Advisory & Board Governance
CFO-Level Counsel
From Someone Who
Has Lived Every
Side of the Table.
Most advisors have studied your situation. Bill Shenkin has been in it — as a founder, a CFO, a seller, a board member, and a tax specialist That lived experience is what makes his advisory work different. It's not a framework applied from the outside. It's pattern recognition earned across 40 years at the intersection of finance, governance, and company-building.
What Bill Offers
Board Governance
For PE-backed & family-owned
companies
Fractional CFO
C-suite leadership without full-
time overhead
Tax Strategy
Offensive planning for high-growth
companies
Book a 15-Minute Call
No pitch - just a direct
conversation
40 Years of C-Suite Experience
CPA · CITP · Ernst & Young Trained
Founded and Sold CeFO, Inc.
Multi-Billion-Dollar Transactions Guided
Treasurer & Board Member, USA Triathlon Foundation
The Distinction That Matters
What Separates
a Great Advisor from
an Irreplaceable One?
There is a meaningful difference between an advisor who has read about selling a company and one who has actually done it. Bill has done it. He built CeFO, Inc. into a nationally recognized financial advisory firm, navigated every stage of its growth, and executed its sale — which means every conversation he has with a founder about exit planning comes from a place of lived experience, not studied theory.
That same authenticity shapes his board work. When Bill sits in a governance meeting, he has occupied the CFO seat, the founder seat, and the advisor seat simultaneously. He understands what management is protecting. He understands what investors need to hear. And he knows how to bridge that gap in the room where it matters most.
His engagement with the Treasurer of USA Triathlon's Foundation board also reflects a dimension of leadership that few financial advisors bring: the understanding of how discipline, long-horizon systems thinking, and performance under pressure translate into both athletic and organizational excellence. The same frameworks that take a triathlete from training to race day are the ones that move a company from chaos to a clean exit.
Founder Who Sold
Built CeFO, Inc. from the ground up into a premier national advisory firm — and navigated its full sale. He advises on exits because he has been through one.
Fiduciary Depth
CPA and CITP with a Master's in Accounting. Ernst & Young trained. Decades of fiduciary leadership across public companies, private firms, and nonprofit boards.
Landmark Transactions
Designed the financial model that secured Denver's MLB franchise — the Colorado Rockies. Guided companies through multi-billion-dollar acquisitions and complex M&A processes.
International Scope
Served as interim CFO for a National Geographic IMAX company with international subsidiaries. Advised on cross-border M&A and multi-state tax strategy for high-growth enterprises.
Treasurer & Board Member,
USA Triathlon Foundation
Currently serves on the national board of a rapidly growing sports organization — bringing fiscal oversight, governance discipline, and strategic clarity to a complex nonprofit environment.
Advisory Services
Three Ways Bill Can
Work With Your Organization
Each engagement is structured differently — but all three draw from the same depth of
experience and the same commitment to outcomes over optics.
Pillar i
Fractional CFO
& Strategic Finance
"Finance is not a department. It's the operating system of the company."
The fractional CFO model works best when the person filling the role has genuinely operated at that level — not just advised on it. Bill has served as an acting CFO for companies at multiple growth stages, including an IMAX company with international subsidiaries and a high-growth business he ultimately positioned for a multi-billion-dollar acquisition.
His fractional engagements are built on one principle: he is not a vendor. He is a strategic partner whose outcomes are aligned with yours. The work begins with a rigorous financial assessment and ends when the company no longer needs him — either because the financial infrastructure is self-sustaining, or because the company has grown to the point of requiring a full-time hire.
Financial infrastructure design — building the reporting, forecasting, and cash management systems that scale with the company
Controller oversight and team leadership — managing and elevating existing finance teams without the full-time overhead
Fundraising and investor relations support — preparing companies for capital raises, term sheet negotiations, and lender conversations
Acquisition readiness — building the financial story and documentation that sophisticated buyers and PE firms expect to find
Cash flow strategy — not just management, but genuine strategic planning around liquidity, working capital, and runway
Ideal Fractional Fit
Growth-stage companies ($5M–$50M revenue) outgrowing their current finance leadership
Founder-led businesses preparing for a first institutional raise
Companies where the controller is overwhelmed by scale
Pre-exit companies needing clean financials and investor-grade reporting
Organizations in need of M&A financial due diligence preparation
Companies hiring their first full-time CFO who need a bridge during the search
Engagement Structures
Part-Time Retainer
Project-Based
Interim CFO
Pre-Exit Sprint
CFO Search Bridge
"Every business is either building toward something or drifting toward nothing. A great CFO makes sure it's always the former."
