AI-Augmented Fractional CFO · San Diego, Serving Nationwide

Finance, executed.

Most companies don't lack financial knowledge — they lack a partner who acts. Lineate embeds a working CFO in your business: deep specialty in government contracting, full fractional CFO leadership for growth companies and SMBs.

// SENIOR-LED DELIVERY. EVERY DELIVERABLE CPA-REVIEWED. CFO ON EVERY STRATEGY CALL.

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Proposals priced as lead
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Years in DoD contract finance
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Largest program supported
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Contract types, prime & sub
Two Practices, One Standard

Choose your track.

The same operator, the same execution discipline — applied to two very different worlds.

PRACTICE 01 / SPECIALTY

Government Contractors

DCAA compliance, indirect rates, proposal pricing, program finance. Built for $3M–$30M federal contractors by a principal with 15+ years in DoD aerospace finance and $5B+ in priced proposals.

  • Indirect rate design & audit defense
  • Cost volumes across FFP / CPFF / T&M
  • SF1408 readiness & ICS
EXPLORE GOVCON →
PRACTICE 02 / GROWTH & SMB

Growth Companies & SMBs

Full fractional CFO leadership for companies from $2M–$50M: cash discipline, margin clarity, board-ready reporting, and finance operations that scale — without a $300K hire.

  • 13-week cash forecasting & runway
  • Financial modeling & KPI reporting
  • Monthly close, systems & controls
EXPLORE GROWTH CFO →

+ BOTH TRACKS INCLUDE THE PEOPLE, BENEFITS & SYSTEMS LAYER — BENEFITS DESIGN, HR COST STRATEGY, ERP IMPLEMENTATION →

The Pattern We See

Companies don't fail on knowledge. They stall on action.

Whether it's a federal contractor facing DCAA or a growth company outrunning its books — the tools and information already exist. What's missing is a senior operator who executes.

Symptom 01

Pricing set once, never touched

Indirect rates or product margins built years ago, quietly leaking on every invoice — but nobody wants to open that box mid-year.

Symptom 02

Decisions priced by gut

Bids, hires, and expansion calls made without a model — won at numbers that can't carry the work, or lost for lack of a defensible case.

Symptom 03

Finance as anxiety, not system

The close is late, the forecast lives in one person's head, and every audit, diligence request, or bank question is a fire drill.

The product isn't advice. It's execution confidence — a CFO who has operated at $500M scale, working inside your business, moving with you.
Intel Feed

What we're tracking in GovCon finance right now.

Curated signals from the audit, pricing, and policy landscape — the items we're flagging for clients this quarter.

LINEATE INTEL // GOVCON FINANCE SIGNALSMONITORING
Prove It To Yourself

Run your own numbers before you ever talk to us.

Free tools built from the same models we use in engagements — for contractors and commercial companies alike. No login. No gate.

TOOL-001 / GOVCON

Wrap Rate & Margin Calculator

Enter your labor and pools. Get your wrap rate, fully burdened cost, and margin at your bid rate — and find out if you're bidding underwater.

TOOL-002 / GOVCON

DCAA Readiness Scorecard

Fifteen questions mapped to SF1408 criteria. Score your accounting system's audit posture in five minutes — before DCAA scores it for you.

TOOL-003 / ALL COMPANIES

Fractional vs. Full-Time CFO Cost

Model the loaded cost of a full-time CFO hire against a fractional engagement — with your numbers, not ours.

Open the free tools
Next Step

30 minutes. Bring your rate structure.

A discovery call is a working session, not a pitch. Bring your current indirect rates or an active pricing problem — you'll leave with at least one thing you can act on.

Book a discovery call
Practice 01 · Government Contractors

The GovCon specialty. Our spearhead.

Built for $3M–$30M federal contractors on 15+ years of DoD aerospace finance leadership. Every engagement runs on a proprietary library of GovCon-specific AI workflows — big-contractor rigor at small-contractor speed and cost.

CLIN-001 / PROPOSAL PRICING

Cost volumes that win and hold margin

Pricing strategy and cost volume development across FFP, cost-plus, and T&M — prime or sub — backed by $5B+ in led proposals.

  • Price-to-win and rate strategy
  • Cost narrative and BOE support
  • Sub vs. prime teaming economics
CLIN-002 / INDIRECT RATES & DCAA

Rate structures that survive audit

Design, restructure, and defend your indirect rate pools. Provisional billing rates, incurred cost submissions, and accounting system readiness.

  • Pool/base design and forward pricing
  • ICS preparation and audit response
  • SF1408 / accounting system readiness
CLIN-003 / PROGRAM FINANCE

Cash, EACs, and margin — by program

Program-level financial management drawn from $50M–$500M contract experience: EACs you can brief, cash forecasts you can trust.

