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Coming up next · Meet ZEFA · Small Business CFO

The bank balance becomes a decision brief

Meet ZEFA, a finance operations employee. ZEFA reads the books and bank activity, maintains the thirteen-week cash view, finds exceptions, and turns them into a short owner brief. Tax advice, signed filings, financing, and payment authority stay with qualified people.

First useful file
A thirteen-week cash view with assumptions, risks, and owner decisions
Planned first delivery
Same day after accounting and bank records connect
Best for
Owners who can see the bank balance but cannot see the next thirteen weeks clearly

Expert tier · In formation. See how the tiers work.

The workflows ZEFA owns

One employee carries the work from the first fact through the next decision. The files below belong together because they use the same business record and improve one another.

  1. 01

    Close review

    Turns the accounting close into a visible exception and owner-question queue.

    • Close checklist
    • Reconciliation exception list
    • Uncategorized transaction queue
    • Owner question record

    Weekly review with a formal monthly close

  2. 02

    Cash planning

    Maintains the next thirteen weeks from confirmed balances, expected receipts, committed payments, and stated assumptions.

    • Thirteen-week cash view
    • Runway scenarios
    • Receivable and payable timing list
    • Cash-risk note

    Updated weekly and after a material change

  3. 03

    Spend review

    Shows what changed in vendor, subscription, payroll, and discretionary spending before the owner approves a response.

    • Vendor spend table
    • Unusual-spend list
    • Subscription change report
    • Savings decision packet

    Weekly exceptions and monthly review

  4. 04

    Tax preparation

    Prepares factual working papers and questions for the owner’s accountant or tax adviser without turning them into tax advice.

    • Estimated-tax working packet
    • Deduction and credit question list
    • Retirement-plan comparison packet
    • CPA handoff index

    Quarterly, annually, and before a time-sensitive decision

  5. 05

    Owner reporting

    Brings the close, cash view, operating plan, and open decisions into one concise record.

    • Monthly finance brief
    • Budget-to-actual view
    • Decision list
    • Lender or board packet

    Monthly, with weekly risk notes

Illustrative work product

A file you can inspect before ZEFA ships

This is not customer work. It is the first-file test: a concrete packet that shows the facts, open decisions, boundaries, and next action the employee must carry.

  • The illustrative figures are fictional and are not customer results.
  • Tax advice, tax filings, accounting policy, payroll approval, financing, and money movement remain outside the role.
  • The compensation comparison uses the current BLS national financial-manager wage table.

ZEFA-01 · formation file

A thirteen-week cash view with assumptions, risks, and owner decisions

Illustrative

Illustrative sample · not customer work

Thirteen-week cash and owner decision brief

Illustrative file for a six-person services business with uneven customer payments, monthly payroll, two annual software renewals, and a planned contractor hire. The figures are fictional and shown only to demonstrate the work product. The brief is management information, not accounting or tax advice.

Current view

Opening cash is $184,000. The base case ends week thirteen at $96,000. That result assumes three named invoices arrive on their stated dates, the contractor starts September 1, and the annual software renewals are paid in full. The view excludes a possible new customer because no signed agreement or payment schedule exists.

What changed this week

One $42,000 invoice moved from week two to week five after the customer’s accounts-payable date was confirmed. Payroll taxes were corrected to the latest payroll report. A duplicate software seat charge was separated from the baseline pending cancellation evidence. The contractor assumption was moved out two weeks because no approved scope is on file.

  • Collections: owner to approve a direct follow-up on the delayed invoice by Thursday.
  • Hiring: owner to confirm contractor scope, start date, and maximum first-month spend.
  • Software: IMRA to confirm cancellation terms and renewal notice dates for both annual tools.
  • Tax: accountant to confirm the next estimated-payment working amount and due date.

Downside case

If the delayed invoice moves another four weeks and the contractor begins on September 1, ending cash is $48,000. The lowest week remains above the owner’s stated $35,000 floor, but only by $13,000. ZEFA flags that margin; the owner decides whether to delay the contractor, change collections work, or accept the risk.

Close exceptions

Five transactions remain uncategorized, one bank reconciliation is open, and the deferred-revenue schedule does not match the billing export. None is silently corrected. The exception packet lists the source record, current treatment, question, and accountable reviewer.

ZEFA next to the tool and human paths

QuickBooks holds the accounting record and can produce reports, forecasts, and scenarios. ZEFA works from that record to maintain the owner’s thirteen-week cash view, exception queue, spending questions, and decision brief. A fractional CFO or CPA remains the right choice for unfamiliar judgment, tax advice, and signed work.

What ZEFA, QuickBooks, and a Fractional CFO + CPA each do.
ResponsibilityZEFAQuickBooksFractional CFO + CPA
Maintain books and standard financial reportsLimitedYesYes
Build a thirteen-week cash viewYesYesYes
Turn exceptions into owner decisionsYesLimitedYes
Keep a monthly finance brief currentYesLimitedYes
Give tax advice or sign a filingNoNoYes
Approve payments, debt, or financingNoNoLimited

Tool column checked against the official QuickBooks product page on August 6, 2026. Features vary by plan. “Limited” means the option covers part of the row or still needs someone to operate it.

What forms ZEFA

These are the primary sources that establish the work, current requirements, and professional boundaries. The live employee will check current sources again when the work begins.

The first month with ZEFA

By day 30, the owner can trace every thirteen-week cash assumption to a source and see every material financial decision still open.

  1. 01 · Day 1

    I publish the close status, cash baseline, thirteen-week inputs, and missing-record queue.

  2. 02 · Week 1

    I deliver the first cash view, collections and payments list, spend exceptions, and accountant questions.

  3. 03 · Month 1

    I deliver the closed-period owner brief, updated forecast, decision record, and next tax-preparation packet.

Works with your existing systems

  • Slack
  • QuickBooks
  • Xero
  • Google Sheets
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Bank feeds
  • Billing platform
  • Payroll summaries

What ZEFA does not do

I do not prepare or sign tax returns, attestations, audits, reviews, or compilations.

I do not make tax elections, choose accounting policy, or tell the owner a position is legally available.

I do not move money, approve payroll, open credit, borrow, invest, or accept a financial commitment.

I do not turn incomplete books or hopeful revenue into a confirmed financial result.

The line that does not move

I will not file a return, make a tax election, move money, or replace the owner’s accountant.

When the record conflicts

If the ledger, bank record, billing system, or owner assumption conflicts, I preserve each version, stop the affected conclusion, and publish the exact exception instead of forcing the numbers to agree.

Functional adjacency

The employees ZEFA hands work to

Put ZEFA next in line

Tell us which part of the function is still sitting with you. We will use that work to set the release priority and the test this employee has to pass.

Tell us you need ZEFA