— Bill Shenkin
The Engagement Process
How Bill Works With
New Clients and Partners
Every advisory engagement begins the same way: with a direct, no-pitch conversation
to understand what you're building and whether Bill is the right fit. Here's what that process looks like.
01
First Contact
A 15-Minute
Conversation
No sales deck. No prepared pitch. A direct conversation to understand your situation, what you're trying to accomplish, and whether Bill's experience is genuinely relevant to your goals. If it's not the right fit, he'll say so.
02
Assessment
Financial & Governance Diagnostic
For advisory and fractional CFO engagements, Bill conducts a structured diagnostic of your financial infrastructure, governance gaps, and strategic opportunities. This work surfaces the issues that matter most — before they become crises.
03
Engagement Design
A Structure Built Around Your Needs
No two engagements look the same. Bill designs the scope, cadence, and structure of each engagement to fit the specific stage, complexity, and goals of the organization — not a pre-built package.
04
Ongoing Partnership
Strategic Presence When It Matters
Board members attend meetings. Fractional CFOs are available for critical decisions. Tax strategists engage at key planning moments. Bill remains a present, responsive partner — not a quarterly check-in that produces a report and disappears.
What Clients Gain
The Outcomes That
Define a Bill Shenkin Engagement
These are not deliverables. They are the measurable, durable changes that
happen when a company has the right financial leadership in its corner.
🎯
Strategic Clarity at the Top
Boards, founders, and management teams gain a shared understanding of the financial picture — not just the numbers, but what they mean for the strategy and what decisions they demand.
📈
Acquisition-Ready Financial Infrastructure
Companies that have worked with Bill enter sale processes with clean books, compelling financial narratives, and the documentation that sophisticated buyers expect to find — reducing friction and protecting valuation.
🛡️
Proactive Risk Management
Financial, tax, and governance risks are identified and addressed before they materialize as board-level emergencies. The problems that never happen are often the most valuable work.
🧭
A CFO Voice Without the Full-Time Cost
For companies not yet ready for a full-time CFO, Bill provides the strategic presence, decision-making support, and financial leadership of a seasoned C-suite executive — at a fraction of the overhead.
💼
Tax Wealth Preservation
Founders and family office principals leave exits and liquidity events with significantly more retained wealth — because the tax structure was engineered before the transaction, not managed after it.
🔗
Governance That Actually Protects
Boards advised by Bill operate with genuine fiduciary discipline — not the appearance of oversight, but the systems, conversations, and accountability structures that protect shareholders and enable management.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
What Clients and
Partners Say About Bill
From boardrooms to portfolio companies to complex governance environments.
Bill came on board as acting chief financial officer for our company, which was experiencing tremendous growth — for which the controller was overwhelmed. He assisted in managing growth and ultimately assisted in positioning the company for a purchase by a multi-billion-dollar public company. His ability to translate our financial complexity into a story buyers could trust was exceptional.
Chief Executive
High-Growth Portfolio Company
Bill was treasurer of our organization when I started, and blessedly agreed to serve another term. Amid under-resourced finance and foundation teams, his fiscal oversight, specialized expertise, and broad organizational acumen guided our rapidly growing philanthropic operation through the most challenging waters I've encountered. He is a rare combination of technical depth and genuine strategic judgment.
Executive Director
USA Triathlon Foundation
Bill's presentation to our CEO group enlightened them on important ways to look at their business to increase efficiency and ensure good accounting practices. He shared stories of companies he personally helped rescue from damaging financial practices. There was nothing theoretical about it — every insight came from something he had actually lived.
Event Organizer
CEO Peer Group
Board Governance in Depth
What Bill Brings
to Every
Boardroom He Enters.
Board seats are not checked boxes. They are strategic relationships — ones where the value of an independent director is only realized if that person is willing to ask the questions management is hoping no one asks, and raise the concerns that don't appear on any agenda.
