Fractional CFO services for Selkirk companies

Selkirk CFO work starts from $2,500 a month, and a fractional controller from $1,500 a month. The compliance file behind it covers the T2 with Schedule 1 and Schedule 50, the CCA schedule, the small business deduction, T4 or T5 slips for the owner’s pay, and the instalments for the year ahead.

When a Selkirk company needs this

The trigger is usually a specific problem rather than a general wish for better numbers. Margin falling without an obvious cause. A large equipment purchase or a building decision. A customer whose volume has grown enough that losing them would hurt. Growth that has strained cash even though the business is profitable. The City of Selkirk describes growing residential and industrial areas, and companies riding that growth — builders, trades, fabricators, suppliers — are the ones that hit these questions first. Without one of those triggers, accurate monthly books and a timely year-end deliver more value for less money.

A cash forecast that is updated, not filed

The first deliverable is almost always a thirteen-week cash forecast, rolled forward every week or two. It shows payroll, remittances, GST and RST payments, loan payments and supplier terms against expected receipts, and it shows the low point before you reach it. For a seasonal Selkirk business — anything tied to building or outdoor work — the forecast also has to carry the winter, when costs continue and revenue thins. CRA instalments, the corporate balance owing and the GST and RST returns all belong on it, because they are the payments most often forgotten until they are due. Budgeting and forecasting describes the model.

Margin by job, customer and product

A company-wide margin hides which work carries the business. For a contractor, that means comparing each job’s estimate with its actual labour, materials, equipment time and subcontract cost, and finding out which kinds of work consistently come in under. For a shop, it means machine time and labour booked to jobs, materials issued to jobs, and an overhead rate that reflects what the equipment really costs to run. For a supplier or retailer, it means margin by product line after freight and RST that cannot be recovered. In every case the analysis tends to find a small number of jobs, customers or products doing most of the damage, and they are actionable once they are visible.

Capacity, overhead and the price of a second shift

A shop running at sixty percent of capacity carries the same rent, core staff and depreciation as one running at ninety, spread over fewer units. Unit cost is therefore largely a function of volume, and comparing this year’s unit cost with last year’s without accounting for volume produces wrong conclusions. The same logic answers practical questions: whether a lower-priced order is worth taking to fill capacity, whether a second shift pays once overtime, supervision and the payroll levy threshold are considered, and whether a new machine earns its keep against the CCA it generates.

Equipment and financing decisions

Buy, lease or finance is a cash question as much as a tax question. We model the monthly obligation against forecast cash, the CCA available and when it starts (only once the asset is available for use), any Manitoba RST payable or exempt on the purchase, and the effect on the covenants in your existing loans. For larger purchases we prepare the package a lender will ask for: recent statements, a forecast, the debt schedule and a clear explanation of what the equipment will earn. CCA classes in Canada covers the tax side.

Owner pay and the business limit

Manitoba’s nil small-business rate means qualifying income up to the $500,000 business limit carries only the 9% federal rate, and income above it 27% combined. A growing Selkirk company approaching the limit, or with associated companies sharing it, needs that planned into the year rather than discovered at the T2. The CFO role sets a target for corporate income, coordinates the salary-and-dividend mix with the owner’s personal position, and decides with you what to do with surplus cash so passive income does not erode the limit.

When this is not the right investment

Everything above depends on operational data: hours by job, production volumes, costs recorded against work. Where that does not exist, building it is the first project, because analysis built on estimates produces confident conclusions that are wrong. And where the month does not yet close reliably, a fractional controller is the cheaper place to begin. We will say so.

How the engagement works

Selkirk engagements run online, with scope, cadence and fee agreed in writing beforehand. A typical month is a close review, an updated forecast, a short written report and a video meeting to decide what to do about it. Manitoba corporate income tax is collected federally; see the Manitoba tax facts page for current rates and thresholds.

Remote CFO support

The firm operates virtually and serves Selkirk online. There is no Selkirk office and no staff based there. Work runs by video call, email and secure document exchange. Margins and forecasts are drawn from the same books that produce the year-end, so the two agree.

The year-end this all feeds into is corporate tax in Selkirk, and the statements a lender reads are on financial statements in Selkirk.

If the month does not yet close reliably, a fractional controller is the cheaper place to begin.