FAQ
Common questions
The things people usually ask before getting in touch. If yours isn't here, just ask — the contact form is at the bottom of every page.
What does a fractional CFO actually do?
A fractional CFO gives you senior financial leadership part-time. We interpret your numbers, set the financial strategy, and guide the decisions that follow — pricing, cashflow, margin, forecasting, fundraising — without the cost of a full-time hire. It's strategy and oversight, not day-to-day bookkeeping.
What's the difference between a virtual CFO and a fractional CFO?
In practice they're the same thing, and people use the terms interchangeably. Both give you senior financial leadership on a part-time basis instead of a full-time hire. "Virtual CFO" tends to emphasise that the work is done remotely; "fractional CFO" emphasises that you only buy the fraction of a CFO's time you actually need. We work either way — remotely across Australia, on a scope sized to your business.
How much does a fractional CFO cost in Australia?
A fractional or virtual CFO is priced as a monthly retainer scaled to scope — typically a fraction of a full-time CFO's salary (which in Australia runs well into six figures plus super). You pay for senior judgement on the decisions that matter, not a full-time seat. We scope each engagement after a free Finance & Automation Health Check, then quote a fixed monthly fee so there are no surprises.
How does AI actually help accountants and finance teams?
AI helps finance teams most where the work is repetitive and rules-based: reconciling transactions, chasing and coding invoices, pulling management reports together, and flagging anomalies for a human to check. Done well, it removes hours of manual work while keeping a clear audit trail. The trap is bolting AI on without controls — which is exactly why it pays to have a chartered accountant design it. We've built AI for accountants that saves 8–10 hours a month on Stripe-to-Xero reconciliation alone.
What makes GME different from a normal accountant or consultant?
We're an ACA-qualified chartered accountant who also builds the AI. Most advisers can either talk strategy or write code, rarely both. Greg East does both, so the financial thinking and the systems that deliver it come from one place — the accountant who builds the AI.
How does the AI build and automation side work?
We build the thing, not just advise on it. That means automations, AI tools, data pipelines, and dashboards on Claude, n8n, Supabase, Next.js, and Vercel — scoped, delivered, and kept running. Because the same person understands the controls and the finance behind it, the build solves a real problem rather than chasing the hype.
Who do you work with?
Growing SMEs and scale-ups where the numbers have started driving real decisions but a full-time CFO or AI lead isn't yet justified. That's often businesses that are scaling, raising, juggling multi-currency or multi-entity complexity, or losing hours to manual work that should be automated.
How do engagements start and how is pricing structured?
Everything begins with a short consultation and a free Finance & Automation Health Check — a quick read of your numbers, systems, and the work eating your team's time. From there we come back with a proposal. Ongoing leadership runs as a monthly retainer; builds run as fixed-price sprints when there's something to deliver.
Do you work outside Australia?
Yes. GME is Sydney-based and works across Australia, and the founder qualified and spent five years in financial-services audit in the UK — so UK and global businesses, including multi-currency and multi-jurisdiction reporting, are well within scope.