Provider economics
Contribution by provider, not just production. Compensation plans that reward profitable work.
Read moreMed spa CFO
Fractional CFO for med spas and aesthetic practices.
For practices that have outgrown their reporting: someone who owns the economics of providers, services, cash, and growth decisions, without the cost of a full-time CFO.
What a med spa CFO owns
The economics a bookkeeper and CPA are not set up to answer.
Service-line profitability
Which treatments earn their room time and provider time, and which only look busy.
Read moreCash and deferred revenue
A forward cash view that accounts for packages, memberships, inventory, and distributions.
Read moreCapacity and hiring
Whether current providers are utilized before another one is added, and what a new hire needs to break even.
Read moreCapital decisions
A payback case behind devices, locations, and marketing spend before the money is committed.
The monthly management rhythm
Segmented financials, diagnostic KPIs, and a monthly review that ends in a decision.
Read moreWhen practices bring one in
Growing, and starting to feel it.
- Revenue is growing but owner income is not keeping pace
- You have a bookkeeper and a CPA, but no one working on what the numbers mean
- Hiring, pricing, compensation, or expansion decisions are being made without a model
- Cash has tightened unexpectedly, or you are worried it will
- Providers are ranked by production and you suspect that is misleading
Probably not the right fit
- Pre-revenue or in the first year of operations
- Looking for someone to categorize transactions or file taxes
- Wanting a one-time report with no involvement from ownership
- Not willing to share financials and operating data openly
Where a CFO fits
Bookkeeper, CPA, and CFO answer different questions.
| Role | Job | The question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Bookkeeper | Records what happenedAre the transactions right? | Are the transactions right? |
| CPA | Reports it for tax and complianceAre we filing correctly? | Are we filing correctly? |
| Fractional CFO | Works out what it means and what to doWhat should we change, and what is it worth? | What should we change, and what is it worth? |
How it runs
How an engagement runs
- 01
Strategy Call
The business, its reporting today, the decisions ahead, and whether ongoing CFO support is the right starting point.
- 02
Baseline and diagnosis
Establish the financial baseline, find where economics diverge, and size the gaps in dollars.
- 03
Build the reporting
Segmented financials, a cash forecast, and the KPIs that matter for this practice.
- 04
Monthly rhythm
Close, diagnose, decide, measure. Each month produces a decision and checks the last one.
Scope and investment are set after we understand the business and the problem, not before.
Background
Built on healthcare, operations, and capital allocation.
Tanner Ward brings 10+ years of finance and operating experience to the economics of health and aesthetics practices.
About Tanner WardHealthcare finance
Practice economics are service-line economics: which treatments, providers, and hours actually earn a return.
Amazon finance
Capacity, labor productivity, and unit economics measured rigorously enough to run decisions on.
Private lending and fund management
Capital allocation discipline: a hire, a device, or a location is an investment that should show a payback case.
Common questions
What does a fractional CFO do for a med spa?
Works on the economics: which providers, services, and hours earn a return; whether compensation, pricing, and staffing are set up to produce profit; what cash will do in the months ahead; and whether a hire, device, or location will pay back. The output is better decisions, supported by the reporting needed to make them.
Is this bookkeeping or tax preparation?
Neither. Bookkeeping records transactions and tax preparation reports them. A fractional CFO works on what the numbers mean and what to do about them. Most practices keep their bookkeeper and CPA; where the accounting structure cannot support useful reporting, we help set it up.
How is the engagement priced?
Scope and investment are set after the Strategy Call, once we understand the practice, the state of its data, and the level of support ownership needs. You receive a written proposal before anything begins.
Do we need to start with a diagnostic?
Not necessarily. Some practices start with a focused diagnostic to understand a specific problem; others move directly into ongoing work and the baseline is established during onboarding. The Strategy Call is where that gets decided.
Do you work outside health and aesthetics?
No. The work is built around the economics of med spas, aesthetic practices, and closely related health and aesthetics businesses. That specificity is what makes it useful.
Who does the work?
Tanner Ward leads every engagement. Ward Advisory keeps a limited number of hands-on advisory relationships, so the person doing the analysis is the person advising on the decision.
Find out what your numbers would show.
A Strategy Call is a working conversation about where the practice is today and whether a CFO would change the decisions in front of you.