Fractional CFO
services for startups

Trusted by Canadian companies

run by awesome people

Raise money and make it last

Cashflow done right

Matters of cashflow are far too important to leave to chance when the cash you raise and how you manage it could very well be the difference between your startup’s success and failure.

What you need is for someone to make sure that your fundraising strategies are effective and that, especially in this environment, you're doing everything in your control to make that money last.

At Future Standard, that's what we're all about.

The office of the fractional CFO

Stand above the rest on solid foundations

Here's how we do it

#1 - Financial modeling

A bottom-up financial model, done well, is the only management tool an early-stage startup founder needs. It creates confident founders who know their plans to go big who can speak to them with clarity and conviction. A financial model is the how exactly you’re going to get there that your conversations have been missing.

#2 - The dataroom: story and pitching

A dataroom is like packaging for your business. It says to investors and others, "Here's why you want to do business with us."

The dataroom has a lot of pieces. What we do is specialize in making sure all that information is telling the same story about the same product and the same opportunity so the plans come across clearly and, as consequence, influentially.

One of the first things we do is capture your startup’s narrative on paper. This helps us understand your business and provide a highly contextual service. Then we flow it up into a pitch deck and augment it with data from your operations and your new financial model. Finally we'll go over everything about the dataroom with you and make sure you're ready to go out into the world and start pitching with it.

#3 – Financial management

Gone are the days of low interest rates and that sweet, sweet back-of-napkin money. Now more than ever financial professionalism is what builds trust with those in your ecosystem.

We set up the financial systems that get you the information you need to make profitable decisions, consistently and quickly: financial models, budgets, variance analysis, support with grants, ad-hoc calculations, variance analysis, operational metrics, and sales targets, to name a few.

We do all this at your convenience, ad-hoc or as part of a monthly operating cadence. That’s your choice depending on what works best for you. See, we’re here with the finance and business skill. Deploy this how you want.

About us

Firm details

We know what it’s like to start a company. We’re professionals who geek out on everything tech. We know how angels and VCs and government-funded programs operate. This is the context we bring with us into our work, and it's the reason we built Future Standard as we did – relentlessly outcome-focused, adaptable in our approach, on-demand – to serve clients like you.

Who we do it for

We work with technology- and science-first startups with big ambitions. The deeper the tech, the better.

The entry point to working together is very individual. Sometimes it's a specific service. Starting with a financial model is quite common. Othertimes it's your circumstances, such as prepping for your next raise. A good proxy to make sure you're far enough along is to, at a minimum, make sure your business is not prone to wholesale change on a weekly basis. (Monthly is fine.)

Here's a few other qualities we look for to see whether there's a good fit to be had.

On a personal note

My name’s David Steinley. I'm a Chartered Professional Accountant and the founder of Future Standard.

I look up to people like Pieter Levels for kicking ass as a solopreneur, Neri Oxman for her nature-centric approach to design, Anthony Bourdain for staying authentic in the spotlight, and George Saunders for his loving approach to teaching.

You didn't ask but I'm also an unknown fiction writer. At least I don't have to do book signings.

Pricing

know ahead of time

(1) Financial models: starting at $3,000 + GST, complete in 2 weeks.
(2) On-going fractional CFO support: starting at $2,500/mo. + GST.
(3) Hourly support: $175/hr. + GST.