Stripe / accountant integration)
- Jurisdictional review (Months 1-3)
- Processor terms re-negotiation (Standard + Premium)
- Entity stack review and restructure recommendation
- Quarterly tax-savings projection (Standard + Premium)
- Audit-defense letter on engagement (against IRS, IRD, HMRC, ATO equivalent)
- Compliance-warranty clause in engagement letter
- Engagement-letter sample available pre-signing
- Crisis-response retainer (Premium: direct cell access)
- 12-month renewal lock at current pricing (vs market re-pricing at month 12)
- Slack channel + ticketing (Premium)
- Onboarding checklist + 30-60-90 day cadence document
- Receipt-bank documentation for your engagement
- Monthly health-snapshot email (operational metrics)
Guarantees, in writing.
Layer 1
Recovery Floor
Every engagement opens with the recovery audit: free, 60 minutes, 3 numbers. On the call we give a careful, low-end estimate of the locked funds we can recover. The engagement letter then commits us to recovering at least 50% of that estimate within 90 days of the start.
If we don't hit 50% of that low-end estimate within 90 days, we refund three months of fees. No exceptions. No partial credits. The Layer-1 clause sits in Section 8 of the engagement letter and triggers automatically, not at our discretion.
To qualify for Layer-1, you need 2+ active payment processors, $200K-$1M/mo in offer-funnel DTC revenue, full read-only gateway access during the audit, and follow-through on our action plan in the first 90 days. If those hold and we miss the floor, the refund runs automatically.
Layer 2
Operational SLA
Beyond recovery, we commit to operational SLAs on a monthly cadence:
- Books closed by the 10th of each month (5th for Premium tier). If we miss, that month's retainer is refunded.
- Tax returns filed at least 10 business days before deadline (15 for Premium). If we miss, that month's retainer is refunded.
- CFO-line response within 4 business hours during HK business days (2 hours for Premium). If we miss the response window 3+ times in a 30-day period, that month's retainer is refunded.
Layer-2 is built to stop the service drift that breaks most CFO-on-retainer relationships around month 9-12. We make the promise specific and refund automatically, instead of letting slipping service turn into an awkward renewal talk.
Engagement letter sample available on request. The Layer-1 and Layer-2 clauses are written into Section 8 of the standard tier engagement letter. We send the sample before the proposal so you can review the exact contractual language.
How an engagement works.
01
Audit (60 min, free)
3 numbers produced live. Locked funds recoverable. Tax savings annualized. Compliance risk ranked. Written summary follows within 24 hours.
02
Proposal (within 24 hours)
Engagement letter with tier match, specific Layer-1 recovery floor in writing, Layer-2 SLA. DocuSign. No scope ambiguity.
03
Engagement (12 months bundled)
Months 1-3: recovery work + department setup. Months 4-12: steady-state CFO with quarterly QBR + monthly close. Direct line for crisis.
04
Renewal (Month 12)
Annual review + re-anchor scope. Most engagements upgrade tier. Renewal at then-prevailing rate unless Founding Cohort lock-in applies.