  • EAC discipline and variance analysis
  • Contract-level cash flow forecasting
  • Monthly close and leadership reporting
CLIN-004 / LABOR & COMPLIANCE

SCA, unions, and benefits — handled

Service Contract Act compliance, wage determination mapping, benefits design, and union negotiation support from someone who has sat at that table.

  • SCA compliance and WD mapping
  • Benefits design and cost modeling
  • Union negotiation financial support
Practice 02 · Growth Companies & SMBs

Full fractional CFO leadership, beyond federal.

The same execution discipline — cash, margin, close, and strategy — for companies from $2M–$50M in revenue. If you've outgrown your bookkeeper but can't justify a $300K CFO hire, this practice is built for you.

GRW-001 / CASH & FORECASTING

Runway you can act on

13-week cash forecasting, scenario modeling, and working capital discipline — so growth decisions are made on numbers, not nerve.

  • 13-week rolling cash forecast
  • Scenario & sensitivity modeling
  • AR/AP and working capital strategy
GRW-002 / MARGIN & PRICING

Know what actually makes money

Unit economics, product/service-line margin analysis, and pricing strategy. Most companies discover 20% of their revenue is subsidizing the rest — we find it.

  • Gross margin by line of business
  • Pricing structure & discounting discipline
  • Cost structure & break-even analysis
GRW-003 / REPORTING & CLOSE

Board-ready numbers, on time

A monthly close that lands by day 10, a KPI dashboard leadership actually reads, and financials clean enough for banks, investors, or diligence.

  • Close process design & ownership
  • KPI dashboards & leadership reporting
  • Bank, investor & diligence readiness
GRW-004 / STRATEGY & TRANSACTIONS

A CFO in the room when it counts

Financial modeling for expansion, hiring plans, debt raises, and exits — plus the operator who presents it to your board, bank, or buyer.

  • Budgeting & long-range planning
  • Debt & capital raise support
  • M&A and exit readiness
Cross-Practice Layer · Available In Both Tracks

The full stack under the CFO: accounting, people, systems, contracts.

Strategy without delivery is a deck. Lineate runs a complete delivery stack — offshore-powered accounting operations under US CPA review, benefits and HR cost strategy, systems implementation, and GovCon contract administration. Every layer plugs into any engagement tier.

OPS-000 / ACCOUNTING OPERATIONS

Your entire accounting function, senior-reviewed

Full-charge bookkeeping, AP/AR, reconciliations, and close preparation — delivered by our managed accounting team and reviewed by a US CPA (dual-qualified CA India / CPA USA) before anything reaches you. GovCon client data is handled exclusively by US-based staff.

  • Monthly bookkeeping, AP/AR & reconciliations
  • Close preparation under CPA review & sign-off
  • Fixed monthly pricing from $1,500/mo
  • US-only delivery track for federal contractors
OPS-001 / BENEFITS DESIGN

Benefits as economics, not admin

Design or redesign your benefits program with total-cost modeling — competitive enough to retain, priced so you know exactly what each hire costs, and (for contractors) mapped to SCA fringe obligations.

  • Plan design & total compensation cost modeling
  • Broker RFP management & renewal negotiation
  • SCA fringe / H&W compliance mapping
OPS-002 / HR COST & COMPLIANCE

The financial side of your workforce

Labor cost strategy and HR compliance from the CFO seat: comp structures, union negotiation support, and the employment-cost decisions that determine whether growth is profitable.

  • Compensation structures & labor cost strategy
  • Union negotiation financial support
  • Workforce compliance cost exposure (SCA, CA, federal)
OPS-003 / SYSTEMS & ERP

Systems that carry the close and the audit

Selection, implementation, and rescue of finance systems — from QuickBooks-to-ERP migrations to configuring the GovCon reports (JAMIS and peers) your team never turned on.

  • System selection & implementation leadership
  • JAMIS / GovCon ERP configuration & reporting
  • Close automation & AI workflow buildout
OPS-004 / CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION

The contracts desk small contractors never have

Dedicated contract administration for federal contractors: modifications, funding actions, deliverable tracking, subcontract administration, and closeouts — run by an experienced GovCon contracts manager, connected directly to your finance data.

  • Contract mods, funding & LOF tracking
  • Subcontract administration & flowdowns
  • CDRL / deliverable tracking & closeouts

// SCOPE NOTE: WE DESIGN, LEAD, AND DELIVER THE ABOVE. WE DO NOT PROCESS PAYROLL, RECRUIT, RUN EMPLOYEE RELATIONS CASEWORK, OR PERFORM ATTEST/AUDIT SERVICES — WE'LL HELP YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHT PROVIDERS FOR THOSE.