Bill has served on boards of privately owned companies, public companies, and national nonprofit organizations. He has served as Chairman and Treasurer for various boards. He has assisted the boards of private, PE-backed, and family-owned companies through the full spectrum of governance challenges — from routine oversight to M&A governance to navigating crisis. His value in the boardroom comes from a single quality: he has been on every side of the table.
01
The Questions No One Is Asking
Bill's most consistent board contribution is surfacing the financial and governance risks that don't appear in the board deck — because he knows what they look like before they show up.
02
CFO-to-Board Translation
He speaks both languages. When the CFO presents, Bill ensures the board understands not just the numbers, but the implications — and when the board decides, management understands why.
03
Exit and Transaction Governance
Having navigated a company sale from the inside, Bill understands how to protect shareholder interests through the full arc of a transaction — not just the closing process.
04
Governance for Growing Organizations
From family businesses formalizing their first board to nonprofits scaling their governance infrastructure — Bill builds the structures that enable organizations to grow without losing control.
Bill's Governance Track Record
38
Years operating at CFO and board level across public companies, private firms, family offices, and nonprofits
$24B+
Years operating at CFO and board level across public companies, private firms, family offices, and nonprofits
3
Distinct board perspectives brought to every engagement: founder, CFO, and independent director — simultaneously
National
Current board member of the US Triathlon Association — a nationally-governed body managing significant philanthropic and operational complexity
Bill's Governance Track Record
40
Years operating at CFO and board level across public companies, private firms, family offices, and nonprofits
$2B+
Value of transactions guided — including multi-billion-dollar acquisitions and complex M&A processes across multiple industries
3
Distinct board perspectives brought to every engagement: founder, CFO, and independent director — simultaneously
National
Boards
Current board member of the USA Triathlon Foundation — a nationally-governed body managing significant philanthropic and operational complexity
"What executives get wrong about fiduciary duty is that they think it means saying yes less. What it actually means is asking better questions sooner."
— Bill Shenkin
BOARD AVAILABILITY 2026
Now Considering Two to Three
Paid Board Engagements.
After four decades at the CFO and board level - and across two firms he built and sold - Bill is
opening two to three paid board seats to organizations where his governance experience, transaction
history, and tax depth will measurably change the trajectory of the business.
WHERE BILL FITS BEST
PE portfolio companies needing an independent director who can stand alongside the CFO and translate finance to the full board
Family-owned businesses formalizing governance ahead of institutional capital, generational transfer, or a sale process
High-growth companies in the 3-5 year window before a planned exit or liquidity event
National nonprofit organizations requiring rigorous fiscal oversight at the board level
Search firms and nominating committees evaluating independent directors with founder, CFO, and seller experience in a single seat
"A board seat is not a title. It is a strategic relationship - and it should only be accepted when both sides know exactly what value is being brought to the table."
— Bill Shenkin
ENGAGEMENT PROFILE
What Bill Offers a Board
Independent Director
Audit Committee Chair
Finance Committee Chair
Advisory Board Member
Board Observer / Pre-Director Role
CURRENT BOARD COMMITMENTS
Treasurer, USA Triathlon Foundation Board Member & Tax Committee, National Small Business Association
Inquiries reviewed personally. Suitable engagements proceed to a 30-minute introductory conversation.
The First Step
Most Valuable
Engagements Start
With a 15-Minute Call.
Bill's advisory relationships begin with a direct, unscripted conversation. Not a discovery call designed to qualify you into a service tier. A real conversation about what you're building, what's in the way, and whether his experience is genuinely relevant to your situation.
If he's not the right fit, he'll tell you — and often point you to someone who is. That honesty is the foundation of every engagement that follows.
These conversations are reserved for PE sponsors, family office principals, search firms evaluating board candidates, and founders navigating a significant inflection point. If that describes your situation, the calendar is on the right.
15-Minute Strategy Call
A Direct Conversation
With Bill Shenkin
No sales pitch, no prepared deck — just a direct conversation about your situation
Discuss board governance, advisory, fractional CFO, or tax strategy needs
Candid assessment of whether Bill is the right fit for your goals
If appropriate, outline what an engagement would look like
Available to PE sponsors, family offices, search firms, and founders
Limited availability. Calls held Tuesday and Thursday mornings MT.
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