Your operations are slowing you down. Processes break as you grow. The team isn't executing. A full-time COO costs $200K+ and you don't need 40 hours a week. You need an operator who's built systems before, part of the time, starting now.
A fractional COO is a Chief Operating Officer who works with your business part-time. You get the same financial leadership a full-time CFO would provide — reporting, forecasting, strategic guidance, lender relationships — without the salary, benefits, and overhead.
Most businesses in the $1M–$20M range have outgrown their bookkeeper but aren't ready for a full-time CFO. A fractional COO fills that gap, and fills it starting on day one.
Accurate, timely financial statements the owner can actually use to run the business — not just satisfy the accountant at year end. If the books are behind or unreliable, we fix that first.
Cash flow forecasts, revenue projections, scenario planning. Forward-looking models that tell you where the business is headed, not just where it's been.
Identifying and eliminating bottlenecks, redundancies, and waste across your operations. The goal is more output from the same team, not more headcount.
Loan packages, covenant compliance, due diligence support. Speaking the language your bank or investors need to hear — fluently — so you don't have to figure it out under pressure.
Defining the roles you actually need, building hiring processes that work, and designing the org structure that scales. Getting the right people in the right seats before you have a people crisis.
Pricing strategy, margin analysis, capital allocation, growth investments. The CFO's job isn't to report what happened. It's to help you decide what to do next.
Nothing gets done without you. The team brings you every question. You're a bottleneck in your own business and you can't step back because no one else knows how things work.
Revenue looks fine but cash is always tight. Profitable months still feel like a struggle. The gap between what the P&L says and what's in the bank is a recurring mystery.
Good people are leaving. Roles aren't clear. Accountability is inconsistent. The team problems are a symptom of missing operational infrastructure, not bad hiring.
Everything lives in people's heads. When someone leaves, the knowledge leaves with them. Training new people takes forever. The business can't run without key individuals showing up every day.
Operational due diligence matters as much as financial. If your operations aren't documented and your team can't demonstrate execution without the founder, buyers and investors will notice.
You want to work on the business instead of in it. That's only possible when the operations run without you. A fractional COO builds the infrastructure that makes stepping back possible.
A straight conversation about where your business is financially — what you know, what you don't, and whether a fractional COO engagement is the right fit. No pitch. No pressure.
A fast, honest look at the actual state of the financials — the books, the reporting, the cash position, the gaps. We find out what's there, what's missing, and what needs to be fixed first.
A short list of the highest-leverage financial improvements in the right order. Cleanup first, then visibility, then strategy. A working plan the business can actually execute.
Building systems, cleaning up reporting, developing models, staying involved as the financial picture evolves. Direct access every time. No handoffs, no junior staff.
No setup fees. No long-term contracts. Every engagement is scoped to the actual work your business needs.
Process documentation, team accountability systems, KPI dashboards, vendor management, and operational oversight. 1 day per week engagement.
Full CFO services plus hands-on transaction support, capital raise preparation, or turnaround oversight. 2–3 days per week depending on scope.
Financial cleanup, lender package, acquisition due diligence, or sale preparation. Fixed-scope, fixed-price engagements for specific deliverables.
Scissortail Fractional is based in Edmond, Oklahoma. Fractional COO services shouldn't require flying someone in from a coast.
Energy services, construction, healthcare, and the full range of OKC businesses. Deep familiarity with the OKC business community.
COO Services OKC →Energy, aerospace, manufacturing, and a growing startup ecosystem. Senior financial leadership for Green Country businesses.
COO Services Tulsa →Our home base. Professional services, medical practices, and family-owned businesses across the North OKC metro.
COO Services Edmond →University corridor, healthcare, and growing businesses along I-35. Underserved by real financial advisors.
COO Services Norman →Manufacturing, logistics, family businesses, and fast-growing suburban companies in South Tulsa County.
COO Services Broken Arrow →Remote and hybrid engagements available for Oklahoma businesses outside the major metros. Geography shouldn't determine access to good financial leadership.
A bookkeeper records transactions. An accountant prepares reports and handles compliance. A fractional COO interprets the financial picture, builds forward-looking models, and helps you make better decisions with the numbers. The bookkeeper tells you what happened. The CFO helps you decide what to do next.
No. A fractional COO works alongside your existing accountant and bookkeeper, not in place of them. We operate at the strategic layer above the day-to-day accounting function. Most of the time the existing team gets better with a CFO in the mix.
Engagements typically range from $2,500 to $10,000 per month depending on scope, complexity, and hours. That's a fraction of the $150,000–$250,000 annual cost of a full-time CFO. Every engagement is scoped to the actual work — you're not paying for 40 hours a week you don't need.
Most businesses benefit when they're in the $1M–$20M revenue range. Below $1M, a good bookkeeper and CPA may be sufficient. Above $20M, you can likely justify a full-time CFO. In between, fractional is often the highest-value option.
Most engagements run 6 to 18 months. Some are shorter — a specific cleanup, a transaction, a lender package. Some are ongoing. We don't push for length. We stay as long as the work requires and no longer.
No pitch. No deck. Just a straight conversation about your financials and whether we're the right fit.