Rate Schedule

Fixed monthly rates. No surprises. No timesheets to audit.

Three engagement levels, same rates across both practices: clear scope, clear rate, clear deliverables.

Tier I / Advisory
$2,500/mo
For firms with a capable controller who need senior finance judgment on call — GovCon or commercial.
  • Monthly strategy session
  • Rate & pricing review on demand
  • DCAA / FAR question support
  • Async access between sessions
Start here
Tier II / Fractional
$6,500/mo
For firms that need a working CFO inside the business, part-time.
  • Everything in Advisory
  • Monthly close ownership & reporting
  • Indirect rate management
  • Proposal pricing support (up to 2/qtr)
  • Cash forecasting & program finance
  • Benefits & comp cost advisory
Book a call
Tier III / Embedded
$12,000/mo
For firms in growth, audit, or recompete mode that need a CFO in the room.
  • Everything in Fractional
  • Unlimited proposal pricing
  • DCAA audit management
  • Board / bank / prime representation
  • Full People & Systems layer: benefits design, HR cost strategy, ERP implementation
Book a call

// MONTH-TO-MONTH AFTER 90-DAY INITIAL TERM. NO LONG-TERM LOCK-IN.
// ACCOUNTING OPERATIONS (BOOKKEEPING → CLOSE, CPA-REVIEWED) AVAILABLE STANDALONE OR WITH ANY TIER, FROM $1,500/MO. CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION & SYSTEMS PROJECTS QUOTED FIXED-FEE.

Fit Check

Built for a specific kind of client.

Focus is the point. If you're outside this profile, we'll tell you on the first call and point you somewhere better.

We're a strong fit if you are

  • A federal contractor doing $3M–$30M facing DCAA, rates, or recompete pressure
  • A growth company or SMB ($2M–$50M) that has outgrown bookkeeper-level finance
  • Making decisions — bids, hires, expansion, exit — that need a real model behind them
  • Tired of advisors who assess but never execute
  • Ready to act on what the numbers say

We're not a fit if you need

  • Tax preparation or attest/audit services
  • A full-time, on-site CFO hire
  • Someone to bless a plan you won't execute
  • A pre-revenue startup needing free advice for equity
Questions

Asked before every engagement.

How is this different from hiring a consultant?
Consultants deliver assessments and leave. This is an operating role: Lineate owns the close, manages the rates or the forecast, prices the work, and sits in the room when DCAA, your bank, or your board shows up. The deliverable is outcomes, not decks.
Do I need to be a government contractor to work with Lineate?
No. GovCon is our specialty practice — the hardest regulatory environment in commercial finance, and where our depth is unmatched at this price point. The Growth & SMB practice applies the same execution discipline to non-federal companies: cash, margin, close, reporting, and strategy. Same operator, same standard, two tracks.
What does "AI-augmented" actually mean?
Proprietary AI workflows built specifically for GovCon finance — indirect rate scenario modeling, cost volume first drafts, compliance cross-checks against FAR/DFARS. Every output is reviewed and owned by the CFO. You get senior judgment at higher speed and lower cost, not a chatbot.
Who actually does the accounting work — and where?
Operational accounting (bookkeeping, AP/AR, reconciliations, close prep) is delivered by our managed accounting team, with every close reviewed and signed off by our dual-qualified controller (CA India + CPA USA) before it reaches you. For federal contractors, all contract and client data is handled exclusively by US-based staff — the delivery model was built around GovCon data-handling obligations from day one. We do not provide tax preparation or attest/audit services.
You do benefits, HR, and systems too — isn't that outside a CFO's lane?
It's the CFO's lane done properly. People are your largest or second-largest cost line; systems are what make your close and audit posture real. Lineate has designed benefits programs from scratch, sat across from unions in negotiation, and implemented GovCon ERPs — so those decisions get made with total-cost math, not vendor pitches. The boundary is clear: we design and lead strategy; we don't process payroll, recruit, or run employee relations casework. For those, we help you pick the right providers.
Can you work with our existing accountant or controller?
Yes — that's the normal setup. Your bookkeeper or controller keeps the transactional work. Lineate sits above it: rates, pricing, compliance posture, cash strategy, and leadership reporting.
We have a DCAA audit coming. Is it too late?
Usually not, but the clock matters. The first two weeks of an audit-response engagement are triage: what's defensible now, what needs remediation, and what we tell the auditor when. Book the call before the entrance conference, not after.
Why not just hire a full-time CFO?
At $3M–$30M revenue, a full-time GovCon CFO costs $250K–$350K fully loaded — and you don't need 40 hours a week of one. The fractional model buys the same judgment at a fraction of the cost, with the option to scale up when a recompete or audit hits.
Free Tools

The same models we use in engagements. Free, because confidence starts with your own numbers.

