Institution vs Burkland: accounting and fractional finance

Burkland publishes accounting, tax, strategic finance, and fractional CFO services for venture-backed startups. Institution offers managed accounting and finance operations alongside tax and compliance coordination. Compare them against the decisions your team must make, rather than the number of finance titles available.

Write down the next hiring decision, board deadline, financing event, or cash constraint. Then identify the recurring accounting work needed to support it. This prevents a CFO conversation from obscuring an unfinished monthly close.

Bring one board metric and ask how the provider would support it. For runway, define available cash, expected receipts, committed payments, and the period used to estimate spending. Request a bridge from approved actuals to the forecast, including the assumptions management owns.

The board pack should identify provisional figures and changes from the previous version. Ask who signs off the underlying accounting and who explains forecast changes. The same provider may own both tasks, but that should be stated rather than inferred.

A recurring planning engagement and intensive fundraising support have different demands. Explain the likely data-room requests, meeting schedule, and revision cycles. Ask who answers investor questions and how extra work is approved.

Do not assume that an adviser acts as an appointed corporate officer, raises capital, or guarantees an outcome. Confirm the authority and deliverables of the specific engagement. Establish backup coverage if the assigned finance lead is unavailable near a deadline.

Request one price for ordinary accounting and reporting, and a separate description of event-driven work. Include cleanup, model construction, tax filings, and software where relevant. A lower retainer can leave more preparation with your internal team.

Before signing, agree which models, schedules, assumptions, and approved balances you retain. A future finance hire should be able to understand the forecast without reconstructing months of calls. Use that handover requirement when judging both proposals.