No login. No gate. If the output raises a question you can't answer alone — that's what the discovery call is for.

Wrap Rate & Margin Calculator

TOOL-001
Raw hourly wage for the labor category.
Benefits, PTO, payroll taxes — applied to direct labor.
Applied to direct labor + fringe in this model.
Applied to total cost input (labor + fringe + OH).
The rate you're bidding or billing. Leave as-is to test margin.

Output — Burdened Rate Buildup

Direct labor$60.00
+ Fringe$19.20
+ Overhead$22.18
+ G&A$12.17
Fully burdened cost$113.54
+ Fee$9.08
Loaded rate w/ fee$122.63
Wrap rate (cost)1.89×
Margin at your bid rate

Disclaimer: This calculator is an educational estimate using a simplified single-pool model. Actual indirect rate structures vary by pool design, allocation bases, and contract terms. Outputs are not accounting, pricing, or legal advice and should not be used directly in a proposal or billing without review by a qualified professional. Verify against your approved provisional rates.

DCAA Readiness Scorecard

TOOL-002

Fifteen yes/no questions mapped to the criteria DCAA evaluates in an SF1408 pre-award accounting system survey. Answer honestly — nobody sees this but you.

Disclaimer: This scorecard is a self-assessment for educational purposes. It approximates, but does not replicate, the SF1408 evaluation and does not predict any audit outcome. It is not audit, accounting, or legal advice. For an actual readiness determination, consult a qualified GovCon accounting professional.

Fractional vs. Full-Time CFO Cost

TOOL-003
Benefits, taxes, bonus, equity — typically 30–45%.
Advisory $2,500 · Fractional $6,500 · Embedded $12,000

Annual Cost Comparison

Full-time CFO, loaded$324,000
Lineate engagement$78,000
Annual difference$246,000
Cost ratio24%

Disclaimer: Illustrative comparison only. Salary and load assumptions vary by market and role scope. A fractional engagement is part-time by design and is not a like-for-like replacement for every full-time CFO responsibility.

Insights

Field notes from inside a DoD contractor.

Written from 15+ years inside DoD contractor finance — not by a content team. What actually happens in floor checks, rate reviews, and pricing rooms.

The Team

Senior-led. Small by design. Built to deliver.

PRINCIPAL... 15+ YRS DOD AEROSPACE FINANCE
SCOPE....... CFO-LEVEL RESPONSIBILITY
PROPOSALS... $5B+ AS PRICING LEAD
PROGRAMS.... $50M–$500M DOD
──────────
CONTROLLER.. CA (INDIA) + CPA (USA)
QC LAYER.... EVERY CLOSE CPA-REVIEWED
──────────
CONTRACTS... GOVCON CONTRACTS MANAGER
DELIVERY.... US + MANAGED OFFSHORE
GOVCON DATA. US-BASED STAFF ONLY
BASE........ SAN DIEGO, CA

Lineate's principal brings 15+ years of DoD aerospace contractor finance leadership, including CFO-level responsibility: $5B+ in led proposal pricing across every major contract type, program finance from $50M to $500M, union negotiations, benefits programs built from scratch, and DCAA-audited accounting systems kept clean.

The delivery model is deliberately structured: a managed accounting team handles the operational volume; a dual-qualified controller (Chartered Accountant, India + CPA, USA) reviews and signs off on every close; a dedicated GovCon contracts manager runs contract administration; and the CFO leads every strategy decision. You get a full finance department's output at a fraction of its cost — with senior review on every deliverable, not just the pitch meeting.

Federal contractor data stays with US-based staff. We built the delivery model around GovCon data-handling obligations from day one — the offshore team serves commercial clients only. Ask us about this on the first call; the contractors who don't ask are the ones who get burned.

The AI layer compounds all of it: proprietary workflows for rate modeling, cost volume drafting, close automation, and compliance checking. Machines handle volume; seniors own judgment.

Lineate — from lineate: marked with lines. Rate structures, contract baselines, audit trails. We keep every line clean, defensible, and yours.

Book a Discovery Call

30 minutes. Bring your rate structure.

A discovery call is a working session, not a pitch. Bring your current indirect rates, a DCAA notice, or an active pricing problem — you'll leave with at least one thing you can act on, whether we work together or not.

Request a discovery call

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